Review: The subject of this research is the pacifist doctrine, since its origination until the present day. Emphasis is made on the direct impact of pacifist views upon the establishment of the current public international law. The representatives of peacekeeping organizations of the XIX century assumed that warfare as a form of settling political contradictions will soon and inevitably become outdated. However, the end of the second decade of the XXI century is characterizes by not only multiple armed conflicts, but also occurrence of the new, much more refined forms of military confrontation. Examination of the aforementioned questions, as well as an attempt to discern global trends in the area of international security, which determine the future of international law, served as a leitmotif for this publication. The authors highlight the key stages in establishment of the pacifist doctrine, as well as consider the question of which institutions and branches of the current international law are affected the most by pacifism. The article also examines the fundamental issues of military sphere impeding the practical implementation of the ideals of pacifism within modern international relations. The most indicative manifestation of the pacifist doctrine in international law is the subject of disarmament; therefore, particular attention in the article is given namely to the key problems of its implementation.

Keywords: weapon of mass destruction, states, peace, war, use of force, international law, disarmament, pacifism, nuclear weapon, conflicts

Review: This article describes on the conceptual and practical level the international legal framework for cooperation of the global community member states on crime prevention in the area of information technologies, as well considers certain theoretical and legal aspects of realization of international cooperation on crime prevention in the area of information technologies. The analysis of the composition of unlawful acts, established in the international treaties, testifies to the emergence of the novation types of crimes subject to legal regulation on the international level, as well as in terms of the national criminal law. Methodological foundation contains systemic, structural, and functional analysis; logical, comparative-legal, and formal-logical methods. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that the author provides the definition and classification of unlawful acts committed in the sphere of information technologies; explores the problem of the absence of universal international treaty that would regulate the questions of cooperation of states in this area;  analyzes the regional sources of international law dedicated to the questions of international cooperation on crime prevention in the area of information technologies.

Keywords: counteraction to crimes, cryptocurrency, information technology resources, illegal activities, international treaty, cooperation of states, field of information technologies, international cooperation, transnational character, means of communication

Review: The subject of this research is the peculiarities of normative regulation of genetically modified organism within the European legal framework. According to the World Health Organization, genetically modified organism (GMO) are considered those, which genetic material underwent substantial changes obtained by artificial means. Such types of changes do not occur naturally, for example, as a result of mating or natural recombination. The ethical framework concept, which serves as the foundation of normative regulation of GMO in the European legal space, for a great while was associated with promulgation of the fundamental principle of precaution; as well with the new attitude towards innovation activity – the culture of precaution, established in the European cultural space. In the course of this research, the author applied the comparative legal method with attraction of a number of sourced of the European law and international law, which allowed giving a sense of ethnical-axiological components that underlies the regulation of GMO. The influence of the principle of precaution upon the formation of modern policy in the area of regulation of genetically modified organisms is presented. A conclusion is made about the paradigm shift due to transition from the policy of precaution, aimed at constraint of the potential risks of scientific and technical development, towards the implementation of innovation principle, which goal is the advancement of innovations.

Keywords: innovation principle, precaution culture, precautionary policy, precautionary principle, GMO regulation, biotechnology, the regulation of GMOs, genetically modified organism, GMO, GMO risk prevention

Review: This article specifies and characterizes the major milestones in Russia-China scientific and technical (including military) cooperation from the political legal perspective. The starting point is the intergovernmental agreements of 1992 on the scientific and technical cooperation (STC) and military and technical cooperation (MTC). The author determines the difficulties and prospects of cooperation in the indicated fields; provides the examples of particular forms of such cooperation. An objective need of Russia and China for the development of STC and MTC on mutually beneficial terms serves as the basis for research. The scientific novelty consists in the “end-to-end” approach that views the question at hand in retrospective and from modern perspective. It is established that the scientific and technical development of Russia and China has a strong legal framework and substantial groundwork of previous years, possesses a multidivisional organizational structure and active connections at various levels, which creates the foundation for the progress in the area of military and technical cooperation. Therefore, the development of STC of Russia and China in the long run seems quite successful.

Keywords: innovations, innovation policy, military cooperation, China, Russia, scientific cooperation, BRICS, adoption, technoparks, RAS

Review: The subject of this research is the acts and other international legal documents of international organizations adopted or drafted in the 1970’s related to the questions of anti-corruption managements, practiced by transnational corporations in the accepting countries, including the acts and other document of the United Nations, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, International Labor Organization, and International Chamber of Commerce. The article also examines the related acts and other documents of administration and Congress of the United Stated of the 1970’s. The first wave of the global anti-corruption initiatives (1970’s) was caused by the negative attitude towards the activity of transnational corporations in the accepting countries. Within the framework of the UN “soft” law, were adopted the acts against corruption practices of transnational corporations. After the promulgation of the scales of illegal and unethical activity of North American corporations in the developing countries, the United States adopted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as well as initiated the formulation of international documents of similar content. The corresponding documents were adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation (1976) and International Chamber of Commerce (1977), but they carried a recommendatory character and were referred to corporations, rather than the countries. During the 1977-1979, the subsidiary bodies of the United Nations Economic and Social Council upon the initiative of the United States developed a project of international agreement on the illicit payments, but encountered opposition from the majority of the developed countries, as well as generated discussions with the developing countries, due to which in the 1980’s this project was scrapped.

Keywords: soft law, international commercial transactions, bribery, illicit payments, transnational corporations, corruption, FCPA, UN, OECD, developing countries