Abstract: The article covers the transformations of the system and structure of federal executive authorities that occurred during the period of 2004 - 2016; such an analysis provides an opportunity to study the forms, intensity and frequency of the changes and to identify their common characteristics. In general, during this period 53 decrees of the President of the Russian Federation had been adopted, which in different ways modify the system and structure of executive power. Based on this figure, the author concludes that every 90 days the structure of federal executive bodies changes: executive bodies are created, abolished, merged, transformed, renamed, or change their jurisdiction.The study is based on the formal-legal, structural-functional, comparative-legal and historical methods which provide for a comprehensive study of changes of the system and structure of federal executive authorities. The result of the analysis shows that the modern structure of federal bodies of executive power is characterized by a rather high dynamics of changes. The analysis of quantitative changes in the structure of federal executive bodies allows focusing on the improvement of legal support of the most widely used forms of transformations of the structure of federal authorities.

Keywords: Executive authorities, Government, State committee, Service, Agency, Ministry, Administrative reform, Transformation, Reorganization, Legal regulation

Abstract: The research subject includes the provisions of national legislation regulating the free customs zone in and customs control over the free port of Vladivostok. The author studies the doctrinal groundwork and foreign legislation in this sphere. Due to the novelty of such a legal regime in Primorsky krai, there is no law enforcement practice which could help reveal the shortcomings of legal regulation, but the author considers the aspect of normative stipulation of the requirements to the territory on which the free customs zone procedure and customs control is applied. The research methodology is conditioned by the research object and tasks and includes the methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, the comparative-legal and historical-legal methods. These methods are used as a system. The author states the necessity of strict normative regulation of application of a free customs zone procedure and customs control on the territory of the free port of Vladivostok related to territorial requirements. This conclusion is based on the study of the experience of the USA and the porto franco zone functioning in the Far East in the 19th – 20th centuries. 

Keywords: the free port of Vladivostok, foreign trade zone, resident, corruption, legal regime, goods, customs agencies, customs control, customs procedure, special economic zone

Abstract: The paper is devoted to criminalization of mass distribution of extremist materials. The author analyzes the judicial practice materials on criminal cases regulated by the article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and on administrative cases regulated by the article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The author states that investigative and judicial practice faces particular difficulties when distinguishing the mentioned offence from the crime established under the article 282 of the CC. The problem of distinguishing these illegal actions in the “border areas” is one of the most complicated problems of law enforcement. The research methodology is based on the general principles of the dialectical method. The author applies modern general scientific and specific research methods including logical and legal, comparative-legal, system-structural analysis and others. The author reveals certain shortcomings of anti-extremist legislation and the procedure of formation and the content of the federal list of extremist materials. Particularly, one and the same information material can be examined by court twice if it is represented in another form and fixed on another information carrier. The presence of such a possibility of avoidance of law disperses anti-extremist instruments and unreasonably extends the federal list of extremist materials. The author offers the ways to improve the legislation which can allow avoiding the multiplicity of judicial opinions on the alike issues. The author concludes that the necessary precondition of implementation of the suggestion about criminalization of mass distribution of extremist materials is systematization and analysis of extremist materials included in the published federal list. The author states that it is necessary to establish the so-called “white list” of information materials which should contain the materials which had been declared non-extremist by court. 

Keywords: extremist materials, criminalization, criminal law, crime, federal list, extremist activity, information, publication, hate mongering, extremism

Abstract: The author analyzes criminal law sources of foreign countries, including Muslim ones, and their mutual influence. Within foreign criminal law, the sources of law are the forms of legal norms expression. The sources of criminal law usually include statutory acts, legal precedents, legal customs and treaties. With regard to the sources of criminal law, law has been historically divided into statutory law and law of practice. In this context, Muslim countries are the exception to the rule. The research is based on the applied comparative-legal, historical-legal and formal-legal methods, the system method and multivariative analysis. The experience of foreign states shows that the source of criminal law can be presented not only by a unified act, for example the criminal code; but it should be compulsory and should be applied equally to all types of relations. Modern criminal laws of some Muslim countries are based not only on the recognized sharia norms, but also on the criminal codes adopted from the West European legal system. 

