Abstract: The article deals with the legal status of foreign investments in the fuel and energy complex of the Russian Federation. Author explored the legislation as well as judicial practice ruling over foreign investments in the fuel and energy complexof the Russian Federation. Special place is given to the international legal rules governing investments in the energy sector. It is alleged that, despite the establishment of national (non discriminatory) treatment of foreign investments, fuel and energy complex by its very nature is an area of economic activity, where by way of derogation from the principle of (national treatment) may be applied discriminatory legal regime (MFN status). At the same time, it is noted that, in practice, foreign investors in the energy sector put in a better position than nationals because of the need to attract foreign investment, as well as exploration and production technologies of energy.

Keywords: Legal regime, fuel and energy sector, foreign investment, national investment, the national legal regime, most favored nation treatment, litigation, domestic law, international law, case law.

Abstract: This article examines the legal grounds and types of inheritance in Russia’s civil law, considering the most recent positions of the Russian legislation. The goal of this research is to review the legal categories with regards to bases to inheritance according to the law of inheritance of the Russian Federation. The author suggests an original approach towards the questions of inheritance. The proposed new approach towards understanding the grounds for inheritance will allow solving certain questions of hereditary succession of various categories of heirs, including through justification of purposefulness of the coverage of particular conditions of inheritance for the heirs by the will or law. During the course of this research the author applied a combination of general scientific and private scientific methods, which allowed forecasting certain trends in development of the institution of inheritance law, as well as formulating a number of scientifically substantiated recommendations and propositions. This work suggests to differentiate the grounds for inheritance and types of inheritance, and based on this fact establish a logical conceptual framework, which would be used in the theory of civil law and legislation. The author’s classification of the grounds for inheritance is being presented in the article.

Keywords: Hereditary substitution, Right of representation, Escheated property, Juridical fact, Legal succession, Legal competence, Hereditary transmission, Inheritance, Inheritor, Heir

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the examination of a relevant for the modern jurisprudence issue of separation of branches within the system of Russian law. The work covers one of the commonly referred to within the modern scientific literature subsidiary criteria of branch-formation – the principles of law. The author gives characteristics to the nature of the principles of law, including from the perspective of presence of the subjective and objective beginnings; place of the principles of law in the system of law; their main functions and importance for organization of the normative material within the frameworks of the legal system. The author substantiates the possibility of implementation of the principles of law as the subsidiary criterion of branch-formation, as well as presents the corresponding examples. Moreover, the article illustrates the opinions of the Soviet and modern Russian theoreticians of law the principles of law, as well as their role in the process of organization of the normative material in the legal system. The scientific novelty consists in a special examination of the principles of law as the independent criterion of differentiation of the branches in the legal system. This article is intended for a broad audience of readers, as there is no similar research on this topic in the modern juridical science.

Keywords: moral values of law, legislative system, legal regulation, the subjective in law, principles of law, the objective in law, criteria of branch-formation, structure of the legal system, legal system, lawmaking

Abstract: The subject of this research is the legislative norms and positions of legal precedent, which regulate the immaterial goods, personal non-property rights, positions on protection of civil rights, as well as rights of the state as subject of civil law. The object of this work is the public relations, associated with the emerging violations of rights and legal interests of the state as subject of civil legal relations, including those associated with distribution of false and damning information with regards to the government. The author substantiates the necessity to maintain state reputation from defamation, and examines the effects of the spreading of inaccurate and erroneous information with regards to the government upon its reputation. The scientific novelty of this research consists in the fact that based on the existing scientific knowledge in the area of civil law, positions of the current legislation and legal precedent, the author explains the introduction into the civil legislation of the Russian Federation of such category as state reputation, as the subject of potential negative and damning reputation, as well as the norms of law that regulate the protection of the state from defamation.  

Keywords: defamation, protection of intangible rights, intangible assets, state reputation, reputation, public law institution, state, personal non-property rights, Intangible goods, distribution of damning information

Abstract: This article demonstrates that within the legal language there have been discovered the so-called ascriptive legal utterances (ascriptions), which differ from the descriptive statements. The author determines that the ascriptions in law help realize a special function of the language – the performative one, or taking action using words. It became possible as a result of implementation within the legal language of a methodological and conceptual apparatus of the theory of speech acts, developed by an English language expert John Austin and American philosopher Searle. The methodology of philosophy of common language, as well as the conceptual apparatus of the theory of speech acts was being used in the course of this work. The author’s main contribution consists in establishment of semantic specificity of the ascriptive legal utterances, and development of the linguistic formula of ascriptions, which reflects theirs special character and importance for the legal language. It is also highlighted that ascription represents a separate speech act, which mostly occurs in the legal environment.

