Abstract: The subject of the study is the participation of a defense lawyer in the proof process. There have been disputes for a long time regarding the reform of the existing procedure of criminal proceedings, in which a defense lawyer, according to Article 86 of the CPC of the Russian Federation, has the right to collect evidence. However, in practice, these provisions of the law face resistance from the law enforcement officer, which is caused, as the author believes, by the historical type of domestic criminal proceedings, in which objective truth and the predominance of public interest over private interests occupy key positions. Special attention is paid to the historical stages of the formation of Russian criminal proceedings, which, starting with the Statute of Criminal Proceedings, has fixed the investigator as a key figure of proof, while the court only checks the evidence collected by him "for strength". The domestic criminal process has developed as a search-type production, where three functions – prosecution, defense and resolution of the case are combined by one person – the investigator. The author concludes that in such a system of criminal proceedings, a lawyer cannot collect evidence, but his activities in the process of proving must be streamlined. In this regard, it is proposed to amend the current legislation defining the status and types of materials used in proving. Part 3 of Article 86 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation should be abolished. It is proposed to formulate Article 86.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation "The use of materials of advocacy in proving", which provides for the possibility of a lawyer to collect information by: requesting information from organizations upon request, interviewing a person with his consent, involving a specialist. In addition, it is necessary to indicate in the CPC of the Russian Federation that all materials collected by the lawyer act in the evidence system as "other documents", in connection with which the expert's conclusion is subject to exclusion from clause 3.1 of Part 2 of Article 74 of the CPC of the Russian Federation.

Keywords: advocacy materials, other documents, expert opinion, interviewing a person, proof process, Charter of criminal proceedings, investigative process type, criminal trial, defense lawyer, proof

Abstract: The subject of study is some significant historical stages of the formation and development of the institution of criminal procedure deadlines. The aim is to identify the national tradition of regulating deadlines and mechanisms for speeding up criminal procedures. The object of the study was the criminal procedure norms of different periods of time of the development of legislation in Russia, domestic judicial practice and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in the context of resolving the issue of the need for the existence of a requirement for the reasonableness of the terms of criminal proceedings in the system of traditional Russian principles. The research is based on general scientific and private scientific methods of cognition, which made it possible to analyze sources on the chosen topic and synthesize knowledge about the evolution of the terms of criminal proceedings. The method of comparative historical jurisprudence allowed us to formulate a conclusion about the adherence to the legislative tradition of separating principles-ideas and specific rules for the preliminary investigation and judicial review of criminal cases. It is concluded that the requirement of the reasonableness of the timing of criminal proceedings in the historical context was completely justified and addressed to the preliminary investigation authorities, as a rule, on immediate procedural activity. Changing the status of this rule to a principle did not significantly change law enforcement activities, but introduced an imbalance in the systematic approach to regulating criminal procedural relations. The measures to speed up the judicial review mentioned in the provisions of Article 6.1 of the CPC of the Russian Federation and the corresponding resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation are of a mixed nature. The directives of the President of the Court regarding measures to speed up the proceedings contradict the independence of judges and violate the principle of legality. In this regard, a proposal was made to exclude this requirement from the system of principles, followed by the addition of the general conditions of preliminary investigation and judicial proceedings.

Keywords: legislation, judicial review, convergence, reasonableness of deadlines, preliminary investigation, acceleration, justice system, criminal proceedings, principles, historical stages

Abstract: The article examines the experience in regulating artificial intelligence technology through the prism of judicial practice in Russia and the United States. The emphasis is laid both on the current regulatory framework and on a detailed study of case law, taking into account the potential broad interpretation of current approaches to regulating AI in the absence of comprehensive regulatory legal acts covering extensive segments of public relations. The purpose of this study is to determine the differentiated approaches inherent in the Anglo-Saxon and domestic judicial systems when considering disputes involving the consequences of the use of AI. The objectives of the study include generalizing judicial practice, defining doctrinal approaches to the subsequent regulation of AI and developing tools for prospective comprehensive regulation of AI, taking into account the need to maintain a balance of interests of both users and developers of AI. The research methodology includes systemic, structural-functional, hermeneutic and comparative legal methods. Conclusions are formulated on the need to develop a comprehensive regulation of AI technology, taking into account the current specifics of the consideration of legal disputes in Russia and the Anglo-Saxon legal system, common and different approaches to the consideration of disputes are noted, additional compensatory measures are proposed for the effective regulation of the use of AI technology. The need to identify a separate category of court cases related to AI technology to simplify the analysis and develop a unified practice for this block of disputes was noted. When analyzing domestic and foreign practice of considering disputes related to the use of artificial intelligence, the fundamental need to maintain the principle of balance between the interests of society and developers was noted, taking into account the risks that were identified during the analysis of Anglo-Saxon judicial practice and legal regulation.

Keywords: information technology, public law, generative AI, banking law, copyright, comparative legal research, judicial practice, artificial intelligence, deep fake, chatGPT

Abstract: The author studies the experience of using artificial intelligence in the framework of legal proceedings in the USA, China and Russia. This analysis includes not only an analysis of judicial practice, but also a study of strategic documents assigned at the government level of these countries. Goal of the research is to identify effective starting points for the implementation of AI in the judiciary, to determine the features of regulation of AI in the judicial process and specify prospects for determining the full autonomy of AI for judicial proceedings. The objectives of the study are to determine the main trends in the implementation of AI in the field of judicial process, highlight areas that can currently be algorithmically processed by AI, as well as determine future designs of the legal personality of AI, taking into account the opinion of the professional judicial community of Russia. The research methodology includes systemic, structural-functional, hermeneutic and comparative legal methods. The authors makes general conclusions about the prospects of AI for the judicial process and formulates optimal tracks for the use of AI in judicial cases, taking into account the comparative legal research conducted. Based on the comparative legal research carried out, the author formulated the increasing role of artificial intelligence technology used in the judicial process. The need to improve the legislative framework taking into account the technological specifics of AI and ensure an adequate level of information security when using this technology is noted. In addition, a starting point has been identified for the effective and safe implementation of AI as an autonomous participant in the process in relation to disputes that are considered in a simplified manner or contain a high proportion of data that is reliably verified and stored electronically.

Keywords: e-person, digital State, arbitrage practice, litigation, information security, public law, digital court, predictive justice, judicial process, artificial intelligence

Abstract: The article considers such a basis for the cancellation or modification of the sentence by the court of appeal as the consideration of a criminal case without the participation of a defender (lawyer), when his participation is mandatory in accordance with the the Code of Criminal Procedure, or with another violation of the right of the accused to use the help of a defender. This issue is investigated by the author in the context of the fact that paragraph 4 of Part 2 of Article 389.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation includes two independent grounds for revoking the decision. The main focus is on the category of "other violations". Based on the study of judicial practice, the author notes the variety of cases that are considered by higher authorities as violations of paragraph 4, part 2 of Article 389.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and entail the cancellation of the decision of the court of first instance. The article gives a critical assessment of the approach according to which the violation of the defendant's right to use the help of a defender can in certain cases be compensated by the court of appeal, therefore, the detection of such a violation should not always entail the return of the criminal case to a new trial in the court of first instance. It is noted that this approach is obviously incorrect, and this position is justified. When writing an article, the author uses such methods as analysis, synthesis, logical, comparative legal, formal legal. The author concludes that if the court of appeal, in violation of the defendant's right to use the help of a defender in the court of first instance, does not send the case to a new trial, but independently makes up for the violation, it thereby deprives the defendant of the opportunity to exercise proper protection in two judicial instances. The session of the court of appeal cannot fully replace the proceedings in the court of first instance, since the rules for examining evidence are established in the appellate instance, which differ from the rules of the court of first instance (in terms of the procedure for research). The author of the article considers the position of the courts to be correct, in which the courts recognize the violation of the defendant's right to use the help of a defender as an irreparable violation, which should entail the cancellation of the decision with the referral of the case to the court of first instance. The article presents the positions of process scientists on the problem under consideration.