Keywords: legal system, sources, statutory law, law of practice, criminal code, penalties, Islamic criminal law, codification, law, sharia

Abstract: The research subject is customs control as a complex phenomenon including a set of long-term measures of customs agencies, covering customs operations and customs procedures, having a complex object and subject. The author considers the role and importance of customs control classification which allows one to systematize the knowledge about customs control, simplify interpretation and understanding of its essence, improve the theoretical basis, and raise the effectiveness of law enforcement activity of customs agencies. The research methodology is based on the analysis of the current customs legislation and scientific literature in the sphere of customs law. The author applies the dialectical method, analysis, synthesis, deduction and induction, the comparative-legal and system-structural methods and system analysis. The author defines customs control classification criteria allowing one to define the limits of customs control, its object and subject. The author develops her own classification of customs control based on the logical sequence of customs operations and procedures and customs control timing, and the classification based on the main purpose of customs control. The scientific novelty is conditioned by the absence of studies in this sphere or their insufficiency. 

Keywords: customs operations, prohibitions and restrictions, customs and tariff regulation, purpose of customs control, preliminary declaration, classification, customs control, customs procedure, public interest, forms of customs control

Abstract: The research subject is the institution of cadetship in internal affairs agencies, scientific literature and the current legislation which help define the distinctive features of cadetship in higher education institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. The research object is the range of social relations starting at the moment of a person’s entry an educational institution of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, during the cadetship and at the moment of its termination. The research methodology is based on the set of general scientific and specific methods of cognition: the system and comparative-legal methods, the method of moving from abstract to concrete and from general to specific. The author considers the conditions and the order of entry into cadetship, the peculiarities of appointment to special grades and assessment, the peculiarities of study and service termination. The author proves the interrelation between and the influence of two spheres of activity – service and education – on the legal position of cadets; reveals the problem aspects of law enforcement practice of cadetship in internal affairs agencies and offers solutions to these problems. The author concludes that such a meaningful and significant part of active subjects of educational relations and service as cadets shouldn’t lack the government’s attention. 

Keywords: public service, cadetship, internal affairs agency, student, personnel, service termination, legal position, educational relations, assessment, service

Abstract: The paper studies the problem of legal regulation of small business in the Russian Federation. Based on the analysis of the current legislation and the comparison with crisis transformations, the authors suggest amending the Federal Law “On audit activities” in order to unify the accounting requirements for small businesses. The reasonability and topicality of the forthcoming changes result from small businesses auditing. The research methodology is based on the recent achievements in epistemology. The authors apply theoretical and general philosophical methods (dialectics, the system method, analysis, synthesis, analogy, deduction, observation and modeling), traditional legal methods and the methods of special sociological research. The authors conclude that it is necessary to reconsider the amount of sale proceeds (sale of goods, work delivery, rendering of services) for the period preceding the accounting one, and the amount of balance sheet assets, as at the end of the year preceding the accounting one, from the position of relation of the business subject to the category of organizations subject to mandatory audit, and to introduce changes which will promote the development of small and medium business. 

Keywords: small business, taxes, simplified procedure, mandatory audit, business, legal entity, auditing, accounts, income, economic development

Abstract: The research subject is the range of aspects of the mechanism of judicial protection of rights of legal entities and self-employed persons in the context of state control and supervision. The author notes the absence of a uniform statutory framework in several sources of law regulating the mentioned legal relationship. Particularly, the special law on the protection of rights of self-employed persons in the context of state control, procedural legislation and the official position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation contain contradictions in the definition of legal means and legal consequences of appeal of public authorities’ decisions by business entities. The author analyzes the institution of invalidating the results of inspection as one of the ways of protection of rights of organizations and self-employed persons. The author points out the significant shortcomings of legal regulation of this institution. The general theory of law and law enforcement practice demonstrate that the inspection act, as one of the results of inspection, contrary to the content of the law on the protection of entrepreneurs’ rights, can’t be litigated according to the signs of its illegality, since it is not a legal act. This collision significantly narrows entrepreneurs’ capacities to protect their legal interests. The research methodology is based on general scientific methods including the system, comparative and statistical methods, analysis and synthesis. The novelty of the research consists in the fact that the author studies the current legislation in the sphere of judicial protection of entrepreneurs’ rights with regard to the Administrative Procedure Rules and the draft law “On the fundamentals of state and municipal control (supervision) in the Russian Federation”. The author concludes that the formal consolidation of different mechanisms of protection of rights doesn’t guarantee the due level of legal protection of legal entities and self-employed persons, and the existing legal ambiguity whittles the effectiveness of special legislation in the sphere of state control (supervision). 

