Quasi-Divisional Regulatory Legal Acts in Energy Law

In this article, the author reviews the existing views of legal theoreticians on internal acts of legal entities that have been lately acknowledged by legal publications as independent law sources. The paper singles out the main attribute that gives local acts of legal entities the statutory regulation quality, being the delegation of statutory regulation issuance powers to the company by the law or sanctioning by means of approval by a competent state authority. The author suggests that legal acts of legal entities issued without the delegation right or approval by the state but having statutory qualities should be reviewed on a standalone basis, as a separate law source. The article notes that a characteristic feature of such acts is their issuance by subjects of natural monopolies created as a result of market economic reforms held in Russia in the late 20th century based on branch ministries governing separate national economy sectors (electrical energy industry, gas and oil transportation system). It is the first case in legal publications when the author that makes an attempt at understanding the nature of these acts concludes that they differ from corporate and departmental acts. Due to the fact that law making by subjects of natural monopolies was actually replacing regulatory activities of ministries and other state departments, the author suggests naming the documents they issue quasi-divisional legal acts. Based on the obtained results, the author words the concept of quasi-divisional legal acts in the energy law as one of law sources.