Keywords: judicial practice, reversal of the sentence, positions of the Constitutional Court, court discretion, the right to defense, absence of a defense attorney, significant violation, defense attorney, criminal proceedings, lawyer

Abstract: The subject of this work is the study of the legal foundations of the activities of the Supreme Council of Magistracy of the Tunisian Republic, which is the highest body of the judicial community of the country. The author dwells on the key normative legal acts regulating the foundations of the legal status of the Supreme Council of Magistracy as a constitutional body, examines its structure, composition and competence. Special attention is paid to the place of the Supreme Council of Magistracy in the political system and the evolution of this body in connection with the crisis of 2010-2011 (the jasmine revolution), reflecting the most difficult compromises between political elites, as well as emerging disputes about competence between different branches of government of the country. During the research, the author used various methods of scientific cognition, both general: analysis, synthesis, logical and structural-functional, and special legal: formal legal, legal modeling method and comparative legal. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the author for the first time in domestic legal science conducted a comparative study of the legal foundations of the activities of the Supreme Council of Magistracy of the Tunisian Republics, and also considered the evolution of this body in the context of a political crisis. The author comes to the conclusion that the evolution of the legal status of the judicial community of Tunisia is directly related to changes in the political system of this country, is very difficult and is currently far from complete.

Keywords: comparative law, political system, Supreme Council of Magistracy, Magistracy, Tunisian Republic, bodies of the judicial community, judges, judicial power, foreign experience, judge status

Abstract: The article is devoted to the analysis of judicial practice in the field of recognition of decisions of foreign courts that do not require further proceedings. This article regulates the recognition of foreign judicial decisions, which, due to their special content, do not require further proceedings. The author examines in detail the court decisions in which there is a reference to Article 415 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. Particular attention is paid to the subject of the dispute, the type of foreign judgment, the procedure for recognizing a foreign judgment, the relationship of Articles 413 and 415 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. The author pays special attention to the correlation of terms: decisions of foreign courts that do not require further production, and decisions of foreign courts that do not require enforcement. As a result, the following features of the practical application of Article 415 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation were highlighted. As decisions that do not require further proceedings, judges recognize the decisions of foreign courts on the recognition of the parents as dependents of the plaintiff, on the recognition of periods of work in a specific place at a specific time, decisions on the dissolution of marriage. A dispute on the recognition of a foreign court decision that does not require further proceedings is usually considered within the framework of another dispute in which the said foreign decision is evidence in the case. Some judges admit the possibility of objections from interested parties to decisions of foreign courts that do not require further proceedings, according to the rules of Article 413 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, others insist on the independent meaning of Article 415 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and, accordingly, the inadmissibility of objections and any other formal procedures to give legal force to such decisions in the Russian Federation.

Keywords: dissolution of marriage, citizen status, enforcement of the decision, a simple confession, legal disputes, further production, recognition of a foreign decision, foreign court decision, international civil procedure, private international law

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to test the extent to which courts of general jurisdiction in some regions of the Russian Federation are accessible to the population from a geographical point of view. The object of the study was the district courts of general jurisdiction located in the district centers of the Kurgan region, and their remoteness from the locations of local governments, law enforcement agencies, airports, bus stations and railway stations. The main research methods were the geoinformation method, the cartographic method, as well as the comparative legal method, including the analysis of the norms of the criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation and judicial practice. The application of the geographical approach made it possible to establish in various aspects how accessible the courts of general jurisdiction are to the population living in various municipal districts of the Kurgan region.   The conducted research revealed a number of problems related to ensuring access to justice for the local population. Despite the fact that most of the district courts of general jurisdiction in municipal districts are located within walking distance from local self-government and law enforcement bodies nearby in the district center and have good transport links with bus stations, railway stations and air terminals, yet 1/10 of the district courts remain inaccessible to the population due to remoteness and lack of good and permanent transport communication. In addition, the underdeveloped air communication of the Kurgan region with other regions of Russia does not contribute to ensuring high-quality access to justice.

Keywords: transport accessibility, pedestrian accessibility, the defendant, witness, the victim, access to justice, court session, court, municipal area, municipal center

Abstract: The general condition for a consistent appeal is that the legislator has established a strict order of consideration of the complaint submitted by the courts of various judicial instances. When applying to the court of the relevant instance in order to challenge the issued judicial act, it is necessary to fulfill a certain condition of the exhaustion of the previous stage of the judicial decision review. The article discusses the sequence of actions of participants in the proceedings to appeal a judicial act, depending on the stage of the case. It is indicated that the judicial system is not built on the relationship of subordination between the courts of lower and higher levels. The history of the emergence of competing concepts in the appeal of judicial acts is studied. Arguments are given in favor of distinguishing the concepts of instantiation, consistent appeal and exhaustion of other methods of appeal, which determines the novelty of the study. In the course of the work, general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis were used, as well as a comparative legal private scientific method. The author comes to the conclusion that it is necessary to find a positive correlation between these competing concepts, as well as their uniform consolidation in the procedural codes – CPC and APC. The tendency of convergence of the rules of exhaustion of appeal methods in civil and arbitration proceedings on the way to the emerging standardization and unification of procedural norms is indicated.

Keywords: sequence, appeal, civil procedure, supervisory proceedings, instantiation, methods of appeal, the rule of sequential appeal, appeal proceedings, cassation proceedings, right to appeal

Abstract: In the article, the authors consider the issue of the introduction of electronic justice services in the Russian Federation and the development of recommendations for improving the mechanisms for the implementation of the rights of Russian citizens to judicial protection with the help of the SAS "Justice".The object of this study is the procedural legal relations arising during the use of the SAS "Justice" in the conduct of legal proceedings in the Russian Federation. The subject of the study are the norms of substantive and procedural law regulating the activities of courts and judicial bodies, ensuring the realization of citizens' rights to judicial protection through the use of the SAS "Justice" and law enforcement practice for organizing access to legal proceedings using automated information systems. The novelty of the study was that the authors critically analyzed the norms of substantive and procedural law of the Russian Federation regulating the functioning of the SAS "Justice". As a result of the study the authors formulated the recommendations for improving Russian legislation. The authors came to the conclusion that the SAS "Justice" allows the implementation of certain procedural rights of the parties and other participants in the trial. At the same time, the main purpose of creating this system is to provide informatization, electronic and digital support of administrative and basic processes of the judicial system. The realization of citizens' rights to access justice in electronic and digital form through the SAS "Justice" is largely a secondary service that is developing as a by-product of the overall digital transformation of the judicial system. To ensure the rights of citizens to access to electronic and digital justice, it is necessary to improve the norms of substantive and procedural law.

Keywords: socially significant information, personal account, law, access, information and communication technologies, Internet, procedural law, substantive law, automated system, electronic justice

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to test the extent to which courts of general jurisdiction in some regions of the Russian Federation are accessible to the population from a geographical point of view. The object of the study was the district courts of general jurisdiction located in the district centers of the Tyumen region, and their remoteness from the locations of local governments, law enforcement agencies, airports, bus stations and railway stations. The main research methods were the geoinformation method, the cartographic method, as well as the comparative legal method, including the analysis of the norms of the criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation and judicial practice. The application of the geographical approach made it possible to establish in various aspects how accessible the courts of general jurisdiction are to the population living in various municipal districts of the Tyumen region. В  The conducted research revealed a number of problems related to ensuring access to justice for the local population. Despite the fact that most of the district courts of general jurisdiction in municipal districts are located within walking distance from the local self-government and law enforcement bodies nearby in the district center and have good transport links with bus stations, railway stations and air terminals, yet the district courts remain difficult to access for the population due to remoteness and lack of good and constant transport communication. In addition, the study showed that not all municipal districts have courts of general jurisdiction.

Keywords: transport accessibility, pedestrian accessibility, the defendant, witness, the victim, access to justice, court session, court, municipal area, municipal center

Abstract: Leaning on the analysis of the provisions of current legislation, clarification of the supreme judicial authority, scientific doctrine, case law materials and statistics, this article explores the implementation of compulsory measures set by the Article 92 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, after court’s modification of the category of gravity of the committed offence in accordance with the Part 6 of the Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The goal of this research lies in assessment from the perspective of the theory of criminal law of such specific procedure for implementation of disciplinary compulsory measures and herding to closed-type special institution, as well as identification of possible flaws and contradictions that may cause problems and ambiguous decisions in law enforcement practice. Attention is given to the existing contradictions between the provisions of criminal law and criminal procedure law, explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, as well as legislative gaps and problems emerging in law enforcement practice in the context of provision set by the Article 92 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in accordance with the Part 6 of Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Taking into account the sequence, grounds and conditions established by the legislator in the Part 6 of the Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for the use of the latter, the conclusion is made on impossibility to apply compulsory educational measures in line with this norm. The article also substantiates the position infeasibility of preliminary imposition of penalty (de lege ferenda) on release of such with implementation of compulsory measures set by Part 1 and 2 of the Article 92 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The author also offers to supplement and rectify certain provisions of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 10 of May 15, 2018.