Keywords: violations of the procedure of inspection, illegality of a statutory instrument, invalid statutory instrument, invalidity of a legal act, appeal of decisions, judicial protection of rights, act of inspection, state supervision, state control

Abstract: The research subject is the range of legal and organizational problems of administrative regulation of the activities of licensing authorities. The paper considers the problems of re-licensing. The author analyzes the comprehensive lists of reasons for re-licensing provided by the Federal Law of 4 May 2011 No 99 “On the particular types of activity licensing”. Despite the fact that this Federal Law was adopted quite a long time ago, the questions about the need for the renewal of licences, issued before this law enactment, are still urgent. The author considers the general cases of re-licensing and the practical problems caused by the absence of the deadline for submission of an application for re-licensing in the Federal Law. The research methodology is based on the recent achievements in epistemology. The author applies general scientific and specific methods. General scientific methods, including the system method, analysis, synthesis, analogy, observation, modeling and comparison, help reveal the main trends and patters of development of the research subject. Special scientific methods, including the formal-logical, comparative-legal and system-structural, provide the opportunity to detect, describe and reproduce the phenomena under consideration, and to compare them. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that so far, the problems of re-licensing haven’t been studied consistently. The author concludes about the necessity to amend the Federal Law of 4 May 2011 No 99 “On the particular types of activity licensing” in relation to systematization of cases of re-licensing and introduction of a deadline for relicensing in the article 18. 

Keywords: licensing authority, supervisory function, legal regulation, state service, state control (supervision), regulation on licensing, re-licensing, license requirements, license control, licensing

Abstract: The subject of this study includes the patterns of functioning and historical development of administrative coercion in the sphere of customs relations. The author notes that the patterns of historical development of administrative coercion, applied by customs authorities, are related to the general trends of development of the law and legislation regulating the use of administrative coercion in general and in the sphere of customs affairs in particular. Among these trends, one of the most important is the legislative priority as a means of effective provision of the state policy in the sphere of a rule-of-law state construction, the protection of individual rights and freedoms.The research methodology is based on the set of general scientific and special methods of cognition (comparative-historical, formal-logical, analytical, the method of unity of historical and logical, and others.).The author comes to the conclusion that the understanding of logic and patterns of historical development of administrative coercion, applied by customs authorities, is of a great importance for the understanding of the fundamentals and prospects of development of customs administration in this sphere of activity. The development of the institution of administrative coercion by customs authorities is in conjunction with the historical development of customs affairs and other legal institutions.

Keywords: legislative priority, system, trend, pattern, development, customs authorities, administrative coercion, law, genesis, evolution

Abstract: For quite a long period of time, the representatives of different ideological schools have been disputing over the need for a welfare state and the conditions of its creation, the legitimacy of social rights distinguishing along with personal and political rights, social support for citizens, its forms, amount and the reasons for its provision. To define various aspects of the welfare state concept, the author considers the issues of such a state’s function as social assistance; the legitimacy and possibility of citizens’ social claims; the distribution of risks in social protection of citizens; the grounds of the society’s taking the responsibility of social assistance provision; the forms of social assistance which should be unconditional and publicly-funded; the problems of choice of reasons for the various forms of social support provision – social assistance, social stimulation, and social compensation. From the position of materialistic dialectics, the author applies general scientific and specific methods of cognition, particularly, the logical, formal-legal and system. The demonstrated welfare state concept, in the author’s opinion, will, to a significant extent, whittle away the existing violations of the principle of equality, provide the possibility for personal self-fulfillment, create the conditions for stability and living standard growth, and help improve the legislation in the sphere of ensuring the citizens’ right to social support. 

Keywords: social responsibilities of citizens, social rights, state functions, social stimulation, social compensation, social assistance, social support, welfare state, state policy, principle of equality of citizens

Abstract: The research subject is the range of legal problems of combating corruption in the social sphere. The author analyzes constitutional regulation of combating corruption in the social sphere from the position of constitutional law. The paper demonstrates the author’s positions on the combating corruption concept. The main attention is paid to the development of methods and methodology of constitutional regulation of combating corruption in the social sphere. Besides, the author analyzes the concepts of development of constitutional law in the context of combating corruption in Russia. The research methodology is based on the recent achievements in epistemology. The author applies general philosophical and theoretical methods (dialectics, the system method, analysis, synthesis, analogy, deduction, observation and modeling), traditional legal methods (formal-logical) and the methods of special sociological research (statistical, expert assessments, etc.). The author concludes that at present, in order to ensure legality in the social sphere, it is necessary to improve forms and methods of constitutional regulation of combating corruption. The author states the necessity to develop constitutional regulation of combating corruption. The novelty of the study consists in the proposals about the development of forms and methods of state regulation of the social sphere. 

Keywords: education, prevention, bribe, graft, standard, corrupt official, public health, sphere, corruption, constitution