Keywords: law enforcement, pragmatics, semantics, speech act, descriptive utterances, ascriptive legal utterances, legal language, court decision, action, legislative norm

Abstract: The subject of this research is the “e-government”, theory and practice of its implementation in different countries, including Russia wherein, based on realization of the federal target program “Electronic Russia”, have been established the State automated system “Administration”, Multifunctional centers of provision of public and municipal services, Centers of public access to information of the federal executive authorities, Common Government Services Portal (functions). An important aspect of the examined topic is the analysis of such elements as “e-government”, “e-parliament”, and “e-justice”, as well as the main difficulties and prospects of their introduction into public administration. The author’s main contribution consists in the comprehensive study of theory and practice of implementation of “e-government” into public administration system of the modern Russia, as well as the analysis of the international experience of realization of “e-government”, “e-parliament”, and “e-justice” that can be adjusted to the Russian circumstances.

Keywords: public services, Internet portal, electronic document management, openness, e-justice, e-parliament, e-government, Russian Federation, electronic participation, new media

Abstract: In this article the author gives attention to the questions of militarization and demilitarization of the penal system of Russia. Accent is made on the historically established facts that affect militarization of penitentiary system. The signs of militarization and demilitarization of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia are being revealed. Taking into account the surveys conducted among the accredited employees of penal system, the author carefully examines the separate signs of militarization and demilitarization of penal system. The author points out the problem of determination of the place of Federal Penitentiary Service within the system of government agencies. The main conclusion of this work consists in the fact that over time, the penal system will deviate from the effect of militarized standards. Its activity will manifest polar origins in both aspects – militarization, as well as demilitarization. It must produce a positive effect upon the security of the entire penitentiary department.

Keywords: Military service, Special rank, Penitentiary system reform, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, Type of uniform, Civil service, Security, Penal system, Demilitarization, Militarization

Abstract: The subject of this work is a comprehensive study of the rules of domestic and foreign penal legislation, which codifies the implementation of preventative measures for inmates serving a sentence in penitentiaries, which include isolation, protective custody, supervision, measures of disciplinary responsibility, realization of educational activities, organizational-administrative and rapid search measures; in lawful cases application of security measures, ensuring that inmates carry out their responsibilities; separation of different categories of inmates; measures of prevention and thwarting violations. The author determines inconsistencies in the formulation of the preventative measures, and as part of the conclusion gives an original classification of preventative measures in penitentiaries:1.     Actions that prevent crimes; measures aimed at prevention of violations to the regime of serving the sentence, as well as security measures;2.     Means implemented based on the court ruling, as well as the means that are based on the inmates’ evasive behavior.

Keywords: the system of elements of punishment, preventative process, penal regime, deprivation of liberty, prisons, preventative measures, convicts, prevention of offenses, target penitentiary law, content of punishment

Abstract: The subject of this research is the three fundamental concepts of the Russian Criminal Penal Law – “classification of convicts”, “progressive system of execution and serving of the sentence”, and “degree of correction of a convict”. The author examines the concept of “classification of convicts”, which lies at the basis of the separate housing of inmates to ensure isolation of various groups of inmates in order to avoid negative influence of the more dangerous criminals upon the less dangerous. The “progressive system” means that the inmates must be divided into several classes, and that based on the progression of their sentence their position must progressively improve. This defines the interconnection between the concepts of “progressive system” and “degree of correction”. Based on the study of the views of various scholars on the current and previous versions of the penal legislation, the author makes proposals for improving the approaches towards the modern progressive system, classification of convicts, and determination of the degree of their correction.