Keywords: dynamics of juvenile delinquency, judicial practice and statistics, exemption from criminal punishment, exemption from criminal liability, changing the category of a crime, special educational institution of a closed type, compulsory measures of educational influence, minors, problems, contradictions

Abstract: This article analyzes the establishment of legal regulation of the court's activity in the consideration and resolution of the question of transferring foreign citizens sentenced by the court of the Russian Federation to serve their sentence in country of citizenship. The author offers periodization of the chronology of its evolution,  and draws attention to the gaps and inaccuracies in the current legislation and the need for amending normative legal framework, which is testified by the legal acts adopted by the state authorities of the Russian Federation, including those aimed at regulation of international legal relations in this sphere, as well as the works of the scholars-processualists. The conclusion is made that the corresponding court's activity acquires a special role. Compared to the Soviet period, national and international norms that regulate the court’s activity in this area have experiences significant changes, as the number of convicts transferred to their country of citizenship has increased considerably, the contractual practice of the Russian Federation has expanded, which is substantiated by the globalization processes and the need for the development and strengthening of international cooperation of the Russian Federation with foreign countries in the sphere of transferring foreign citizens. Examination of the chronology of changes experienced by the normative legal framework of the court’s activity in the course of its establishment and development, allows choosing the right direction for further improvements.

Keywords: international cooperation, transfer institution, foreign citizens, state of citizenship, imprisonment, serving sentences, transfer of convicts, history of transfer, judicial activity, execution of the sentence

Abstract: This article explores the causes for the emergence of “corruption-causing factors” in judicial acts, indicates correlation between “corruption-causing factors” and “private patronage” on the part of mafia institution (modern mafia groups), which is the highest “specific economic enterprise or industry that produces, encourages, and sells private patronage”, including interference in justice through corruption and bribery. The case law on the topic is analyzed. The object of this research is the activity of judges in assessing legally valid circumstances in relation to the responsibility of judges. The subject of this research is the norms of Russian legislation that regulate the activity of judges in assessing legally valid circumstances, as well as the texts of judicial acts on claims under the Article 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, civil and administrative cases of the courts of St. Petersburg, and the responsibility of judges. The author notes the absence of definition of “corruption-causing factor” in the judicial act, its characteristics, responsibility of the judges for decision-making that contain “corruption-causing factor”, effective judicial bodies that “investigate” the disciplinary misconduct of judges. It is underlined that the implementation of the institution of investigative judge was anticipatory. The scientific novelty is substantiated by the fact that this article is first to outline the concept of “corruption-causing factor” in the judicial act as the grounds for bringing the judge to disciplinary responsibility. The conclusion is made that this is a comprehensive issue; thus, the longer it would take to solve the questions of effective legal regulation of the mechanism of judicial responsibility, the more it would augment the risks of proliferation of the “corruption-causing factor” in the judicial system, which destroys confidence in the government authorities and deteriorates the state from within.

Keywords: qualification boards of judges, disciplinary responsibility of judges, the judge's inner conviction, abuse of judges, Institute the mafia, patronage private, corruptiogenic factor, judicial act, the need for structural change, changes in legislation

Abstract: The subject of this research is the historical-legal grounds of rendering mutual legal assistance in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Research methodology is comprised of formal-legal, comparative-legal, and historical-legal methods. Normative framework is formed by the Constitution, provisions of the criminal procedure legislation and laws, international acts acceded by the Republic of Azerbaijan, which regulate mutual legal assistance issues. Objective: to develop proposals for improving the Institute of mutual legal Assistance. assistance in criminal matters based on the historical experience in this field. The research results are as follows: mutual legal assistance has evolved from elementary extradition of fugitive serfs, one-time provision of diplomatic assistance to institutionalized legal assistance based on multilateral and bilateral agreements; from the absence of  legislative framework to codification; from inclusion of separate norms on certain aspects of the agreement on friendly relations, peace, cooperation or even submission to conclusion of special bilateral agreements. The acquired results can be implemented in intergovernmental relations regulation of rendering mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. The novelty of this research consists in consideration of legal assistance based on the historical-normative acts of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The following conclusions were made: in some historical periods, legal assistance included such institutions as the presence of state representative of the accused in administration of justice against a foreigner, unconditional extradition of criminals who committed grave crime, stiff punishment of those reluctant to peace, elimination from jurisdiction of certain criminals, transfer of prosecution, etc. can still be currently used to regulate or improve the institution of legal assistance in criminal matters, including reasonable terms for submitting court requests. For example, a reasonable term for criminal proceedings is one of the guarantees of effective legal proceedings, the violation of which also entails an infringement of such a fundamental right to fairness of proceedings.

Keywords: treaties on friendship, exceptions of jurisdiction, reasonable time, letter of rogatory, execution, proceeding transfer, extradition, mutual legal assistance, legal procedure, diplomatic assistance

Abstract: Due to proliferation of the experiment on introduction of special self-employment tax regime across the Russian Federation, the number of self-employed individuals is expected to rise. Moreover, the lockdown brought on by the current pandemic led to a sharp increase in self-employment. This circumstance makes the subject of this research more relevant – the questions of legal status of self-employed individuals in connection to their financial-legal and procedural-legal aspects. The article analyzes the doctrinal approaches towards definition of jurisdiction, the use of which allows overcoming current legislative gap. Research is conducted on the normative act and case law of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation that forms the conceptual approach towards self-employment. For the first time, the activity of a self-employed individual is examined in relation to the concepts of economic, entrepreneurial, and professional activities. The problem of undefined procedural status of a self-employed individual is explored in conjunction with its undefined status in the substantive law. A conclusion is made that such activity should be classified as economic. The scientific novelty consists in posing the question of jurisdiction of disputes involving self-employed individuals. The author concludes on undefined nature of self-employed individual in the substantive law, which leads to legal uncertainty of their procedural status. The uncertainty is expressed in the absence of rules of jurisdiction over disputed involving self-employed individuals. The author makes proposal for changes to procedural legislation.

Keywords: arbitration process, civil procedure, entrepreneurial activity, professional activity, economic activity, professional income, procedural status, self-employed, economic disputes, hired labour

Abstract: The subject of this research is the activity of the public prosecutor in court hearing. Methodological framework for this article is comprised of the dialectical, logical, formal-legal, and hermeneutical methods. The normative base consists of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, criminal procedure legislation, and local normative acts that regulate participation of the prosecutors in the judicial stages of criminal proceedings. Attention is focused on the theoretical and applied questions of participation of the public prosecutor in preliminary hearing and judicial investigation. The article reviews opinions of the scholars on participation of the prosecutor in court hearing, as well as the specificity of the prosecutor's work at the stage of state prosecution in court. The author substantiates the importance of preparedness of the public prosecutor to state prosecution, including fundamental examination of all materials pertaining to a criminal case for successful prosecution in the court of first instance. The conclusion is made that the effectiveness of state prosecution depends on the quality of preparedness of the prosecutor to court proceedings, which alongside the appropriate order of investigation of evidence, sufficiency and coherence of evidence, allow the public prosecutor to make the closing arguments.

Keywords: completeness of evidence, evidence of prosecution, evidence analysis, preparation, public prosecutor, judicial investigation, preparation and maintenance of public prosecution, esolution of applications, planning, procedure for examining evidence

Abstract: The object this research is the social relations developed in terms of the mandatory pretrial of disputes settlement associated with challenging transactions of the debtor. Subject of this research is the set of legal norms regulating the relations in the area of challenging transactions of the debtor, as well as the law enforcement practice. The research is carried out through the prism of consideration of such problem as the absence in the current legislation of the Russian Federation of the norm that establishes compliance with the pretrial procedure for dispute settlement associated with challenging transactions of the debtor. Special attention is given to analysis of the norms of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Federal Law No. 127-FZ of 10.26.2002 “On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)” and the law enforcement practice. The goal of this work consists in articulation of the problem, substantiation of the need for legislative regulation in the indicated field, as well as development of proposals on improvement of the Bankruptcy Act. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that the field of this research has not yet acted as an independent subject of scientific understanding. The scientific novelty is defined by the fact that this topic has not previously become a subject of a separate scientific research, as well as in systemic and comparative legal approach, analysis and criticism of legal sources. The conclusion is made on the need for legislative consolidation of the mandatory pretrial disputes settlement associated with challenging transactions of the debtor. The acquired may be valuable in further formulation of the proposals on improvement of legislation and law enforcement practice within the science of Russian law.

