The High Arbitrazh Court has adopted guidelines regarding the demolition of “unlawful constructions.” Following the highly publicized debacle of the “Rechnik” development, said to be one of the reasons of the dismissal of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, demolition has become a hot button political issue. Now, the HAC has ruled out any demolition of “unlawful” construction without a prior judicial authorization. Until now, the practice has been an arbitrary expropriation and demolition of prime property on the basis of a fiat of local authorities. Under article 222 of the Russian civil code, “unlawful construction” is understood any construction erected in violation of any of the multiple building regulations. Previously, only an allegation of a breach was enough to destroy an expensive house on prime real estate. Now, at least, judges would take some part. In another decision, the HAC ruled that a prior judicial authorization IS NOT needed when eliminating an illegal advertising construction (e.g. a free standing billboard erected without a proper authorization of local authorities