Abstract: The subject of this research is the law set by the Article 76.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which allows releasing first offenders of low and medium gravity crimes from criminal liability by ordering a fine, as well as foreign counterparts of this law. Special attention is given to the problem of regulation of grounds for such criminal legal incentivizing, questions of realization of these grounds with regards to individuals who have committed acquisitive crime (theft or other acts aimed at acquiring property for the offender). The relevance of this research consists in the fact that it is dedicated to the new grounds for release from criminal liability and allowed determining insufficiency in prevention of crime, which accounts for majority of all committed crimes in Russia. The novelty of this research is reflected in the acquired results. The authors formulate a conclusion that the current edition of the Article 76.2 does not orient the law enforcement towards seeking the possibility of achieving the goals of criminal liability using legal measures which are not punishment.

Keywords: Punishment, Medium gravity crime, Low gravity crime, Criminal legal incentive, Criminal liability, Foreign legislation, Fine, Signs of acquisitive motivation, Acquisitive crime, Positive post-criminal behavior

Abstract: This article gives briefly describes the South European penitentiary type, which is characterized by the weak manifestation of the elements of progressive penitentiary system, wide use of the practice of volunteer and social work of the inmates outside the correctional facility, and active application of medical therapy with realization of subsequent rehabilitation programs. Attention is given to the fact that on the background of active support of progressive standards of inmate treatment in prisons, the reports of members of the CPT who have visited Italy, San-Marino, Malta, and Cyprus reflect separate violation of rights of inmates or other deficiencies in organization of the work of prisons. The novelty of this research is justified by the significant lack of research of penitentiary practices of these states. A conclusion is made that in the conditions of the ambiguous reform of the Russian penal system the analysis of the South European penitentiary type justifies appropriate scientific interest towards further typological comparative legal research of the entire European penitentiary map.

Keywords: Central prison, Prison rules, Type of penitentiary system, Resocialization, Housing regime, Prevention of torture, Drugs, Execution of criminal punishment, Inmate, Corradino Correctional Facility

Abstract: The subject of this research is the addressee of knowingly false reports of a crime or an individual committing it, since designation of such addressee does not exist in the Russian Criminal Code (Article 306). A special attention is given to the scientific discourse on this issue, which has gone on for several years. The author carefully examines different versions of branches and officials to which a knowingly false report should be directed in order to qualify the crime according to Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, suggested by the Russian legal experts. The author justifies the proposal to introduce changes in the disposition of the Article 306 of the CCRF pertaining to the department for handling knowingly false reports. It is proposed to express the disposition of the Part 1 of the Article 306 of the CCRF in the following way: “knowingly false report to an agency or an official authorized to carry out criminal investigation and/or enforce law, and equally the court on commission of a crime”.

Keywords: legal authorities, false accusation, crime, justice, motive, purpose, false accusation, court, false report, lie

Abstract: The subject of this article is the model of organization authority within the European Union, which the researchers of European integration traditionally refer to as one of the varieties of international organizations, characterize as the supranational organization or quasi-federative institution, and sometimes compare with confederation. However, the discussions regarding its legal nature were not as contentious, and the conclusions made were practically free of controversies. In the late 1980’s the process of unification of the state within the framework of the European Union was accelerated and captured not only economic, but also social, cultural, and most importantly political spheres. As the result of these trends, the construct of the EU began to gravitate towards greater centralization; its identity became more blurred, and its final goal – undefined. The goal of this work is to analyze the features of the imperial organization of authority and compare them with the existing realities of organization of the European Union. The authors come to a conclusion that a successful realization of the properties and functions of the empire can gradually lead to the establishment of sociopolitical system, which despite the presence of individual qualities, will possess a number of universal characteristics that can be empirically found in any empire. It is evident that such conclusion equally pertains to the European Union. But such vector of development of the events carries an opportunistic or rather hypothetical character, rather than categorical. The evolutionary process of the EU government structure is currently in the dynamic phase, and it is virtually impossible to establish an unambiguous temporary interpolation of these reforms.

Keywords: Globalization, European Union law, European integration, European identity, Imperial model of the state, International affairs, European Union, Multipolarity, State, Geostrategy

Abstract: The subject of this research is the view of the foreign and particularly English-American scholars upon one of the imperative institutions of state authority of any country – the Parliament, or in this case, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.  The perception of Russian in public consciousness of Western countries has always been synonymous with controversy, bordering disapproval and condemnation, which generally reflects the overall relationship between Russian and the West. The foreign researchers of the Russian democratic transit demonstrate that the main vector of the analysis lies in the President of the Russian Federation, but we can also observe pool of the research dedicated to the legislative branch of authority. The authors examine several most illustrative articles on the development of the Russian Parliament of the first four convocations, and based on this, their view upon the genesis of this institution can be traced. The scientific novelty consists in the use of particular little-studied works on this topic on the language of origin. Analyzing these works, the authors conclude that the attitude towards the Parliament changes with time, which correlates with the relation of the Western society regarding the Russian reality. The descriptions differ from the very “democratic” parliament during the time of B. N. Yeltsin to the rubber-stamp parliament of the Presidential Administration during V. V. Putin’s presidency.