Keywords: punishment conditions, social adaptation, housing of inmates outside of prison, classification of convicts, progressive system, degree of correction, change of conditions, correction, convict, relapse prevention

Abstract: The subject of this research is the criminal law norms that regulate the responsibility for tax violations in the CIS countries. The author explores the objective and subjective elements of these violations, its qualifications, as well as the questions of exemption from criminal responsibility for these offences. A peculiar attention is given to the questions of legislative regulation of the norms on criminal evasion from taxes. The scientific novelty of this research consists in the complex research of the norms on criminal tax evasion, as well as determination of the legislative gaps and formulation of the ways to fix them. Among the main conclusions are the author’s highlights of the positive and negative aspects of the legal regulation of criminal responsibility for tax violations in the CIS countries.

Keywords: Model Criminal Code of the CIS, Elements of crime, Criminal evasion, Taxation, Foreign countries, Criminal Code, CIS countries, Criminal responsibility, Tax evasion, Taxes

Abstract: The subject of this research is the determination of the main essential characteristics (subject and limits) of prosecutor’s supervision over adherence to the Federal Law “About Bases of System of Prevention of Offenses in the Russian Federation", considering the necessity to highlight a supervisory component within the activity of prosecution agencies that is typical namely to them. The author defines a circle of the regulated to prosecutors objects (agencies) and subjects (officials and other entities) entering the prosecutorial supervisory legal relations. The methodology of this research is based on the modern scientific achievements on the prosecutorial activity in the area of implementation of such function of the prosecutor’s office as prosecutorial supervision. This article is practically first to attempt to determine the main characteristics of the prosecutorial supervision from the position of requirements of the Federal Law “About Bases of System of Prevention of Offenses in the Russian Federation" due to the fact it was introduced fairly recently, and the supervisory character of ensuring legitimacy within the examined sphere of legal relations was being fragmentarily researched.

Keywords: Prosecutorial power, Federal Law, Prosecutor, Preventative activity, Subjects of prosecutorial supervision, Prevention of offences, Objects of prosecutorial supervision, Adherence to laws

Abstract: This article examines the specifics of the legal regulation of public service relationships during the transformations in the structure of the federal executive authorities. In particular, it addresses the issues of admission to the public service while creating new, reorganizing and abolishing of the existing federal executive authorities. Particular attention is paid to the procedure of notification of civil servant of the impending reduction of positions, the possibility of holding an extraordinary examination, and offering available positions, especially with the use of the services of the Portal of the federal public service and administrative personnel. The study uses legal and structural methods that provide a comprehensive study of the problems of legal regulation of public-service relationships during transformations in the structure of the federal executive authorities. The analysis revealed that during financial and economic crisis, efforts are constantly made to optimize the existing apparatus of government. Moreover, the process of organizational optimization, especially if it is connected with reduction in civil service posts or the abolition of the state authority, inevitably leads to the appeal of actions of the employer in court.

Keywords: Notice of dismissal, Government guarantee, Ministry, Administrative reform, Reorganization, Reduction of the post, Dismissal, Public service, Public servant, Legal status

Abstract: The subject of this article is the activity of the European expert analytical centers, which attracts substantiated academic interest in the area of applied and theoretical research. The relevance lies in the questions associated with the functional responsibilities of similar centers, their sponsorship, presence or absence of the ideological component, and most importantly, level of their influence upon the process of domestic and foreign policy decision-making. In the conditions of complicated circumstances in Russia-Europe relations, a more adequate understanding of the latent mechanisms of functioning of the European policy seems necessary. Due to this fact, the authors note the need for an in-depth analysis of the forms and active work of the EU oriented expert analytical centers. The authors made the following conclusions based on the analysis of the EU oriented expert analytical centers: in general, the increase of the number of expert centers complies with the extension of European integration and expansion of control; as a rule, the research of the analytical centers, correspond with the EU political realities and its impact upon the domestic legislation alongside the increased awareness of actions. The analytical centers located in Brussels and oriented exclusively towards EU were established at the time when EU member-states agreed to rejuvenate the European project, finish the internal market, and revisit the possibility of the economic and currency union. Naturally, the national expert analytical centers located in the EU member-states began developing more sequential versions of the research programs on the EU topic. It is evident that the national centers have captured the rising opportunity to affect the all-European political agenda and reacted with the activation of their own work.

