Large Hadron Collider as a Legal Phenomenon

This paper is the first in Russia comprehensive theoretical and practical study of one of the world’s largest international scientific installations of the “megasience” class — the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) — from the standpoint of legal science. The author focuses on the unique legal status and legal nature of international scientific collaborations, with the help of which scientists from dozens of countries, including Russia, carry out research and make scientific discoveries on the LHC. The paper considers and analyzed the following: the history of development, general principles of the LHC and the European organization for nuclear research (CERN), under the auspices of which its construction was carried out; the principles of the structure and functioning of international scientific collaborations around the LHC; the legal nature of their constituent documents as acts of soft law; the ratio of soft and hard law mechanisms in the regulation of international scientific collaborations around the LHC. The final section presents data and proposals on the use of the legal mechanisms studied in other countries and international organizations, including for the purpose of the construction of scientific installations of the “megasience” class under the auspices of the national scientific organizations of Russia and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (Moscow region).