Keywords: challenging the debtor's transactions, separate disputes, bankruptcy, debtor, lender, pre-trial settlement of disputes, invalidation of the transaction, return of property, suspicious transaction, a deal with a preference

Abstract: This article analyzes the peculiarities of functionality of transcendental reflection among judges in the context of realization of the power of judgment. An attempt is made to answer the questions on how the judges exercise their power of judgment in decision-making, problems they are facing and ways for their solution. Attention is focused on the peculiarities of ensuring unity of self-consciousness of the judge in carrying out professional activity, as well as on the flaws of the determining and reflective power of judgment, which serve as the grounds for vacation of decisions of the courts of primary jurisdiction through appellation. The author also reviews the prospects for the implementation of artificial intelligence systems into judicial proceedings in light of the questions raised in the article. This work leans on the results of research conducted in 2019–2020 at the intersection of theoretical philosophy, philosophy and sociology of law, theory of state and law. Within the framework of this study, the question of decision-making by judges is viewed through the prism of philosophical system of I. Kant, namely through his concept of the power of judgment. The research is carried out in three directions: transcendental, formal-legal, and sociological. The results consist in formulation of practical recommendations that would improve the effectiveness of realization of the power of judgment, and thus the overall efficiency of judicial proceedings in Russia.

Keywords: AI systems, philosophy of Kant, criminal proceedings, civil proceedings, unity of self-consciousness, reflective power of judgment, determinative power of judgment, transcendental reflection, gender disproportion, judicial branch

Abstract: The main purpose of the article is to demonstrate on the matter of empirical material the importance of judges’ assessment of legally significant circumstances of the case for Russian civil and administrative proceedings. The subject of the research is the norms of the current procedural Russian legislation, the texts of the appellate rulings on cancellation of the decisions of the courts of first instance in civil and administrative cases of the Kaliningrad region, which entered into force in the period from 01.01.2017 to 31.12.2020, and the data of judicial statistics of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation for 2017-2019. The author uses sociological and mathematical methods, as well as methods of content analysis of the texts of appeal rulings on the cancellation of decisions of the courts of first instance in civil and administrative cases. The novelty of the study is due to the fact that nobody has previously collected and analyzed statistical data on specific grounds for the complete cancellation of decisions of the courts of first instance in appeal order in civil and administrative cases in the Kaliningrad region. As a result of the analysis of specific empirical material, the author establishes that the judges' assessment of legally significant circumstances plays a key role for contemporary Russian legal proceedings. This is especially true for civil proceedings. This conclusion follows from the fact that every 25th decision of the court of first instance in civil proceedings is subject to complete cancellation. In 80% of such cases, the court's incorrect assessment of the legally significant circumstances of the case is the only or one of several grounds for cancellation.

Keywords: Civil Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, administrative proceedings, civil proceedings, Kaliningrad Oblast, sociology of law, assessment of circumstances, legally significant circumstances of the case, Code of Administrative Judicial Procedure of the Russian Federation, law enforcement, judicial branch

Abstract: The subject of this article is the research tools and assessment methods with regards to optimization of legislation and law enforcement. The paper reveals the experience of computational experiments on the judicial acts on administrative offenses established by the Chapter 18 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. The research employs various computer methods, including knowledge modeling, methods of natural language processing and machine learning, as well as the related within the framework of interdisciplinary paradigm methods of systemic analysis and expert assessment. Computational experiments were conducted on the empirical basis formed out of texts of 50,438 judicial acts. On the example of big data on administrative offenses, the article demonstrates the interdisciplinary (from computer and legal perspectives)  interpreted results in the context of usage and identification of a number of indicators for optimization of legislation and law enforcement, primarily – time indicator, indicator of individualization of punishment, and indicator of subject uniformity. The conclusions and generalizations are made pertaining to legislation and law enforcement in this area under consideration. Computational methods and the set of indicators can be the groundwork for making decisions in law policy. The advantages of the proposed methodology consist in objectivity of the conclusions that based on methodology open to public verification, as well as big legal data that ensures accuracy of research.

Keywords: data mining, machine learning, big data, digital state, administrative responsibility, optimization of law, efficiency of law, computer methods, indicators, interdisciplinary study

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the question of the essence of a settlement within the framework of judicial conciliation procedure. The issue is being explored from comparative perspective, where the essence of a settlement within the framework of judicial conciliation procedure is compared to the essence of a similar institution in terms of mediation procedure. The work examines legal precedent and doctrinal opinions of experts on the issues of legal essence of judicial conciliation as ones established by judicial and non-judicial procedure of conciliation. The author highlights the key aspect of the procedure of judicial conciliation in relation to reaching a settlement, including the rights and obligations of the parties to the process from one side, and the court on the other. The conclusion is made that the legal nature of settlement represents a mixture, comprised of elements of material (civil law), as well as procedural (civil procedure) law. A claim is made that within the framework of the judicial conciliation procedure, the legal nature of a settlement contains more procedural law elements than that of mediation procedure, which is explained by the broader authority of the court and correlating reduced authority of the parties than in terms of a mediation procedure.

Keywords: procedural law, claim, court, jurisprudence, arbitrage practice, settlement agreement, judicial conciliation, law, court powers, mediation

Abstract: The article analyzes the controversial issues of defining the concepts of "right of access", "accessibility of justice to justice", "accessibility of court", "access to court", as well as the problems of restricting access to justice in criminal proceedings. The authors analyze in detail the existing approaches to the definition of these concepts. The subject of the study is the norms of Russian and foreign legislation regulating the right to access to justice in criminal proceedings. The object of the study is the legal relations arising from the realization of the right to access to justice. When writing the work, the following methods were used: universal system method of cognition, comparative legal, formal legal, statistical methods, as well as the method of logical analysis of normative legal acts. It is shown that the concept of "accessibility of justice" expresses an external objective factor unrelated to the criminal justice system, and "access to justice" in criminal proceedings should be considered as an internal objective factor, an intra-system factor associated with the very architecture of the construction of criminal proceedings, due to its public-legal nature. The authors analyze the study of complaints about the restriction of the right to access to justice received by the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation. The conclusion is substantiated that it is necessary to create a fundamentally new algorithm (legislative model) of the initial stage of criminal proceedings, providing access to justice without destroying the fundamental basis of criminal proceedings, while maintaining an optimal ratio between public and dispositive beginnings of criminal proceedings.

Keywords: access to the court, initiation of a criminal case, pre-trial proceedings, criminal procedure law, criminal proceedings, accessibility of justice, criminal proceedings, access to justice, digital interaction, digital technologies

Abstract: The subject of this research is the principle of immediacy as one of the fundamental principles of civil procedure, defining the content of proving cases heard in the order established by the Civil Procedural Code of the Russian Federation. The goal of this article consists in a thorough analysis of the application of principle of immediacy within the framework of proving, which is regulated by the norms of the civil procedural legislation. The relevance of this topic is substantiated by vast number of exceptions in application of the aforementioned procedural legal principle, including those set by the current legislation. This research employs such methods as analysis, systemic-structural, hermeneutic, and formal-legal. Based on the acquired results, the author determines a list instances in which the current legislation allows for the possibility of limiting the implementation of the principle of immediacy within the process of examination and assessment of evidence by the court. Analysis is also conducted into the limits of application of the principle of immediacy with regards to each individual case.

Keywords: court order, videoconferencing, principle of immediacy, court, means of proof, evidence, process of proof, copy, audio recording, video recording

Abstract: In his article Gashin analyzes the current situation regarding execution of acts of the European Court of Human Rights in Russia from the point of view of decisions issued by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation during the period since 2013 till 2017. Being the matter of research, current law enforcement practice of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation proves that Russia is not going to implicitly execute all decisions of international law-enfrocement authorities including the European Court of Human Rights. In the course of his research Gashin has used formal logical, historical legal, comparative legal and other research methods common for legal science. The review of the experience of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation as well as opinions of scientists and lawyers demonstrates that the supreme authority of constitutional control of the Russian Federation did not only exceed authority but in fact deprived Russian citizens to apply to the European Court of Human Rights as the final law-enforcement authority. The researchers conclude that at the present time the relationship between the Russian Federation and the European Court of Human Rights is in tenterhook, therefore it is necessary to create a new mechanism of execution of decisions issued by the European law enforcement authority here in Russia. 