Keywords: decision-making process, political planning, lobbying, political technologies, political process, political expertise, analytical institutions, political forecast, political analysis, political elite

Abstract: The problem of judicial lawmaking is one of the relevant for the modern legal science. The subject of this research is judicial practice and legal precedent as the possible, acceptable, and valid sources of Russian law. The goal of this work consists in development of the theoretical positions, which contain substantiation of the importance of the official recognition of judicial practice and legal precedent as the sources of law in the conditions of promotion of the judicial reform along with the work on harmonization of legislation. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that this article is first to examine a complex of questions pertaining to inclusion of the judicial practice and legal precedent into the ranks of the sources of law in light of modernization of the Russian lawmaking. The author suggests theoretical positions and practical recommendations which allow developing the doctrine of judicial practice and legal precedent in Russia.

Keywords: Internationalization of legislation, Globalization of law, Judicial authority, Law enforcement, Judicial legal provisions, Sources of law, Lawmaking, Prejudice, Legal precedent, Judicial practice

Abstract: Within the framework of this article the authors examine the phenomena of constitutional state and state of justice as the alternative state legal ideals. Constitutional state is being interpreted as an institution occurred on the background of Romano-Germanic civilization, which is acceptable namely for the legal culture of Western European and North American nations. The characteristic of the state of justice is based on the works legal experts of the Eurasian vector of Russian thought – M. V. Shakhmatova and N. N. Alekseeva. The authors consider the positive and negative aspects of the aforementioned phenomena, as well as their correspondence with the historical circumstances of development of the Russian super-ethnos. A correlation is drawn between the phenomenon of constitutional state and the phenomenon of police state. The authors pose a question on the inapplicability of the ideal of constitutional state towards all nations, as well as claim about its close correlation with the police state. It is substantiate that for Russia more acceptable is the ideal of state of justice based not on the external legal influence of individuals, but on their internal improvement, sense of conscience, and mature level of legal awareness.

Keywords: Guarantee state, Super-ethnos, Eurasian alternative, Dictatorship of conscience, Supremacy of law, Police state, State ideal, Eurasianism, Constitutional state, State of justice

Abstract: The subject of this research is the initial normative regulators of the internal relations of the political organizations in Russia. The author particularizes the nuances of conception and evolution of the inner-rparty (corporate) political unions which existed during the period of absence of special state regulation of their activity (prior to the XX century). An emphasis is made on the following aspects: establishment of the system of sources of the norms of internal (corporate) regulation of political organizations; determination of the circle of relations comprising the current subject of inner-party regulation; evolution of the institutions of party membership; inner-party form regime; and organizational territorial structure. The author’s main contribution consists in going beyond the framework of the general approach towards determination of the brink of the centuries as an initial point of inception of the Russian political organizations, as well as substantiating the thesis on the presence of the century-old traditions of party self-regulation in Russia. The revealed during the course of this historical legal research national specificities and trends of establishment of the inner-party regulation in Russia, allow forecasting the further development of such system, as well as represent the material for structuring the program of their reformation.  

Keywords: Ideological multifacetedness, Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, Narodniks, Decembrist organizations, Internal institutionalization, Self-regulation, Corporate norms, Corporate regulation, Inner-party regulation, Political party

Abstract: This article reviews the dynamic pattern of the social image of crime among minorities in the Black Earth Zone of Russia based on the systemic approach in the context of factors, substantiated by the consequences of the negative influence of global information space upon the consciousness of the younger generation. Taking into account the social nature of crime among minorities, the authors underline the relevance of research of the problems of the uneven distribution of crime in the Black Earth Zone of Russia, the regions of which do not diverge by a significant disproportion of their development, in other words, have approximately equal indexes in socioeconomic, demographic, cultural-historical, information, and other areas of life. The authors conduct an in-depth analysis of objective information about quantitative and qualitative content of the factors, which affect criminalization of the teenage youth. Practical importance of the analytical materials on the dynamic pattern of social image of crime among minorities is represented by the fact that they can be implemented in development and introduction of the corresponding government and public measures in the center or regions of the country, for the purpose of prevention of violations and fight against crime.

Keywords: Prevention, Institutions of socialization of the minorities, Dynamic of crime among minorities, Youth crime structures, Coefficient of crime death toll, Crime indexes, Global information space, Psychological age, Juvenile criminal, Social image of crime