Abstract: The article examines peacekeeping activities in Africa on the example of the UN cooperation with a number of African regional organisations – the AU (OAU), ECOWAS, and SADC. Special attention is paid to the peacemaking efforts of the international community to resolve the armed conflict in Liberia, which began in 1989. It is noted that after the “cold war” conflicts in Africa began to play a major role in the definition of the parameters and capabilities of the UN peacekeeping missions. Reasons of unsuccessful activities of UNOMIL in the 1990s, with an emphasis on its rivalry with the ECOMOG regional peacekeeping force are analyzed. The article presents the opinions of reputed researchers on the issues of peacekeeping in Africa. The purpose of this study is to determine the role and place of regional peacekeeping in the overall peacekeeping paradigm of the XXI century.The research is based on a combination of specific historical, comparative-legal, formal-legal and political-legal methods.The main conclusions of the research are the following: 1) there is a contradiction between the obligation of the UN to hold a leading role in maintaining peace and security in Africa and political realities that require regional organizations to play a central role in a number of conflicts due to the lack of the UN’s international political will, aimed at responding effectively; 2) peacekeeping of regional organizations and the UN is complementary, but the former need the strong political and financial support of its member States as well as of the international community. The novelty of the research is in the fact that it is for the first time in the Russian doctrine of international law the issues of African regional peacekeeping on the example of the Liberian conflict peace resolution are closely examined.

Keywords: OAU, ECOMOG, UNOMIL, conflicts resolution, peacekeeping, UN, SADC, ECOWAS, Civil war, African Union

Abstract: The article examines social danger and its characteristics based on legislative definitions of an offence in different countries. It offers a comparative and legislative analysis of the concept of "offence" based on regulatory legal acts of different countries. The authors assert that all offences but not only crimes can be characterized as socially dangerous. A conclusion is made that a punishment which exceeds a criminal punishment can not be imposed if an offence does not involve social danger. To a certain extent we can judge about the nature and degree of social danger by the type of sanctions and the amount of adverse abridgment of rights that shall be imposed on the entity that has violated the legal norm.The purpose of this article is to corroborate the presence of the social danger characteristic not only in one type of offences – a crime, but also in different types of offences by using legislation of Russia and other countries. Methods of research. A dialectical approach was applied in the process of the research, based on which the phenomena and notions were defined in their integration and interconnection with social relations. The historical legal, formal legal, comparative legal methods were used.

Keywords: elements of an offense, types of offenses, consequences, damage, crime, social danger, offense, social harm, foreign legislation, administrative offenses

Abstract: The article analyzes the development of immigration legislation of Russia in the sphere of foreign labor force regulation in the post-Soviet period. The authors conclude that for foreign nationals from the countries with a visa entry system the order of a work permit acquisition hasn’t significantly changed; while the procedure of execution of work documents for foreign nationals from the countries with a visa-free regime has been a chaotic process. The result of almost 25 years of attempts to find the most appropriate models of migrant workers job placement is rather disputable. Among the key achievements of a modern legislation are: 1) possibility of legal employment of foreign nationals from the countries with visa-free regime at physical and legal persons under equal conditions; 2) abolition of a quota system of employment of foreign nationals from visa-free countries. As the main shortcoming of it the authors note the orientation at migrant workers from visa-free countries while the migration from “visa countries” also has a big potential. For scientific explanation of the existing quota system low efficiency the authors offer the methodology of assessment of Russian labor market need for a foreign labor force which corresponds with labor force shortage and is defined as a current demand for labor force after deduction of its supply with the division into professional groups. On the base of the proposed methodology the authors analyze the labor force shortage discharge in Russia with foreign labor force in 2012 which allows concluding that the existing work permits for foreign nationals did not comply with the real need of Russian labor market. Consequently, the methodology of the need for foreign labor and the quota system assessment established by the existing migration legislation (since 2015 – only for the foreign nationals of visa-free countries), doesn’t reflect a real need for foreign labor for labor force discharge in Russia. In the conditions of a limited information and statistical provision it is suggested to use the proposed methodology as a base for work permits quotas formation for the foreign nationals from visa countries. In order to realize a positive potential of labor migration, to solve economical tasks of innovative development and to moderate the imbalances on regional labor markets the authors offer to introduce a new differentiated approach to the attraction and use of foreign labor force both from the visa-free and visa countries. The authors offer a catalogue of the most wanted specialities as an instrument of selection of the most wanted labor migrants. 

Keywords: quoting, foreign labor force, labor migration, migration policy, migration legislation, quota, visa regime of entry, visa-free regime of entry, work permit, patent

Abstract: The presented article is focused on the most debatable international law issues which have arisen from the introduction of a full "package" of sanctions of international organizations and certain states against the Russian Federation, and also in connection with the realization of anti-Russian countermeasures last year. Anti-Russian sanctions and counter-measures significantly enriched the case practice of international interaction in this sphere, having given a new impulse to doctrinal assessment of problems in this sphere.The author uses both comparative and legal methods, and also a method of interpretation of legal norms. The conclusions and cause-and-effect relations, as well as conceptual generalizations were made by means of the logical method.On the basis of the analysis of anti-Russian sanctions and countermeasures, the author offers some conceptual theses. First, the author notes that the term "sanctions" can be used, at least, in three various contexts. Secondly, it is possible to note that the present doctrine of international law doesn't have a clear understanding of the differences between sanctions and counter-measures, which leads to serious confusion. Thirdly, the questions connected with sanctions and countermeasures of last year considerably strengthened doctrinal differences between the Russian and western schools of international law, and also caused the most essential changes in the configuration of the contemporary system of international law since the end of the "cold war". Besides, the author notes significant terminological difficulties of the considered sphere, which also led to the emergence of new phenomena and terms, which may be subjected to a further doctrinal assessment.

Keywords: intenational community, breaches of international law, countermeasures, sanctions, international law, international responsibility, doctrine, legitimacy, states, international organisations

Abstract: The authors consider penal counteraction to cruel treatment of children and all forms of violence against children. In the authors’ opinion, domestic violence is considered as a grave crime which should be treated as a separate element of aggravating circumstances. At the same time, the authors suppose that a crime committed by one member of the family against another member of the family or other person under particular circumstances can be treated as an extenuation. The authors use a set of general scientific and special methods of cognition. The methodology of the research contains the dialectical method with its requirements of objectivity, comprehensiveness, historicism and clarity of truth. Among general scientific methods the authors use the methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and measurement. The comparative-legal method is used as a special scientific method. The authors offer the amendments to the existing qualificatory parts of articles and the introduction of new qualificatory features where it is necessary. Such amendments could not only define a special position of the family as an important social-legal institution, but also serve as an effective preventive measures in relation to other members of the family who are the potential subjects of such crimes thus providing the implementation of constitutional guarantees of protection of the family and its members. 

Keywords: physical violence, psychological violence, criminal law, term, definition, family, violence, counteraction, sexual abuse, injury