Keywords: collision, YUKOS case, Markin case, execution of decisions, violation of rights, Constitutional Court, European Court, legal system, competence, human rights institution

Abstract: In this article Karimov analyzes whether it is necessary to amend available safety measures in relation to judicial authorities of the Russian Federation. The aim of the research is to analyze the current order of weapon issue to judges in the Russian Federation. The object of the research is the social relations rising in the process of implementation of legal provisions about the order of weapon issue to judges in the Russian Federation. The subject of the research is the legal acts that regulate the order of weapon issue to judges in the Russian Federaton. The researcher analyzes kinds of weapons that can be issued to a judge upon his or her written inquiry. The research is based on the comparative legal analysis of previous provisions about the order of weapon issue to judges and legal provisions that have been implemented just lately. The analysis is also based on the use of such research methods as analysis and synthesis, generalisation and logical research method. The author of the article proves the idea that the legal specificiation of the order of weapon issue to judges in the Russian Federation will eliminate possibility of attacking judges or their family members. The author focuses on the gaps in relevant legal regulations and suggests to review and make changes in the current law that regulates the order of weapon issue to judges. 

Keywords: authority, issue, weapon, security, protection, court, judge, judicial activities, judicial branch, control

Abstract: The object of the research is the unification of conciliation procedure acts stated by the Federal Law No. 197 of July 26, 2019 as one of the most important development trends of the civil process. The subject of the research is the acts of the civil, arbitration and administrative legislations as well as researches in the spheres of civil process and alternative procedures of legal conflict resolution. Pleshanov tries to find answers to two questions, about parameters (directions) of the unification of conciliation procedures; and limits of the application of different kinds of conciliation procedures during hearing of civil and administrative cases as well as economic disputes. The methodological basis of the research included the following methods: analysis, synthesis, structured system, formal logical, theoretical prognostic, comparative legal analysis and interpretation of legal acts. The main conclusions of the research are the following provisions. Unification of conciliation procedures implies elimination of differences and contradictions, first of all, in relation to conciliation procedures, secondly, limits of the application of conciliation procedures, thirdly, the order of application of conciliation procedures. As the criteria for determination of the limits of application of conciliation procedures, the author of the article suggests to use the problematic nature of the case and applicability of conciliation results to a particular kind of conciliation procedure. The author also offers different variants of elimination of baseless divergences in the regulation of conciliation procedures in civil, arbitration and administrative proceedings that haven't been eliminated in the process of institutional unification based on the Federal Law No. 197 of July 26, 2019. 

Keywords: judicial conciliation, mediation, facilitation, negotiations, conciliation procedures, synchronization, unification, conciliation agreement, the principle of voluntariness, stages of the mediation

Abstract: The subject of the research is the personal traits of a judge and psychological peculiarities of judicial process. The authors focus on personal traits of all participants of a judicial process. The stage of trial is the climax of the entire pre-trial procedure. At this stage there is a direct confrontation between parties, available evidences are presented, studied and evaluated, in rare cases new evidences are discovered. This is the stage when a judge has the main role, besides legal functions he also arranges and manages regulation of interaction between all participants. In the course of their research the authors have used the methods of bibliographical analysis, analysis of documents and observation over participants of court procedcure. For efficient performance of his or her functions, a judge must have excellent knowledge of law and a whole number of personal qualities such as strong will, resistence to stress, communicative skills, etc. A judge experiences the influence of certain negative factors that accumulate and may seriously harm his or her personality. Another important role is performed by a prosecutor who also represents the state but is always at the part of accusation. Prosecutor's competence, argumentation and persuasion skills allow to complete efforts made by law enforcement agencies at the pre-trial stage. The accused is another participant worthy of attention. At the stage of trial his or her personality undergoes serious changes that define his or her further behaviour. The judicial decision-making process implies all kinds of available evidences as well as personal traits of all participants of a criminal process. 

Keywords: judge, defendant, prosecutor, participants in criminal proceedings, judicial decision, judicial activity, criminal proceedings, psychological feature, personality, personality of the judge

Abstract: The article is devoted to judicial reconcilation as a new instutition of judicial law in Russia. Makarenko analyzes this procedure in comparison to mediation procedure widely practiced in Russia. The researcher examines functions of the court and parties participating in this procedure and describes peculiarities of the  judicial reconcilation versus mediation procedure based on the use of formal law and comparative law methods. As a result of the research, Makarenko comes to the conclusion that the use of judicial reconcilation will allow Russia's legislation system to resolve disputes more effectively because this procedure allows to overcome all the drawbacks of the mediation procedure that has not been widely used in arbitration or civil practice. Mararenko also proves that all other alternative dispute resolutions have proved to be inefficient and so has the legislator's attempt to eliminate drawbacks of the dispute resolution procedure by the settlement agreement. 

Keywords: settlement agreement, judicial reconciliation, comparison, alternative dispute resolution, mediation, reconciliation, arbitration process, civil procedure, parties, court

Abstract: The matter under research is judicial practice in review of administrative judgements (decisions) as stated by Article 20.4 'Fire Safety Violations' of the Administrative Offences Code of the Russian Federation. The absence of judicial statistics about individual categories of administrative offences at the federal and regional levels causes the need to use computational methods to collect, process and analyse data. To achieve research targets, the authors of the article have used data of state autmoated system 'Justice'. Empirical base of the research was developed with the help of crawler based on POST-inquiries with some JSON parameter. As a result of inquiries, the researchers have received complete records of judicial acts and have used these to make a classification. For detailed intellectual analysis, the researchers have referred to 4.9 thousand judicial solutions about review of administrative judgements (decisions) based on Article 20.4 of the Administrative Offences Code of the Russian Federation for the period since 2010 till 2017. As a result of the research, the authors have created and tested the methodology of extraction, analysis and interpretation of practical judicial data that are not provided by judicial statistics. In the course of interpretation of empirical data, the authors have discovered general Russia's trends in law enforcement as a result of increased efficiency of administrative law as well as have created three regional models of correlation of results for review of administrative judgements (decisions) that have been associated with the indicators of regional socio-economic statistics. 

Keywords: computational methodology, computational experiment, big data, machine learning, intellectual analysis, administrative liability, digital state, artificial intelligence, law, fire safety

Abstract: The scope of the research covers explanations of legal provisions regulating special judicial procedures to unprofessional participants of the criminal process. The aim of the research is to develop recommendations that would minimize violations of rights and interests of aforesaid actors in cases when prosecution and defence reach a compromise based on the provisions of Chapters 32.1, 40, 40.1 of the Russian Federation Code of Criminal Procedure. To achieve the research targets, the authors have used general and special research methods including synthesis, analysis, forecasting, comparison, etc. Based on the analysis of scientific discussion and judicial practice, the authors have described typical situations when individuals under prosecution did not fully understand the meaning of special judicial procedure and how to use it in practice. To solve and prevent similar problems, the authors offer to use opportunities provided by legal education. They also make particular recommendations on how to create and implement recommendations for accused, victims, etc. They conclude that legal education is the key factor of actual defence of rights and interests of unprofessional participants of the criminal process. 

Keywords: explanation of rights, suspect, accused, victim, investigator, compromise, legal education, special procedure, memo, investigation

Abstract: In his article Iliasov touches upon particular theoretical and practical issues and rules of tacit admission aimed at improving competiteveness in arbitral proceedings. He analyzes the provisions of Part 3.1 of Article 70 of Arbitral Procedural Code of the Russian Federation that allows the court to recognize circumstances the other party refers to in order to prove their requirements or complains in case these circumstances have not been contested or disputed or other proofs of their disagreement. The research methodology includes general research methods such as analysis, synthesis, generalisation, analogy and special research methods (formal law). As a result of the research, the author concludes that the aforesaid novella is an example of inconsistent changes of arbitral proceedings that may lead to the impairment of rights of participants. The practical importance of the research is that the results can be used to prepare legal acts in the field of the procedural law. 

Keywords: burden of proof, legal equality, adversarial system, judicial reform, court's powers, civil process, tacit admission, arbitral proceeding, evidence, Principles of civil process

Abstract: In his article Kuznetsov focuses on how the right to judicial protection relates to a new legal category of the national legal doctrine called 'the right to perform judicial decisions'. The author analyzes the background of this category in the experience of the European Human Rights Court and analyzes the main concepts of the right to claim and the right to judicial protection. Kuznetsov also analyzes the effect of the right to perform judicial decisions on the aforesaid concepts and describes the role of the right to perform judicial decisions in relation to the common law category, the right to a fair trial. To write his article, Kuznetsov has used historical law, formal law and formal domatic methods, interpretation of legal ideas, analysis and synthesis. The main conclusions of the research are as follows: the right to perform judicial decisions is recognized at the level of the international legal community and judicial practice of the European Human Rights Court; the Russian legal doctrine analyzes the right to claim and the right to judicial protection disregarding the essence of the right to perform judicial decisions as an essential element of these legal categories; common intepretation of the right to judicial protection as being complete after a judicial decision comes into force is insufficient; and the right to perform judicial decisions has substantive and procedural aspects. 

