Abstract: The international judicial process, which emerged only about a century ago, could not be constructed by a model different from the judicial processes within the states. However, the legal framework for such process is created upon the generally accepted principles and norms of international law by the sovereign states and expresses their common will. With proliferation of the international courts in the end of the XX century emerged the pressing issue of uniformity of the judicial process, particularly the norms that regulate selection and assessment of evidence that affect court rulings. The article also explores the questions associated with witness testimony. Attention is given to the aspects of distribution of burden of proof, as well as methods, forms, and standards of proving that exist within the international judicial process. Research is conducted on the documents regulating the work of the branches of international justice and the established case law. A claim is made that international courts function within the certain framework that is defined in their constitutive acts. The analysis carried out in the article reveals insufficient development of corresponding regulation. The author concludes that a judicial body in these conditions has freedom of action that is currently clearly evident in the work of the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Keywords: selection of evidence, assessment of evidence, uniformity of the judicial process, proliferation of international courts, norms of international law, universally recognized principles, international judiciary, international legal process, freedom of action of the court, international law

Abstract: The object of this research is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). In 2017 India and Pakistan were admitted to the SCO, which resulted in its territorial, economic, geopolitical, and legal expansion. Expansion of the SCO increased disputes between the member-states, and there is yet no well-developed mechanism for their resolution. The subject of this research is the disputes between the SCO countries. Member-states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, considering the peculiarities of universal approaches towards dispute resolution on the international level, developed sufficient flexibility in selection of political, international arbitration approaches towards solution of the arising problems. The author explores the confrontation between the member-states in the questions related to their territorial integrity and sovereignty. Special attention is turned to the border conflicts between China, India, and Pakistan. From the theoretical perspective of further development of the mechanisms for dispute resolution within the SCO, the author reviews the “tree-pronged” mechanism for dispute resolution, which path goes through certain stages of the process. This process involves the creation of effective internal mechanisms for dispute prevention, control, and settlement. The conclusion is made that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has developed legal approaches towards resolution of internal problems. The author's special contribution consists in outlining the peculiarities of general approaches towards dispute settlement on the international level, as well as in indicating sufficient flexibility in selection of political, international approaches towards solution of the arising disputes. The novelty of this article lies in the proposal to create a “three-pronged” mechanism for dispute settlement, which path goes through all the stages of the process (beginning – middle– end).

Keywords: settlement of disputes, concept, politics, state, Eurasia, Charter, UN, SCO, mechanism, triune

Abstract: Green is consistently associated with the political, legal and organizational efforts of various organizations in the area of preservation and sustainable development of the environment. Having analyzes the topic, the author reflects on the legal issues of preventing marine pollution related to the introduction of the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, the requirements to the “chemistry of pollutants”, technical regulations aimed at the expel of certain ships based on their technical characteristics. The author also attempted to formulate the key statements within the framework of the concept of ecologically sustainable development of the marine transport sector. The subject of this research is the legal relations in the area of regulation of the ecological use of maritime transport. Research methodology employs the analysis of national legal sources; formal-legal, comparative-legal and systemic-logical methods. Law of the Sea has been actively struggling against marine pollution since the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil (OILPOL) of 1954, creating and constantly improving the responsibilities within the framework of International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). The scientific novelty is defined by the absence of analogous works in the Russian literature on the subject. The relevance of this work is substantiated by the need for adoption of legal measures aimed at ensuring efforts on amending the state maritime policy, considering that the implementation of the standards of International Maritime Organization effective since 2020, will result in expel of a considerable number of ships from the maritime sector, as well as and increase the sea freight rates.

Keywords: marine industry, protection of atmospheric air, protection of the marine environment, atmospheric emissions, marine fuel, commercial shipping, hydrocarbons, pollution from ships, ballast water, scrubber

Abstract: The author considers the problem of international legal regulation of activities on the use of natural resources of space. The results of the analysis of international treaties in the field of space law, resolutions of the UN General Assembly, reports of the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space are presented. The methodological basis of the research was made up of general scientific and private scientific methods of cognition (dialectical method, method of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, comparative legal and historical legal methods). Currently, there is no universal international legal regulation of the legal status and regime of the use of natural resources of outer space. In order to carry out activities for the extraction of natural resources, it is necessary to develop appropriate international legal norms. In this regard, two alternative positions are being discussed - the concept of the "common heritage of mankind", developed in international maritime law, and the Artemis Agreements proposed by the United States. In the course of the study, the following conclusions were made. The prohibition of national appropriation of outer space and celestial bodies applies to States and individuals. International space law does not explicitly prohibit the use of space for the extraction and commercial exploitation of natural resources. However, natural resources are part of outer space and celestial bodies, respectively, in the absence of special rules governing their legal status and mode of use, the legal regime established in relation to outer space and celestial bodies should be extended to them. There is a tendency to develop a legal regime for the use of natural resources of outer space at the national level with the transition to the international one. The results of the study can be used in the interpretation of the provisions of international space law and the development of international norms concerning the legal status and regime of the use of natural resources of space.

Keywords: international space law, international law, legal regime, celestial bodies, Artemis Agreements, national appropriation, outer space, space resources, exploration of space resources, private property

Abstract: The subject of this research is the examination of evolution of the idea of self-determination of peoples based on the fundamental works of the Russian and foreign scholars, thinkers of the antiquity and modernity. The author considers the transformations experienced by the principle of self-determination at various historical stages of development; as well as builds a corresponding systems of the development cycles. The conclusion is made that after conception of the idea of self-determination, the colonial powers viewed this concept as ethical, seeing the threat to legitimacy of the established order. Therefore, throughout almost a century, the leading countries refused to include this right into the corresponding international and domestic documents. The main conclusions are as follows: after consolidation of the principle in the Charter of the United Nations, it became the foundation for the emergence of news states and destruction of the colonial world; the principle served as a leitmotif for the development of human rights and international relations, but at the same time became a threat and challenge to the territorial integrity; wars between the countries are replaced with the civil and interethnic conflicts; the world is captured with such phenomena as state nationalism that subsequently grew into extremely radical forms, such as fascism and Nazism; the modern international law actively promotes the two competing principles – territorial integrity and self-determination; in modern world, the right to self-determination is not limited by peoples under the colonial past – there occur new forms of self-determination that threaten the existence of sovereign states. Uncertainty of the status of the newly emerged states formations serves as the source of domestic and international tension, which inevitably leads to intergovernmental clashes and negatively impacts geopolitical situation in separate regions and in the world as a whole.

Keywords: peoples, unrecognized States, sovereignty, United Nations, League of Nations, territorial integrity, self-determination, nations, international law, international organizations