Volume 10, Nº 3 (2020)

In view of the US withdrawal from the INF Treaty at the end of 2019, the world was faced with a new possible “arms race”. The world community already faced this process in the 20th century as part of the confrontation between the bipolar world of the USA and the USSR. As historical experience shows, building up weapons capabilities is dangerous not only for the security of individual states, but also represents a clear threat to the international security system. The article also considers the psychological aspectsof the development of the “arms race” and its impact on other states. Medium and short-range missiles can be used to deliver a more effective weapon - nuclear. And the intensification of the development of these weapons in countries with nuclear weapons also activate the traditional threat to modern security - the threat of using nuclear weapons. At the present time, the massive presence of NATO in Europe, as well as a sharp revision of the political value systems of some CIS countries (Ukraine) will allow these medium and short-range missiles to be deployed on their territory. Such proximity of the location to the borders of the Russian Federation allows them to be used on the territory of Russia, which is an actual threat. Also, the“arms race” may be associated with some economic difficulties for the budget of the Russian Federation, which in turn will lead to its review and decrease in financing of the social sphere.

The article examines the issues of political parties, the main purpose of which is to nominate candidates for any elected posts and any representative bodies, as well as the exclusive right to nominate lists of candidates during the elections to the State Duma. The purpose of the present study is to identify systemic relationships of the norms contained in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, allowing to identify the main elements of the legal status of political parties that can be specified in current legislation provided that its norms are fully consistent with the above constitutional provisions. This is also evidenced by the fact that the relevant constitutional provisions defining this status cannot be changed in the usual way, but only in a complicated procedure. Based on the research, the author comes to the conclusion that a political party is unique in that, being an institution of civil society, it is also an entity participating in the formation and activities of public authorities. By its social nature, the party is a public institution separated from the state, designed to represent and defend the interests of various social sectors of civil society in the political process, to ensure public control over the activities of the state. However, not being the bearer of state power, the party is an essential element of the mechanism of reproduction of political power. The party ensures the organized participation of citizens in political life by nominating its candidates in elections, directly or indirectly participating in the activities of public authorities.

The idea of justice is seen as one of the fundamental values of modern society. The purpose of the article is to explore the relationship between law and justice as the most important socio-moral category. Realization of this goal is achieved by means of dialectical, popular scientific methods of knowledge. The authors draw conclusions on the fact that with each historical stage from Antiquity and the Middle Ages to New and Recent Times, characteristic features inherent in the concept of“justice”stand out. The balance between justice and law is considered. There are three points of view that characterize different approaches to their relationship: law and justice - distinct categories; Equity is a universal category; Justice is part of the law. The conclusion of the article gives an author’s understanding of the category “justice”. The framework of the study is the idea of justice in philosophy and its manifestation in laware closely related and interdependent to each other. Respect for justice is a prerequisite for the normal functioning of society. The practical significance of the article is that the results of the study can be used in subsequent scientific developments on the theory of law. The value of the study is that the findings make undeniable contributions to the theory of law.

The article substantiates the author's approach to the guaranteeing potential of a restrictive form of regulation of mass media freedom. The relevance of searching for such guarantees is justified by the high level of development of the information society - getting information from traditional formats is being replaced by online sources. In this regard, issues of balance in guaranteeing not only freedom of the media and other subjective rights, but also ensuring information security come to the fore. As a result of the author's analysis of Russian legislation, the following types of guarantees of freedom of the mass media, set out in a restrictive way: prohibition of censorship of mass media; inadmissibility of abuse of freedom of the mass media; life and health of children and minors as restrictive and prohibitive grounds for dissemination of information; defamation of the right of a journalist in the constitutional and legal plane.