Keywords: judicial branch, ECHR, European court, claimant, bailiff, enforcement proceedings, right enforcement, civil procedure, fair trial, procedural doctrine

Abstract: In his article Abdulin analyzes and summarizes the problems of formation of terminology and terminological system of judicial control. The point of view of the author as to the origin of the terms of judicial control, and their status is disclosed, and so are the achievements and shortcomings of the Soviet period terminological research in the field of judicial administration. The author believes that the terminological framework of judicial control formed during the Soviet period is the bearer of collective professional-scientific memory as terminological system of the area of government has a long history and tradition. The theoretical and methodological background to the research is the methods and principles used in both history and law. In his research Abdulin has applied both general and special research methods, individually or combined, such as analysis and synthesis, abstraction, structured systems analysis, historical genetic analysis, comparative law analysis, typological analysis, etc. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the article presents the results of a complex interdisciplinary research that demonstrates the development and historical correlation of the terminological framework of judicial control from the point of view of the development of judicial administration in Russia. Based on the analysis of particular historical materials, the author describes the origin of the first terms and definitions of judicial administration as well as formation and development of the terminological framework of judicial administration in pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern periods. 

Keywords: history, base, period, management, court, system, terminology, term, traditions, control

Abstract: In this article the authors try to cast light on the approaches of Chinese legislators to the protection of investors in Chinese and arbitration courts including international courts. For this purpose, the authors analyze the provisions of the laws of 1979, 1988 and 1986 on joint ventures (share and cooperative) and foreign companies. The authors relate analysis of investment disputes to the kinds of investment disputes and attribution of the investor (internal or external). The authors aso cover the provisions of the intergovernmental agreement between China and Russia. In their research the authors have used such research methods as general dialectical method, historical and comparative law analysis. The authors base their research on the subjective-objective set course of processes and phenomena. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the authors analyze arbitration resolvement of investment debates from the point of view of civil law guarantees of investor protection. As a result of the research, the authors conclude that creation of the alternative to state courts, i.e. arbitration resolution of investment disputes, is one of the most important guarantees of a foreign investor rights' protection.  

Keywords: ICSID, joint ventures, investor, intergovernmental agreement, legal guarantees, foreign companies, arbitration, investment disputes, investment, China

Abstract: The article is devoted to analyzing different models of judicial compliance assessment (procedure for judicial test of compliance of legal acts to precedent legal acts) that are executed by judicial authorities of different kind with both general and specific jurisdiction within the framework of constitutional, criminal, civil or administrative legal proceedings (independently or with a later appealing to constitutional courts or other competent judicial authorities). The author of the article focuses on how these models are applied in Latin American countries. Using the methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, specification, and generalisation the author analyses state models of judicial compliance assessment used by the foreign states as well as approaches to classification of these models. In particular, the author examines the institution of judicial compliance assessment in a number of Latin American countries such as Argentine Republic, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, United Mexican States, Republic of Costa Rica, Republic of Ecuador, and Federative Republic of Brazil. In conclusion the author describes advantages of the system of 'disperse' judicial compliance assessment in Latin American countries. 

Keywords: Federative Republic of Brazil, Republic of Ecuador, Peru, Republic of Costa Rica, United Mexican States, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Argentine Republic, Latin America, administrative legal proceedings, judicial compliance assessment

Abstract: The research subject is the institution of administrative procedure enforcement. The author defines its concept, studies its features and forms. In the author’s opinion, administrative and procedure enforcement has the following forms: measures of procedural protection (including protection, responsibility and security measures) and injunctions. The author compares the forms of administrative procedure enforcement, points out their common features and peculiarities. As the common features, the author mentions public enforcement character, normative formalization, existence within a legal relationship; peculiarities consist in the reasons for use, content, reasons for immunity and exceptions. The study is based on the dialectical method of cognition of social phenomena and the related general scientific and specific methods: comparative-legal, formal-legal, functional, system and others. The author formulates conclusions about the concept of administrative procedure enforcement and existence of injunctions, which have different reasons for use, different content, reasons for immunity and exceptions. The article is a part of the research project of Russian Foundation for Basic Research No 16-33-00017 “Complex intersectoral institution of legal responsibility: concept, structure, interrelations and place in the system of law”. 

Keywords: measures of procedural responsibility, protection measures, measures, procedure responsibility, protection of a right, procedure enforcement, public enforcement, administrative procedure enforcement, Institution of law, security measures

Abstract: The research subject is the rule of closed procedure of the preparatory part of court proceedings at the stage of the jury formation. The author studies legal regulation of this sphere in the Criminal Procedure Code of Russia, the RSFSR and legislation of foreign countries (the USA and Spain), and the judicial practice of realization of this rule according to the Criminal Procedure Code of Russia and the RSFSR. The article analyzes the procedure of formation of the jury from the position of the need to close it to protect the rights and freedoms of the parties guaranteed by the Constitution, and to guarantee the legality and feasibility of the judicial decision. The research is based on the dialectical method. Besides, the author uses the formal-legal, historical-legal and comparative-legal methods. The author concludes that the legislator has established unreasonably wide limits of the principle of publicity for the jury formation. The protection of the values, guaranteed by the Constitution of Russia (private life, personal and family secrets, life and health of the jury candidates), doesn’t require closing the jury formation procedure in all criminal cases. The author offers excluding part 23 from the article 328 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Russia. The current version of the article 241 of the Code allows the court to decide to close the part of the proceedings, which is connected with legally protected information, in the context of a particular situation. Using the practice, which has formed by 2002, it is reasonable to provide for the possibility not to put the public out of court, but to offer the interested parties to approach the presiding judge and to deliver questions and answers with such strength of tone for other persons, who are not the parties to the proceedings, not to hear them. 

Keywords: Principle of publicity, Legal proceedings, Presiding, privacy, juror, jury, closed proceedings , trial jury , criminal process, Judicial practice

Abstract: In the article, the author analyses the notion, definition and the classification of the fundamental principles of appeal proceedings. The author proposes a retrospective analysis of pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern Russian legal doctrines, which define in different ways the fundamental principles of the control and review stages of criminal procedure. The author reveals the correlation between the fundamental principles of appeal proceedings and the principles of criminal procedure and the context of general court proceedings.The author considers the peculiarities of implementation of a theoretical construct of the fundamental principles of revision of decisions of court, which haven’t yet become effective in law. This construct had been formalized in Russian legal doctrine, legislation and law enforcement practice in different periods of development of Russian criminal procedure. The importance of the legal standing of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, as well as of the interpretation of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and of the court rulings that give substance to the fundamental principles of the appeal procedure is emphasized. The author analyzes particular fundamental principles of the appeal proceedings in criminal procedure. The subject of the article determines the application of a number of general scientific methods (system analysis, description of empiric material, comparison and generalization), and special methods (historic and legal analysis, generalization of the law enforcement practice and technical and legal analysis). Study of the essence of the fundamental principles of appeal proceedings allowes the author to conclude that appeal is the main method of revision of decisions of court. In this regard, the author proposes certain areas of reforming the revision of decisions of court, which haven't yet become ef fective in law, consisting in a more consistent implementation of fundamental principles of appeal proceedings.

Keywords: instance structure, reformatio in pejus, revision proceedings, verification of validity, verification of legality, right of appeal, fundamental principles, appeal, binding character of court rulings, criminal proceeding

Abstract: The article is devoted to the historical typologization of criminal proceedings in jury trials. The author notes that the essence of the jury trial requires its realization in the legislative regulation and judicial practice of the concrete historical models of trial by jury. However, each specific model of proceeding in a jury trial is formed and functions in the context of the evolution of a certain legal system, as a result of which it inevitably comes under the influence of a group of factors that affects the specificity of realization of these features. The identical nature of a number of such factors leads to the emergence of models of proceedings in the jury trial which are similar in the specificity of their legal constructions.The article critically examines the approaches to the historical typologization of proceedings in jury trials in pre-revolutionary and modern procedural literature. In the author's opinion, the complex basis of the typology of historical forms of proceedings in the jury trial is determined by a certain type of criminal process, its historical form, and also the ideology (direction) of the transformation of the theoretical (ideal) model of such proceeding.The totality of the concrete historical features of proceeding in the jury trial constitutes a typical historical (morphological) model of such proceeding, and its implementation in the legislation of the particular state (in the particular historical period) is a particular historical form (the legislative form) of proceeding in the jury trial.The author notes that there exist three typical historical (morphological) models of proceedings in jury trial: Anglo-American, Continental and Combined (mixed).The author concludes that the study of historical models of proceedings in jury trial is significant for finding the ways to improve this form of legal proceedings in modern Russia.

