Abstract: The author compares mixed bound election system used for the German Bundestag elections since 1953 and the mixed bound election system which was applied in Russia for the State Duma elections in 1993-2003.  The author points out their differences and similiarities.  The main difference is that the German election system guarantees proportionate representation of political parties with the minimal distortion, while the Russian election system allows for considerable distortions, including the situation when a party for which less than half of electors have voted gains majority of seats.  The author discusses factors, which lead to proportionality distortions in German election system, as well as the problems of "extra" mandates and splitting of votes. The author makes a conclusion that the German election system may be adapted to the Russian conditions, and within the majority part of the system there's a need to depart from the "winner takes it all" principle.  As one of the options the author offers to substitute single-mandate election districts with the multi-mandate ones.

Keywords: elections, mixed election system, proportionate election system, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Bundestag, the State Duma, seat allocation, threshold, election districts, party lists

Abstract: This article concerns the modern legal bases for the formation and activities of the agricultural cooperatives in the Central and Eastern European states. The article contains historic legal analysis of the legislation of the Central and Eastern European states on land and agricultural reforms of 1980s, including liquidation and reorganization of cooperatives and state collectives. The author formulates the tendencies in land and agricultural reforms of the Central and Eastern European states. She notes negative consequences of cooperative reforms for the economy in general and agriculture in particular.  She discusses modern approaches to defining legal statuses of Eastern European agricultural cooperatives. Then the author draws the conclusions that the "new type" cooperatives from the classical cooperatives.  She formulates the causes for transformation of cooperatives into legal entities of different organizational legal forms.  The article includes models of possible regulation development in the sphere of formation and activities of agricultural cooperatives in the Central and Eastern European states.  Then she establishes the need to differentiate legal regulation of agricultural cooperatives. 

Keywords: cooperative legislation, new type of cooperative, agricultural cooperation, cooperative liquidation, land reform, agricultural reform, the Central and Eastern Europe, trade legislation, the European cooperative legislation, the European cooperative

Abstract: The article is devoted to participation of the prosecution in guaranteeing of constitutional lawfulness in the process of legislative formation in the Russian Federation. The article concerns a number of aspects of these prosecutor activities. The author analyzes the term lawfulness in its broad and narrow meanings, its correlation with international law and its value within the law-making activities in the Russian Federation. The author also studies the lawfulness guarantees  in the law-making by various state bodies. The author evaluates the input of prosecutors into protection of constitutional lawfulness within the process of formation of a positive law system of the Russian Federation, as well as the use of prosecutor control against violations of constitutional lawfulness in the law-making process.  The author also discusses direct participation of prosecution in the law-making activities of the state government and municipal bodies. The author then points out the value of prosecutor activities in eliminating corruption-generating factors in the sphere of legislative drafting, and analyzes the topical issues of implementation of such prosecutor activities.  One of such topical issues is elimination of contradictions with the Constitution of the Russian Federation from the drafts of normative legal documents.

Keywords: prosecution, the Constitution of the Russian Federation, legislation of the Russian Federation, constitutional lawfulness, prosecutor supervision, law-making, elimination of contradictions, corruption-generating factors, judicial constitutional norm-control, law-making proposals by prosecutors

Abstract: The article concerns topical problems regarding prosecutor supervision over the procedural activities of inquiry and preliminary interrogation bodies in criminal cases on human trafficking. The authors analyze practice of prosecutor supervision in this sphere, as well as international documents and statistical data.  The article contains examples of investigation of criminal cases within the above-mentioned category, and possible measures for improvement of efficiency in the sphere of prosecution control and current legislation of the Russian Federation and the CIS against human trafficking.  The authors propose to have joint by-law by the law-enforcement bodies of the Russian Federation defining the list and elements of crimes in the sphere of human trafficking alike to similar lists on extremist and corruption-related, and terrorist crimes. In the interests of the law-enforcement bodies of the CIS Member States there is need to form a joint forensic database. Finally, in order to guarantee unhindered operative (including international situations) participation of victims in criminal judicial proceedings there is need to widen the scope of digital technologies in criminal proceedings, such as video-conferences, SMS, Internet-telephony, electronic signatures, information and consultation websites with the access only to victims and their representatives, etc.