In the current context of the development of the international relations visa regime is one of the legal mechanisms which impacts international links. Nowadays the trend towards the simplification of the visa regime is leading, however, the issues related to security and guarantee of the sovereignty require effective and careful use of the visa mechanism. The visa regime as a form of the administrative and law regime is studied by independent scientists. However; there are apparently not enough studies, which would consider the issue in the context of the development of the international cooperation. The goal of the research is to determine the necessity and ways of improving the visa regime in the context of the development of the international cooperation in compliance with national interests in the area of security. The author studies the issue on the basis of the formal legal, comparative and analytical approach. The Russian Federation in its practice takes into account foreign experience but prioritizes national security interest, the current geopolitical situation, new global challenges and goals of the foreign-policy activities in the post-Soviet space. The visa regime has public law nature and represents mandatory regulation. At the same time, the freedom of movement is one of the fundamental rights. Its guarantee provides conditions for the development of the international cooperation, facilitation of the humanitarian relations, development of the tourism, business relations. Restrictions on the right to the freedom of movement can be introduced on the basis of legislation only in accordance with the constitutional significant aims (p. 3 art. 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). As a result of the research, conclusions are drawn regarding the nature of the visa regime as a form of the administrative and law regime, the trends in the development of the visa relations, the necessity to improve the legislation in this area. In particular, it is determined not only the trend towards the facilitation of the visa relations but also an opposite practice of tightening of the visa formalities regarding certain individuals and specific circumstances. Factors which impact the change and tightening of the visa relations between countries are determined.

The relevanceoftheresearch is that today the number of accused who are hiding from criminal punishment abroad is increasing every year. This is influenced by a large number of factors: the General state of the criminal situation in the country, differences in current legislation with foreign countries, and the emerging practice of fighting crime. The extremely low number of persons identified on the territory of a foreign state indicates that there are serious problems that arise in the activities of operational units of internal Affairs bodies when carrying out an international search. The purpose of the study. To identify problems that arise in the activities of operational divisions of the internal Affairs bodies of the Russian Federation in the implementation of the international search for persons, search for possible ways to overcome difficulties. Results and key conclusions. The Study of normative legal acts and practical activities of operational divisions of the internal Affairs bodies of the Russian Federation allowed the author to identify legal and organizational problems that arise in the international search for the accused. The article focuses on the shortcomings in the activities of the national security service of Interpol when studying the materials of the wanted list of persons and the duration of the international wanted list procedure. Conclusions. To solve the problems, the author suggests bringing the law into line with the realities of fighting crime and making changes to the Statute of Interpol and departmental orders of the Prosecutor General’s office of the Russian Federation.

Currently, they are attracting public attention and causing public resonance problems associated with the reassessment of the feat of the Soviet people in World War II. Various kinds of insinuations arise related to the denial of the persecution and mass extermination of Jews living in Germany, in the territory of its allies and in the territories occupied by them during the Second World War; the systematic persecution and extermination of European Jews by Nazi Germany and collaborators during 1933-1945. Practice shows that those guilty of Holocaust denial try to avoid criminal liability and influence judicial practice, referring to freedom of speech enshrined in Art. 5 Abs. 1 of the Basic Law of Germany. The purpose of the article. Investigate the institution of criminal responsibility for Holocaust denial in Germany. Based on an analysis of the norms of criminal law and judicial practice in Germany in specific criminal cases, investigate the difficulty of delimiting criminal liability for denying the Holocaust freedom of expression. Methodology and methods. For the purposes of this article, the author uses the methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, diduction, as well as comparative legal, historical legal and historical comparative methods. Conclusions. After conducting a study, the author concludes that in Germany the issue of criminal liability for Holocaust denial is complex. The article points out the fact of heterogeneity of court decisions, analysis of judicial practice shows that this issue is resolved extremely ambiguously. Despite this, the author points out the high role of the legislator and the practice of law enforcement in shaping the right attitude to historical events, the high role of peoples in certain significant facts that are part of the foundation of historical and cultural heritage. Scope of the results. This work may be of interest to students of higher educational institutions, as well as graduate students interested in criminal law of foreign countries. The article can be used by teachers of law schools as an addition to the educational material.