Keywords: Superpresidentialism, Parliamentary control, Political parties, Principle of separation of powers, Russia, Presidential Administration, Democratic transit, State Duma of the Russian Federation, V. V. Putin, B. N. Yeltsin

Abstract: This article examines the genesis of development of the legal system of Israel. The author gives characteristics to the main elements, which affected the formation of the current Israeli law, as well as determines certain peculiarities of the legal system of the State of Israel as an integral component of the mixed legal family. The modern Israel, formed across the Western and Eastern traditions, represents a unique cultural and legal institution.  Based on this fact, the study of legal reality of the State of Israel before its establishment in 1948, as well as during its further state and legal development, presents a significant practical interest. The author analyzes the historical normative legal documents of the current Israeli legislation along with the works of foreign and Russian scholars regarding the examination of legal reality of Israel. Based on the results of this research, the conclusion is made that the study of experience of the “mixed” legal organization and functionality of Israel can be useful for development and improvement of legal system throughout the world, because namely such systems demonstrate an example of innovation and modernization in law.

Keywords: multiculturalism, acculturation, globalization, civil law, case law, common law, mixed jurisdiction, legal convergence, Israeli law, legal environment

Abstract:   Latin American constitutionalism has a rich history. Over the last decades, the constitutional law of the majority of countries of the region experiences a new stage of transformation, which acquired the title of Latin American neo-constitutionalism. The goal of this article consists in determination of the fundamental conceptual characteristics of this phenomenon. The object of this research is the constitutions of several countries of Latin America, adopted after 1985. These documents reflect the political and social processes of the late XX – early XXI centuries: “left turn”, empowerment of Indigenismo, and growth of the political activity among indigenous population. The author carries outs a comparative analysis of the newest constitutions of the countries of Latin America based on the conceptual ideas of the foreign legal experts, who belonged to the school of neo-constitutionalists or their opponents. The conclusion is made that despite the national differences, all of these constitutions have common features, which allow characterizing them as the component of a single phenomenon. In the author’s opinion, the following features are typical to all of the Latin American constitutions of the late XX – early XXI centuries: egalitarianism, pluralism, radical democracy, heightened attention towards the rights of the natives, as well as orientation towards deconstruction of paradigm of nation state that is characteristic to modernity.  

Keywords: Human rights, Indigenismo, Political transformation, Legal reform, Latin America, Pluralism, Nation state, Constitution, Neo-constitutionalism, Constitutional law

Abstract: This article provides an in-depth analysis of the French normative and doctrinal material and judicial practice on the questions associates with the creation and use of traditional and nontraditional objects of copyrights in the conditions of digital realities. The work reveals the changes in legal relations established between the actors of copyright law within the environment of the global information society. The author examines the modern European, and particularly, French legal mechanisms of regulation of the author relations. It is noted that France in a timely manner reacts to the new demands of digital reality with legal support, even though preserves the historically formed conceptual foundations of copyright law. These foundations are currently still being based on the maintenance of balance of interests of the author of the intellectual property and the society. The author is first in Russian to examine and generalize the modern experience of legal regulation of author legal relations in France that accumulated in the area of creation and use of the works and other objects of copyright law within the information environment and presents considerable importance for the assessment and improvement of the European legislation on copyright law. The author explored the legal regime of multimedia products, including websites and audiovisual works. The article also underlines the achievements of French legislation on the course of intersection of the legal and digital realities. 

Keywords: audiovisual work, literary work, multimedia product, copyright, website, Intellectual Property Code, computer program, database, Internet, author

Abstract: The subject of this research is the examination of the use of information technologies in judicial system of Australia. For implementation of the new ways of handling cases, improvement of the access to the system of justice and increase of its efficiency, Australia’s judicial system develops the e-court strategy, which is called to encourage the achievement of goals of procedures, as well as provides multiple new opportunities, for example: informing citizens and lawyers about the work of courts in its various manifestations; ensuring accessibility of court rulings in civil cases for broad range of public; electronic data maintenance; electronic court filing; “online court proceedings”; system of case management; communication and circulation of documents between the court and the participants of the process or parties in the judicial procedure; substantiation by the parties of their position, creation of factual material, and provision of evidence to the court in the course of the legal case. The author demonstrates that the use of information technologies allows reducing the time required to conclude the case, decrease the cost of the procedure, simplify the process, as well as ensure the openness and accessibility of the court, increase efficiency of justice on civil cases. The conclusion is made that under the current conditions, the improvement of judicial system, including Russian, is associated with the development of information and communication technologies and their impactful use in the legal field.

Keywords: Parties, Court case, Australia’s judicial system, Russia’s legal system, System of electronic filing, Openness of the court, Efficiency of justice, E-justice, Information technologies, Civil process

Abstract: This article examines the questions of realization by the citizens of the Russian Federation of the right to personal inviolability. It examines such aspects of the legislative formalization of the procedure of post-mortem collection of organs and human tissues. The research conducted by the author allows making a conclusion that the category “dignified” is being viewed within the framework of the regard towards the body of the deceased, does not have legal definition, and is being understood differently by various social groups. In light of this, the author explores the correlation between the categories of “right to a dignified treatment of the body after death” and “right to personal inviolability”, as well as “presumption of agreement” to remove organs after death established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. A conclusion is made that despite the existing imperfections in the legislative “presumption of agreement”, in the context of state policy the Russian citizens are still able to exercise their constitutional rights and liberties.  

