Abstract: The article includes legal analysis of the decision of the State Duma of the Russian Federation to terminate the powers of depty G.M. Gudkov, the so-called «Gudkov case». The author supports a thesis that this decision was a result of implementation of powers not typical for a legislative body, substitution of legal matters, and introduction of responsibility of a deputy, which was inadequate towards his constitutional and legal status.

Keywords: Constitution, law, status, deputy, powers, termination, mandate, taking away, responsibility

Abstract: The article is devoted to the most nettlesome issues of testimony in German criminal proceedings. The author of the article analyzes historical development of the witness status in German criminal law, the role of witness evidence in modern German criminial procedure law, witness' duties and rights to refuse from testimony. At the end of the article the author concludes that the main tendency related to regulation of witness' status in Germany since 1877 is democratization of associated legal regulations, first of all, those regulations which are on the list of witness immunuties. The obvious advantage of the German Criminal Procedure Code and legal doctine is the concrete division of witness' duties into categories and detailed legal regulation of witness' oath. 

Keywords: Witness, witness' duties, witness immunity, witness's oath, Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation

Abstract: The article deals with the specific features of judicial discretion within the framework of civil law (continental) and common law (Anglo-Saxon) legal systems. The definitions of judicial discretion and of the conditions for its exercise are formulated. The author puts forward the theory of two models of judicial discretion which differ from each other with regard to such matters as 1) functioning of judicial system; 2) hierarchy of sources of law; 3) practice of application of various means of interpretation of the legal rules; 4) development of legal doctrine; 5) adaptation of legal transplants; 6) characteristics of national legal systems.

Keywords: judicial discretion, judicial norm-making, abuse of discretion, discretion model, legal family , legal system, Code, precedent, interpretation of law, constitutional justice

Abstract: This article investigates the features of the legal mindset of Russian citizens. As a distinct product of the sociohistoric and psycho-social development of a nation, the mental component of legal consciousness assigns to one's personality a model of legal activities, one which is manageable and familiar in terms of the traditional norms of social conduct. The author concludes that there are significant contradictions between Russian citizens' traditional model of legal activities -- given their mindset and the dominant archetype of Truth -- and a modern legal system, one which can transform the individual into homo mechanicus (E. Fromm), bureaucratization, a narrow pragmatism at the expense of spirituality, and the transition of people from being the subject of law to being its object, alienated from their natural rights and freedoms. To address the issues facing the Russian state, it is necessary, by relying on traditional Russian ethical principles, to unify our social and legal existence by bringing together our legal thinking with a multifaceted national culture and socio-cultural reality.

Keywords: legal traditions, Russian citizens, mentality, collective unconsciousness, archetype, legal thinking, legal culture, legal awareness, legal mindset

Abstract: The article is devoted to the issues of legislative initiatives of Russian state authorities for the purpose of minimization of recidivism by means of supervision and control over persons released from places of detention during the period of time since 1844 till 2009. Based on archives and research papers, the author analyzes the stages of formation of post-penitentiary control and its initial purposes and transformations along with the development of the country's political system. It all emphasizes the need in constant preventive measures with persons who are released from places of detention and potentially ready to commit a new crime. 

Keywords: post-penitentiary control, penal institutions, police, administrative supervision, recidivism, supervised persons, criminal liability, reference, corrective labour establishments, militsia

Abstract: The author of the article describes historical stages of development of the institution of inter-court assistance for civil cases in the Soviet law. The main factors influencing this process include the internatinal law policy of the Soviet State as well international standards in the sphere of protection of the human rights and freedoms. Methodological method is used as the main method of the research. The first stage of the development of this legal instituate falls on 1917-1921, the second stage - on 1922 - 1928, the third stage - on 1929 - 1941, the fourth stage - on 1945 - 1957, and the final stage of development of inter-court assistance in civil cases falls on 1957 - 1991. The author analyzes the Soviet Union internatinal relations at each stage of the development, its international law obligations and interna Soviet legislation including constitutional, civil, procedural and matrimonial laws as well as laws on notariat and civil registration. 

Keywords: international, legal assistance, civil cases, Soviet law, stages of development

Abstract: The author of the article stresses out that the formation and developmet of political and legal views of the Eurasianism classics (N. Alekseev, L. Karsavin, N. Trubetskoy, P. Savitsky and etc.) were based, first of all, on social, historical and spiritual atmosphere created by the emigration period when Eurasianism was formed, and secondly, on political and ideological influence of their predecessors. In this regard, the author of the article analyzes views by slavophiles such as N. Danilevsky, K. Leontiev, P. Novgorodtsev, L. Petrazycki as well as foreign philosophers such as Edmund Husserl,  Max Scheler, lawyers  Léon Duguit, A. Reinach and others. The author describes the main contraditions in Eurasianism followers that did not let thm to create an original political and legal doctrine. The main reason of such contradictions, based on the authr, was the gap between their relativistic and universal aspirations. 

Keywords: Petrazycki's theory, Slavophilism, legal responsibility, legal structure, ideocracy, Eurasianism, geopolitics, axiology, phenomenology, value

Abstract: The article is devoted to the basic issues about the status of modern Russian political criminology as an independent branch of criminology. The author provides a brief review of the most major researches on this topic both in Russia and abroad. The author shares his own views on the subjet of Russian political criminology, describes disputable concentual problems and suggests how to solve these problems in the nearest future. In addition, the author establishes the main goals of Russian political criminology modern Russian criminologists should focus on. 

Keywords: political criminology, political crime, political anthropology, political criminal, electoral criminology, electoral crime, political victimology, branches of criminology, criminology, political criminality