Keywords: verdict, jurors, combined model, continental model, Anglo-American model, jury trial, question sheet, sentence, presiding judge, guilt

Abstract: The research subject is the provisions of the current legislation on electronic documents. The research object is particular problems connected with the procedure of obtaining and examining an electronic document in the context of its specificity. The author studies the aspects of the topic connected with the provision with the information contained on the hard disk of the computer, the study of the hard disk, and the recognition of correspondence via WhatsApp as inadmissible evidence. Particular attention is paid to the exclusion of an electronic document from the existing list of written evidence in civil and administrative proceedings. The author substantiates the consolidation of an open, non-exhaustive list of means of proving in civil and administrative proceedings. The author notes that in some normative legal acts the legislator somehow endues electronic documents with lower evidentiary strength compared with written evidence.The methodological basis of the study is represented by the following methods: the dialectical method of scientific cognition, the method of formal logic, the formal-legal method, the methods of analysis and synthesis, comparative legal, system and historical methods.The author defines the status of an electronic document in civil and administrative proceedings, formulates the proposals for formalization of an open list of evidence in article 59 of the Administrative Procedure Rules and at adoption of Chapter 6 of the Unified Сode of civil procedure. A special contribution of the author to the research of the topic is substantiation of exclusion of an electronic document from the list of written evidence in the Civil Procedure Code, the Arbitration Procedure Code and the Administrative Procedure Rules. Provisions of part 3 article 75 of the Arbitration Procedure Code and parts 1.1 article 70 of Administrative Procedure Rules should be taken into account when adopting the Unified Civil Procedure Code and amending the Administrative Procedure Rules. Special reasons and procedure of adoption of electronic documents as evidence should result in the special procedure of their examination, different from the procedure of examination of written evidences. 

Keywords: electronic evidence, legislation, open list of evidence, written evidence, electronic document, administrative proceedings, Civil proceedings, legal acts, status of electronic document, information technologies

Abstract: The author attempts to comprehensively analyze such legal category as judiciary independence and outline its main aspects and limits with regard to various levels of the judiciary. Judicial independence is described as a complex multi-aspect phenomenon, determined by the complexity of the very phenomenon of the judiciary. The author studies the independence feature in relation to each level of organization (realization) of the judiciary, detects the aspects of independence, describes the constitutional guarantees of its realization. Special attention is given to the legal positions of the Constitutional Court. The research is based on the methodology of the system approach. The author relies on the understanding of the judiciary as a complex multilayer socio-political system (subsystem of the state). The author also uses formal-logical research methods. The paper contains the author’s attempt to comprehensively analyze the constitutional-legal grounds of judicial independence and the role of the decisions of the Constitutional Court in the formation of the guarantees of judicial independence. The author concludes about the growing importance of judicial review of constitutionality determining the development of Russian judicial system in the direction of more transparent, independent and fair judicial procedure enjoying the confidence of most citizens. 

Keywords: constitutionalization of justice , constitutional and legal positions, guarantees of judicial independence , limits of judicial independence, community of judges , Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, independent court, judicial organization, judicial system, judiciary

Abstract: The paper analyzes the problem of unification of civil and arbitration proceedings in the Russian Federation caused by the absence of due attention to procedural principles, the need for their harmonization, and provision of their coherence. The author suggests considering these principles in a whole, taking into account the social and liberal concepts applied to material and procedural law. The author points at the theses about “differentiation” and “imbalance” of legal regulation and the necessity to level the negative consequences of these phenomena when preparing the unified civil proceedings code of the Russian Federation. The research methodology is based on general scientific and specific research methods: the dialectical method, the method of formal logic, the formal-legal method, analysis and synthesis, the comparative-legal, system and historical methods. The author concludes that there exist integrative processes, promoting unification of civil and arbitration provisions, and the factors determining the specification of provisions as a result of evolution of the structure and the content of legal regulation of particular procedural relations expressed in the concepts of “differentiation” and “imbalance”. The author suggests using the procedural principles, their coherence and belonging to a certain concept, as a means of harmonization and minimization of collisions. The author formulates the criterion for the systematization of the principles in order to restrict the context regulation of particular procedural relations. 

Keywords: procedural law reform, specificity of procedural principles, imbalance of procedural provisions, differentiation of procedural provisions, principles of civil proceedings, systematization, harmonization of procedural law, civil proceedings, simplification of procedural provisions, contextuality of procedural principles

Abstract: The authors analyze the normative model of the language of criminal procedure in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The institution of the language of criminal procedure of Uzbekistan consists of three interconnected components: the principle, the procedural statuses of the parts to criminal procedure, and the guarantees of the enjoyment of the right to use the native language of the trial participant or the language he or she can speak. The Uzbek variant of the principle is analogous to the Soviet one and contains the possibility to use any language during criminal procedure, despite the fact that the Constitution of the Republic formalizes the only state language – Uzbek. The procedural statuses of the subjects don’t comply with the essence of the concept of the language of criminal procedure, since officially not all trial participants enjoy the right to use the native language or the language they can speak. There are difference guarantees of this right. The authors apply different methods, including historical, formal logical and comparative methods of cognition. The set of research methods helps comprehensively analyze the institution and formulate the substantiated conclusions. The Uzbek institution of the language criminal procedure hasn’t been studied yet. The main instrument of guaranteeing the right to use the native language or the language a person can speak is the institution of interpreters. In the authors’ opinion, the model of the institution of interpreters needs to be corrected due to some defects. Firstly, the legislation doesn’t contain any legal definition of the term “interpreter”. Secondly, the legislation doesn’t systematize the grounds and the procedure of interpreters’ participation in the procedure. Thirdly, there are gaps in the regulation of their statuses. All the revealed drawbacks of the normative model of the institution of language can affect the law enforcement practice and the observation of rights of the participants of the criminal procedure, so it would be better to eliminate them. 

Keywords: legal status, principle, official language, native language, comparative researches, criminal procedure, Uzbek law, law, guarantees of right, interpreter

Abstract: The paper studies the General Council of the Judiciary of Spain, the independent collegiate constitutional body responsible for the judicial system management for the purpose of the judges’ independence provision. The author considers the key regulatory instruments, formalizing the fundamentals of the Spanish judicial system, characterizes the judiciary of Spain, studies the peculiarities of the legal status of various categories of judges (commissioners and professional judges), magistrates (judges of the highest judicial bodies), and presidents of courts. The author applies different methods of scientific cognition including analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction, specification and generalization. The author describes the structure of the General Council of the Judiciary of Spain and the procedure of its formation including the appointment of the members of the Council (the judiciary and other persons), their accession to office, tenure, substitution and termination of powers. Special attention is given to the Election Commission, a body responsible for the formation of the Council and managing any issues related to the nomination of candidates to the General Council from among the judges. 

Keywords: judiciary formation, statutory instruments, magistrates , judges, independence of judges, foreign experience, bodies of the judiciary, judicial authority, judicial system, the Kingdom of Spain

Abstract: The research object is constitutional responsibility as one of the key elements of civil society and a law-bound state. Based on the Constitutional Court’s judgements, the author develops the idea of the independence of constitutional responsibility as a form of legal responsibility. The author analyzes certain manifestations – constitutional responsibility measures: amotion and restriction of the right to vote. Such presentation of a problem can serve as an impetus for further studies in this sphere. The article substantiates the interdependence between civil society and a law-bound state. The author applies dialectical, comparative-legal and formal-legal methods, the system approach, the method of abstraction. Based on the judgements of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the author concludes that constitutional responsibility is not limited to the negative aspect; it also has a positive character which is not connected with constitutional offences. But without a negative side, the positive aspect becomes weak or meaningless, therefore negative constitutional responsibility serves as a means of ensuring positive responsibility. The judgements of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation assert and prove two blocks within the system of constitutional responsibility: the positive and the negative one. This division happens on the macro-level of constitutional responsibility. They also predetermine the division of constitutional responsibility on the macro-level into the federal constitutional responsibility and the responsibility of the territorial units of the Russian Federation. The micro-level of constitutional responsibility is characterized by such substitutes as the responsibility of: President, Government, Federal Assembly, and the responsibility in the sphere of constitutional relations. The study is supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities, project No. 16-33-00017 “A comprehensive, interdisciplinary institution of legal responsibility: the concept, structure, interrelations and the role within the system of law”. 

