Abstract: The author examines the Soviet and modern legal experience of the international cooperation in family matters; establishment and development of family law that regulates relations complicated by a foreign element, as well as formation of the international legal framework for such cooperation. The article provides the unique archive materials from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, which demonstrate the status of the law enforcements practice in the examined area. The work describes the continuity by the modern Russian legislator of the established over the Soviet period traditions of international cooperation in family matters.  The author suggest the ways for improving the existing family law in the aspect of international legal assistance. In particularly, the following proposals are made on introduction of the amendments to the Family Code of the Russian Federation: Federal Law “On Acts of Civil Status” and Federal Law “On Custody and Guardianship” that pertain to realization of the mechanisms of international legal assistance on family affairs.

Abstract: The subject of this research is the historical process of formation of the Soviet and Russian legislation that regulates the property relations complicated by a foreign element, as well as establishment and development of the international legal grounds for cooperation with the foreign states for the purpose of implementation and protection of the property rights of citizens. Based on the analysis of historical experience and modern status of legal regulation of such legal relations, the article demonstrates the legal succession in this field, as well as presents the author's vision of the ways to improve the current civil legislation. Due to application of the sociocultural approach, the rights and freedoms of an individual in Soviet society were viewed as a set of values, the state's attitude to which was different at certain historical stages. The article is first within the Russian science of private international law alongside the civil law to describe the historical process of formation of the mechanisms of realization and protection of the citizens' property rights in the aspect of international legal cooperation, which is based on a comprehensive analysis of Soviet and Russian civil law, international treaties on legal assistance of the USSR and Russia, as well as the archive materials from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

Abstract: The research subject is the system of principles of international legal cooperation of the Soviet Union with foreign states. The author notes that this system had been forming steadily and was influenced by the state of international relations in general, by the internal socio-political processes, and the development of the Soviet legislation. The author comes to the conclusion that the system of principles of international legal cooperation of the Soviet Union included the following structural elements: the general legal principles of the Soviet law, the principles of particular branches of the Soviet law (civil, procedural, family law, consular law, etc.), and the principles of international law. The research methodology is based on the dialectical method of cognition of phenomena in their interrelation and interdependence, and the set of general scientific and special methods of cognition. The author reconstructs the historical picture of the formation of the system of principles of legal cooperation of the Soviet Union with foreign states in the field of civil law as a unique instrument of public protection of civil and related rights of Soviet and foreign citizens in the context of the closed nature of the Soviet society and the tense international relations. The research is based on the unique archive materials of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Foreign Policy Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation which haven’t been studied and used so far. 

Abstract: The subject of this research is the genesis of the international legal cooperation of USSR with foreign countries on civil affairs during the period of 1922-1956. Based on the international agreements and treaties, as well as other international legal acts of the Soviet Union, the author reconstructs a historical picture of interaction between the competent authorities of the Soviet State and a number of foreign countries in providing the legal support on civil affairs, including collection of the alimony payments to minors, inheritance, custody, etc. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that the work uses the materials from the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, which have been introduced for the first time into the scientific circulation. Among these materials is the diplomatic correspondence, agreements between the Soviet Union and other foreign countries, and others. During the course of this research, the author uses a historical method, which allows analyzing the examined legal phenomenon in dynamics, as well demonstrate its interconnection with the existed public relations and events that took place in the global arena during the aforementioned period of time.

Abstract: This article carefully examines the dynamics of the international legal cooperation of the Soviet Union with foreign countries on civil affairs during the period of 1957-1991. The mentioned chronological timeframe is justified first and foremost by the historical significance of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which confirmed the Lenin’s foreign policy course towards peaceful co-existence and cooperation of states with various sociopolitical regimes. The year 1991 marked the legislative collapse of the Soviet Union. The author notes that during this historical period international cooperation of USSR on civil affairs was based on the generally recognized principles and norms of international law established in the UN Charter, as well as universal and bilateral international agreements with USSR. Author’s special contribution into the research of international legal cooperation between USSR and foreign countries on civil affairs consists in a meticulous search in the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Foreign Policy Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for diplomatic correspondence that reflects international legal cooperation on specific civil cases on claims of alimony, inheritance, custody, statistical data of jurisdictional institutions, which reflect the dynamics of foreign relations of the competent authorities of the Soviet State on the aforementioned issues. These archive materials are introduced by the author into the scientific circulation for the first time.