Keywords: prosecutor supervision, inquiry, investigation, human trafficking, criminal cases, victims, juveniles, prostitution, pornography, organized crime

Abstract: The insufficient legal regulation in the sphere of labor and the gaps in normative acts lead to growth of the number of claims of workers in courts and other state bodies competent to hear labor disputes.  Having studied the procedural specific features of hearing and resolution of labor disputes in the Russian Federation as well as the foreign experience in this sphere, the author attempts to provide a concept for the labor justice formation in the Russian Federation. In particular, the author offers to form the Judicial Divisions on Labor Disputes within the system of general jurisdiction court. This Judicial Devision shall use the procedure prescribed by the Labor Procedural Code and specialize in cases arising from labor relations (both individual and collective claims). The procedure for hearing such cases should have a number of specific features. It is considered that formation of specialized labor courts shall guarantee reliable, efficient and professional protection of labor rights of citizens.  The author considers that specialization of courts is due to a number of causes: firstly, their formation shall facilitate the strenghening of judicial system; secondly, hearing and resolution of a certain category of cases guarantees higher professionalism of judges, since lack of specialization does not allow the courts to take into account specific features of such disputes; thirdly, the courts of special jurisdiction shall allow for the speedier judicial process. 

Keywords: collective labor dispute, individual labor dispute, specialization of courts, employer, employee, labor relations, labor dispute, labor justice, specialized courts, mediation

Abstract: The article is devoted to the problems of legal socialization of the Russian youth.  The authors single out a number of social contradictions, which influence psychosocial evolution of young people as subjects of law. Legal socialization is characterized by them as a complicated dialectic process through which hte citizens gain socially valuable personal qualities, necessary for performance of legal roles. The article contains a conclusion that the existing social contraditions preclude the formation of efficient mechanisms for the manageable socialization of the young Russian citizens, who have to adapt to social and legal system, having a number of significant flaws and fundamental contradictions.  Their presence complicated management of the legal socialization process, and it lead to considerable deformation of legal conscience among a majority of the Russian young people. While the youth is a complicated social formation, and it constantly reproduces and changes the legal system in a society, the state government institutions pay too little attention to the youth.  The manageable legal socialization could have facilitated three specific socially important functions of the youth: reproduction, translation, and heuristic function.  The existing social antagonisms preclude formation of the efficient mechanisms for manageable socialization and provision of the clear socially useful guidelines for legal activities to the young people.

Keywords: upbringing, education, youth, Russian society, legal culture, legal conscience, socialization, social contradictions, social group, legal life

Abstract: The author studies the role of clergy in formation of the social influence institution in the procedure of correction of convicts. From the time when the Philantropic Society was formed, the initiative of clergy towards the convicts, which was previously sporadic and unregulated became systemic and ordered. The representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church took active part in pastoral direction of convicts, formaton of rules for religious rites during the transits, which later had legislative value, organization of education and libraries in prisons.  All of the work of the Church was aimed towards moral reeductaion of convicts by support of their religious beliefs and positive spiritual qualities. By forming the policy of social influence as means of correction of convicts in XIX and early XX century the state attempted to use the moral and spiritual potential of the church for the correction of criminals, as well as for the purpose of their  inner rebirth under the influence of moral norms and repention.

Keywords: correction of convicts, moral influence, criminal punishment, social influence, execution of punishments, spiritual correction, religion, criminal penal law, prison, educative influence

Abstract: The article is devoted to simultaneous study of two legal aspects. The first aspect concern non-judicial approach to protection of lawful rights and interests of a person in cases when such rights are infringed within judicial process, however, it is not possible to challenge the acts of a judge into a court of higher instance. The second aspect provides a direct response to an issue of whether a party to a civil case may get acquainted with the medical documents requested by the courts.  The ambiguity within this issue is due to the fact that medical documents requested by the court as such are not evidence (while the expert opinion based on it is evidence), but the medical documents may be subject to graphologic or other type of expertise.  The problems are analyzed based upon the facts of a specific civil process, where the author used non-judicial protection in the form of being familiarized with the materials of the case with the assistance of various officials and official bodies, including the Chairperson of a District Court, Chiefs of the Court of the Constituent Subject of the Russian Federation, Administration of the President of hte Russian Federation and the Plenipotentiary on Human Rights in the Russian Federation. The author proves efficiency of non-judicial forms of protection of subjective rights and lawful interests even in an on-going judicial case.

Keywords: human rights, judicial expertise, medical secret, addresses of citizens, protection of rights, judicial process, non-judicial protection, medical secret, plenipotentiary, rights of citizens