This article examines the existing problems that arise in the case of applying the provisions of the current version of article 245 of the criminal code of the Russian Federation. Based on the analysis of the theory and judicial practice of this sphere of public relations, the authors reveal the conditions for criminal responsibility for the criminal offense provided for in this article. In addition, the article contains comparative characteristics of Russian and foreign legislation in terms of liability for cruelty to animals. The following methods were used in the article: logical method of cognition, comparative legal method of research, as well as formal legal method, which allowed to reveal the essence and signs of cruelty to animals, the method of interpretation of legal norms. The use of these methods allowed us to understand the institutions of criminal law and determine the main directions of development. The authors suggest possible ways to solve problems that arise in the process of proving the fact of criminal infringement under article 245 of the criminal code of the Russian Federation, and reveal ways to eliminate gaps in legislation.

In the modern world, medicine is actively developing, which allows using the achievements of science and technology in order to ensure human health and life. Medical services meet the basic needs of protecting human health and much attention is paid to the development of innovative branches of medicine, such as bioethics and others. However, in medical practice there are often situations when problems with human health cannot be solved by traditional medical procedures and the need arises to transplant organs or tissues. Transplantation of human organs and tissues in the modern world is becoming a common method of medical activity, which allows many patients to save lives. However, this process is accompanied by a number of criminal acts. Criminal communities commit unlawful actions in order to profit from the sale of donor agencies. These actions cause significant damage to the medical sphere and pose serious threats to human life and health. The purpose of this work is to analyze the existing mechanisms for countering crimes in the field of transplantation of human organs and tissues. Attention is focused on the fragmentation of criminal legislation in the field of transplantation of human organs and tissues, which significantly affects the ineffectiveness of counteraction to these illegal acts.

The purpose of the article is to consider the peculiarities of investigative and judicial actions that are caused by their postponement, the inability to attract a lawyer, as well as the suspension of the preliminary investigation during the period of emergency measures taken by the government of the Russian Federation in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus infection pandemic (COVID-19). The authorsanalyze the features of the courts activity in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, which is associated with minimizing the personal reception of citizens and submitting documents via electronic Internet reception offices of courts or by Russian Post, as well as the possibility of conducting online court sessions. The authors come to the conclusion that the judicial system was not sufficiently prepared for the pandemic, and therefore it is urgently necessary to adopt a special normative act that would regulate the implementation of judicial proceedings in emergency situations, allowing to continue to consider urgent cases, including materials on the election, extension, cancellation or change of a preventive measure.

Purpose of the study. Consideration of the problems existing in the practice of analysis, assessment and use of expert opinions by public prosecutors, and their causes. The study of the methodology for the implementation of this activity as a combination of:a) theoretical principles and practical methods, research methods that the prosecutor applies to assess the relevance, admissibility, reliability of the expert’s opinion; b) a system of principles and methods for studying the laws in accordance with which the process of this assessment proceeds. The author briefly considers the principles of: a) legality; b) science; c) systemic; d) objectivity included in the set of principles on which the assessment of the expert’s opinion is based. The author proposes the sequence of the prosecutor’s decision to analyze and evaluate the expert’s opinion, considered as the most rational way of this activity. The set of questions clarified in this case is considered both as a task and as a set of objects of assessment. These objects are divided into two groups, depending on the nature of the main issues to be solved; 1) concerning the assessment of the possibility of using one or another expert opinion as evidence of a charge in court; 2) relating to the definition of tactics of their submission to the court and participation in their research. The article provides examples of the use of individual research methods and assessment of expert opinions: comparative legal, analogy, analysis and synthesis. The results of the study . The analysis and assessment of the expert’s opinion is a complex cognitive process that requires legal and special knowledge, practical experience, knowledge of the methodology of this work from prosecutors. Its use in compliance with the principles that it is based on is one of the ways to increase the professional level of public prosecutors.