Keywords: judgements of the Constitutional Court, responsibility of officials, constitutional responsibility measures, law-bound state, civil society, constitutional responsibility, legal responsibility, mutual responsibility, President's responsibility, Government's responsibility

Abstract: The paper studies the influence of the specificity of constitutional judicial proceedings as a certain circumstance, used for legal matters resolving, on the process of proving, particularly, the subject of proving and the evidences. The author studies the peculiarities of the process of proving in constitutional legal proceedings and compares it with similar matters in other legal proceedings. The author notes that the understanding of proving and evidences, typical for the legal science, is limited to the approaches, established in relation to judicial proceedings aimed at resolving the matters of a fact. Using the system, comparative-legal and formal-legal analysis, the author outlines the central problem of the article. Based on the peculiarities of constitutional judicial proceedings, the author concludes that proving in this type of judicial proceedings doesn’t conform to a traditional understanding of proving in other branches of law; therefore, there is a necessity to develop a more detailed normative regulation of this very branch of procedural law, thus improving the mechanism of realization of the personal right to judicial protection by means of constitutional judicial proceedings. 

Keywords: stages of constitutional judicial proceedings, normative regulation of proving , legal arguments , fact in proof, matters of fact, matters of law, evidence, Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, proving, Constitutional judicial proceedings

Abstract: The research subject is the legal status of an investigating judge, introduced in criminal procedure in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2015. The author describes the range of potential problems with the order of service of an investigating judge according to the Criminal Procedure Code of Kazakhstan; gives the examples of court practice of West Kazakhstan region. The author specifies the problems within an investigating judge’s jurisdiction, his competence and authority to consider the cases on a pre-trial stage. The author applies various research methods including the general scientific and the comparative ones. The author offers establishing the period of service of an investigation judge for improving stability and creating the scope of judicial practice. The author emphasizes that the election of an investigating judge by the judges from among their colleagues, instead of the appointment by the court president without regard to the opinion of the judiciary, would be one of the first steps on the road to establishing elective judiciary in the country. 

Keywords: authorities, court jurisdiction, supervision, judicial control, judicial system, Kazakhstan, criminal procedure, criminal process, court, investigating judge

Abstract: The article is devoted to the specificity of proceeding in jury according to the Austrian CCP, adopted in 1975 (with amendments of 2016) as a kind of a European model of this procedure. These features are considered from a comparative legal aspect and compared with the same procedure, contained in the Russian CCP.Proceeding in jury trial in Austria is an example of a continental type of this form of hearing of a case, and this is a factor conditioning the significant differences between this procedure and the same one established by the Russian CCP. The presiding judge possesses a wide discretion in the field of proving. The features of the judicial enquiry in jury in Austria are the following: examination of evidences begins with the questioning of the accused; the procedures of examination of evidences of the defense and the prosecution are equal; a wide examination of information about a personality of an accused before the jury. The article notes the specificity of a stage of putting questions before the jury (there exist four types of questions), the specificity of the summing-up of the judge (he gives it in the jury-room and doesn’t speak on a factual side of a case), the specificity of the jury's deliberation when they have to give a short explanation of their answers, and the opportunity of a panel of professional judges to attend the jury's deliberation. The article suggests the possibility of reception of certain elements of the Austrian model of proceeding in jury trial by the Russian legislation.

Keywords: selection of a jury, summing-up, sentence, examination of witnesses, judicial enquiry, verdict, juror, jury trial, proving, presiding judge

Abstract: The article contains the critical analysis of the procedure of formation of a preliminary list of candidates to the jury. The author studies such its drawback s as the lack of guarantees of the random sampling principle observance and its isolation from the sides. The author develops the procedure of a preliminary list of candidates formation which should allow the sides and the superior court to control the observance of the law, whereas the current legislation doesn’t contain the guarantees of a list of candidates formation on the base of the random sampling principle. The author carries out the comparative analysis of the methods of selection of candidates and generalizes the judicial practice on the issues of formation of a preliminary list of candidates to the jury. The author substantiates the following suggestions: 1) to legislate the selection of candidates to the jury with the use of computer programs; 2) to vest the sides with the right to attend the procedure of formation of preliminary lists; 3) to record the procedure and the results of selection of candidates. 

Keywords: criminal proceedings, jury court, random sampling, formation, jury, juror, protocol, secretary, jury list, court

Abstract: The authors offer the ways of implementation of principles of independence and competitiveness in criminal proceedings as a governmental activity in the sphere of justice which saliently forms the citizens’ comprehension of the existing level of social justice. In the authors’ opinion, the observation of certain conditions in the activity of judicial and law enforcement bodies would enhance their efficiency, in particular: 1) would exempt legislative bodies from participation in bureaucratic “games”; 2) the level of accessibility of justice for citizens would significantly increase; 3) the confidence of citizens in the possibility of their rights and interests defending would strengthen; 5) citizens would more actively assist the authorities in combating crime; 5) the workload of public administration would significantly decrease due to activization of internal potential of public and business institutions in combating crimes, etc. The methodology of the research is based on the general and special methods of scientific cognition: the methods of empirical research (observation, comparison, collection and analysis of data), analysis and synthesis of theoretical and practical material. The authors analyze normative-legal acts, educational literature, special literature, statistical data and law enforcement practice. The authors offer the ways of implementation of principles of independence and competitiveness in criminal proceedings by means of formation of political will capable of improvement of the ideology of an official in relation to the role of legal proceedings in the country, effective prohibition of “telephone law”, development of the institute of advocatory investigation, public expertise of criminal cases, enhancement of professionalism of the prosecution. 

Keywords: corruption crimes, bribery, public expertise, advocatory investigation, principle of competitiveness, principle of independence, court, advocacy, prosecutor, punishment

Abstract: The object of the research includes the actual changes in legal regulation of insolvency (bankruptcy) connected with the introduction of institution of bankruptcy of natural persons without a status of an individual entrepreneur, and the transfer of consumer bankruptcy cases to the competence of the courts of general jurisdiction. Special attention is paid to the analysis of standards of the Code of civil procedure of the Russian Federation and the Arbitration procedural code of the Russian Federation, differentiating the powers of courts and arbitration courts on cases of insolvency (bankruptcy), to the questions of jurisdiction of citizens' bankruptcy cases, their exclusive and territorial  jurisdiction. The methodology of the research is based on the complex analysis of the regulations of Russian legislation concerning the jurisdiction of citizens' bankruptcy cases, and the provisions of the Concept of the unified Code of civil procedure of the Russian Federation about the competence of the courts. The author comes to the conclusion that the reforming of judicial system in a result of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation abolition, and the activities aimed at the unification of civil and arbitration proceedings reveal a tendency to a further merge of courts and arbitration courts. Under these circumstances the exclusive  jurisdiction institution should serve as a mechanism of their powers distribution. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the author suggests the usage of the term "jurisdiction" in the Code of civil procedure of the Russian Federation in order to differentiate the powers of courts from the powers of arbitration courts.

Keywords: citizens, consumer bankruptcy, jurisdiction of courts, jurisdiction, judicial reform, arbitration courts, special jurisdiction, civil procedure, arbitration process, unification

Abstract: The article is devoted to the topical issues of formation and development of the specialized courts in Russia. Within the framework of the judicial reform it is offered to introduce specialized courts. The author provides specific proposals for the amendments of the current Russian legislation on these matters.  The Federal Constitutional Law "On the Judicial System of the Russian Federation" provides for the possibility of institution of the specialized courts (Art. 26). There are two main categories of courts: general courts (courts of general jurisdiction) and specialized courts.  There are several ways for including specialized courts into the judicial system.  The scientific environment lacks an unified opinion on the formation of specialized courts. Some scientists speak against the formation of specialized courts. Others are in favor of formation of the specialized courts.  That is why, this issue remains topical. The author makes a conclusion that specialized courts are necessary. Firstly, the presence of specialized courts is an evidence of democracy in the national judicial system within the framework of the rule of law state.  Secondly, formation of the specialized courts shall facilitate the improvement of quality of judicial decisions, less mistakes in the judicial sphere, and wider scope of judicial protection for the citizens.  The criteria for the specialization of the courts may be based upon the object, subject, procedural form, specialized (legislative) basis for the issues of regulation of specialized courts. The author responds to the question whether Russia needs specialized courts.

Keywords: judicial reform, specialized courts, judicial system, quality of justice, courts of general jurisdiction, specialization criteria, specialized jurisdiction, qualification of judges, judicial protection, judicial power