Keywords: Presumption of agreements, Supposed agreement, Requested agreement, Post-mortem collection of organs, Principles of international law, Serviceman, Post-mortem transplantation, Post-mortem donorship, Transplantation, Personal inviolability

Abstract: The subject of this research is the objective ideal and the real factors affecting the formation of individual, group and mass constitutional sense of justice. The external influence of these factors contributes into the establishment of sustainable legal images, orientations, motivations, values, and notions regarding the foundations of government structure of the Russian Federation, form of ruling, political regime, structure of the higher bodies of state authority, human and citizen’s rights and freedoms. The determination of the aforementioned factors is important for organization of legal upbringing and education, establishment of legal culture of a separate individual and society in spirit of constitutionalism. The scientific novelty is characterized by determination of the complex of objective ideal and real factors, which influence the formation of the constitutional sense of justice. In addition to that, the author defines their assemblage as the constitutional objective legal reality – a specific layer of legal existence. The article also highlights the basic principles of formal inequality and formal equality, which set for the constitutional objective legal activity and constitutional sense of justice certain geometric parameters through the influence of imperative and dispositive methods of legal regulations.

Keywords: Justice, Legislation, State, Legalism, Supremacy, Equality, Freedom, Constitutionalism, Constitution, Sense of justice

Abstract: The subject of this research is the process of establishment and development of legal education in Germany coupled with the cultural-historical and political-legal factors; impact of the Prussian tradition of legal personnel training upon formation of the all-German system of legal education; peculiarities of the extramural practical education of lawyers in legal clerkship (Referendariat); final exam on eligibility for judges seat; ways of insertion of the Western system of legal education and German jurisprudence into Russia; as well as structure of the existing German traditional legal education. The results of this work consist in the following: determination of the main prerequisites of emergence and historical reorganization of the system of German legal education; demonstration of the dependence of professional training of legal personnel upon the changing demands of German state and society; revelation of the historical roots of the German law school; examination of specificities of evolution of the forms and methods of lawyers in organizational-legal and informative aspects; introduction of the original works in the area of German legal education in historical retrospective into the Russian scientific discourse. The author highlights the positive experience of the German system of traditional training of legal personnel under the conditions of the so-called “Bologna Process”. The main conclusion lies in the thesis that namely Prussian system of preparation of highly qualified legal personnel comprises the foundation of the modern German legal education, which Germany is unwilling to abandon even in the conditions of «Bolonization» and integration of the European higher school.

Keywords: Bologna Process, Prussian model of training, Genesis of training, Normative foundations of education, Analysis of sources, System of exams, Practical education of lawyers, University preparation of lawyers, Legal education, Germany

Abstract: Currently, there is an objective lack of scientific knowledge that would allow giving precise legal assessment to crimes that have inflicted damages upon multiple victims, if coincidentally the corresponding Articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code do not contain the qualifying characteristic with regards to “two or more persons”. In the law enforcement practice such cases are not uncommon, but the legal positions of various courts that examines such cases often turn out to be opposite. The issue is aggravated by the current processes of transformation of separate positions of the doctrine and theory of qualification of crimes, as well as multiple exemptions to the rules in the legal language in the Decrees of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the substantial change in the approaches towards interpretation of the Article of the Criminal Code, and the overall trend towards the loss of systematization and universality of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Based on the conducted analysis, the author formulated the rules of qualification of crimes in cases where it caused harm to multiple persons.

Keywords: Divisible offense, Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Composition of crime, Crime record, Multiple victims, Single of crime, Cumulative crimes, Judicial practice, Multiple offenders, Qualification of crime

Abstract: This peer review examines the basic theoretical approaches used during the course of the comparative legal research of land law in the countries of African continent, as well as describes the structure of O. I. Krassov’s monograph, which contains a combination of the general characterological features of legal systems in African countries with analysis of evolution of the land law in various African states. The work presents the author’s assessment of the impact of multiple social, economic, environmental, historical, and religious factors upon the current situation regarding the use and preservation of lands in the continent. The peer review reflects the conclusions and argumentation of the author that pertain to the phenomenon of legal pluralism as the foundation of legal systems – the so-called hybrid that combine various elements, or in other words, laws based on Islam, Pygmy common law, French civil law, customs, etc. Krassov’s position on the prevalence of negative consequence of the land reform in a number of African states over the positive is also being supported, as the ideas of private ownership to land have always been alien to people. The article analyzes the peculiarities of regulation of the women’s right to land, as well as their limitations. The substantiation of the analysis on connection between land and water laws, and the rights to land and rights to water is being highlighted.

Keywords: Natural resources, Community law, Legal system, Legal pluralism, Common African law, Land, Land ownership, Land reform, Law, Africa