The article is devoted to the research of the youth criminal subculture and its impact on the personality of under-aged. In the course of analysis of this negative impact, a definition of the criminal subculture of under-aged was proposed. The main principles of such a criminal subculture as AUE (the acronym, transcribed from Russian: АУЕ or А.У.Е., comes from «Арестантский уклад един» / “Prisoners Unity (Solidarity)” are defined. The reasons contributing to the development of this negative phenomenon and the typical fea- tures of a minor sharing the ideology of the AUE were identified. The methods for counteracting the AUE were proposed. The method- ological basis of the research is formed by general scientific methods: dialectical, system research method, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, analogy, etc., as well as such private scientific methods as comparative legal, formal legal, structural and functional, statistical ones. The authors relied on the results of research by Russian and foreign legal scholars, sociologists, psychologists.

The friendship between nations lies in the mutual affinity of the people, and the people’s affinity lies in the communion of hearts. The cultural and humanities cooperation between China and Russia has a long history. In recent years, under the role of the“Belt and Road” initiative, the SCO, and the Sino-Russian Humanities Cooperation Committee, Sino-Russian culture and humanities cooperation has continued to deepen. Entering a new era, taking the opportunity to promote Sino-Russian relations into a “new era China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership”, the development of human relations between the two countries has entered a new historical starting point, while also facing a series of problems and challenges. This article is based on the current status of Sino-Russian human relations in the new era, interprets the characteristics of Sino-Russian human relations in the new era, analyzes the problems and challenges of Sino-Russian human relations in the new era, and tries to propose solutions and solutions with a view to further developing Sino-Russian cultural and humanities relations in the new era. It is a useful reference, and provides a reference for future related research, and ultimately helps the Sino-Russian cultural and humanities relations in the new era to be stable and far-reaching.

The article is aimed at highlighting a number of issues in the field of legal regulation of innovative medical technologies based on interference in the human genome and cloning (therapeutic and reproductive) in the context of international law (conventions, declarations, bilateral agreements). In this format, the author examined some international acts that created the legal paradigm for regulating scientific research in the field of study, determining the limits of the admissibility of the implementation of the indicated achievements of modern science in clinical medicine, which are designed to be an effective tool in the fight against severe hereditary diseases, etc., which potentially predetermines their demand. The focus of the author’s attention is on the patentability of these biotechnologies. The relevance of such a study is due to the range of issues addressed, since in the absence of proper regulatory regulation of the studied sphere of public relations, domestic high-tech medicine will be forced to engage in “catch-up” development. In the study, such methods of scientific knowledge were used as general scientific dialectics, formal logic and comparative legal methods. At the same time, the author proceeds from both subjective and objective presetting of processes and phenomena, and their interconnection. The novelty of the study is determined by its purpose, subject and range of sources considered. Thus, the author explores the provisions of both normative acts and documents (acts of so-called “soft law”), emphasizing the peculiarities of their legal nature. In this format, the author comes the conclusion that the system of international principles and standards, formed by the considered acts and documents, does not contain explicit permission to carry out scientific research in the biotechnology field with the subsequent commercialization of its results, which can be patented as inventions, that leads to the need to create national legal frameworks by modern states wishing to advance in this field that will result in a mosaic legal map of the world. Where innovative biotechnologies will be spread in the countries -“scientific offshores” providing loyal to these kinds of scientific researches legislation. The theoretical and practical significance of the results is determined by the fact that Russian readers will be provided with up-to-date scientific information on the state of international law in the field under study, which in practical terms will contribute to the awareness of the sufficiency (or insufficiency) of the developed international legal mechanism for regulating the sphere of biotechnology, including positions of patent and legal protection of a number of“breakthrough” biotechnologies of applied nature, and will also help to establish the unification level of domestic legislation with the approaches laid down in the studied international acts and documents.