Abstract: International legal order in the sphere of regulation of international trade is regarded outside the scope of the WTO, but within the context of its infl uence, recognizing its dominant role. The author provides a defi nition of international trade, discussing object and immediate object of regulation in this sphere of the modern international law. The author evaluates the main methods of international legal regulation of international trade. The author singles out trade contracts, trade contingent contracts (contracts for the turnover of goods) and other types of contracts among the international contracts regulating international trade. Among the exceptions from the scope of the WTO the author evaluates the regime for the export of national heritage objects, and sales of raw resources. Outside the scope of the WTO the preferential systems are formed, as well as the export of weapons and “double purpose” goods. The methodological basis involves a general scientifi c dialectic method of cognition, as well as the method of systemic analysis, comparative legal, historical, logical, structural functional, method of interpretation of the norms of the international law, etc. Unlike the traditional perception of the international trade within the scope of the WTO, the article provides analysis of spheres of regulation of international trade outside the scope of this universal international organization. The author also provides her own defi nition of the international legal order in the sphere of regulation of international trade, providing classifi cation of the international contacts in the sphere of regulation of international trade. The author analyzes the newest international treaties in the sphere of raw resources trading. The author also discusses the tendencies for the further development of the international legal order in the sphere of regulation of the international trade.

Keywords: International legal order, international trade, trade contracts, contingent treaties, raw materials goods, international commodity agreements, international administrative commodity agreements, preferential systems, export control, double purpose goods.

Abstract: The object of studies involves international relations appearing in the process of international legal regulation of guarantees of well-being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment. The immediate object of studies involves formation and development of international regulation in the sphere of guarantees of the well-being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment and implementation of the international norms in the said sphere. The purpose of studies involves analysis of the universal, regional and supranational levels of legal regulation of the guarantees of the well-being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment. The studies of the international legal standards for the well-being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment involved a complex of general and specifi c scientifi c methods. Based upon the formal legal method the author provided analysis of the legal contents of the international universal, regional, national legal acts in the sphere of protection of animals well-being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment, the comparative legal method was used to single out the specifi c features and differences in the universal and regional levels of international cooperation in the sphere of well-being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment; the method of systemic analysis allowed to study the mechanism of international cooperation in the sphere of guarantees of the well-being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment, to single out its levels and elements, providing their general characteristics and mutual connections; historical legal and dialectic methods were used in order to show the specifi c features of evolution of development of legal regulation of guarantees of well-being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment. The article provides a complex study of historical, theoretical, and international legal aspects of cooperation of states in the sphere of guarantees of the well-being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment. The authors provides philosophical legal substantiation for the legal guarantees of the well-being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment, the author provide grounds for the necessary transition from the anthropocentric approach to the regulation of the sphere of relations with the animals and the nature-centric approach. The authors provide classifi - cation of international legal instruments regulating well--being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment, study the perspectives of universal regulation of the state cooperation in the sphere of guaranteeing the well--being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment, discuss the forms and contents of state cooperation within the framework of the Council of Europe in the sphere of guarantees of the well--being of animals and their protection from cruel treatment, studying the degree of participation of states in the said cooperation. The authors substantiate the need for the post-Soviet states to participate in the Conventions of the Council of Europe on protection of animals.

Keywords: Well-being of animals, protection of animals, international legal regulation, ethical norms, national legislation, leading principles, humanizing the social relations, international standards, protection of domestic animals, cruel treatment.

Abstract: The said article is devoted to the modern tendencies regarding the legal status of a notary within the aspect of the norms of the international private law. Currently notaries provide one of the most effi cient mechanisms for the civil turnover, allowing to guarantee the combination of private and public interests in the spheres, such as international family law, international inheritance law, that is the spheres of activities of persons, where priority of a certain interest is not obvious, and there is a confl ict of laws, which is the subject of studies within the framework of the international private law. The author of the article uses comparative legal method of studies in order to provide a detailed analysis of the legal basis for the functioning of the international notary activities, which involves domestic sources, as well as the international sources (international treaties, international customs). The author points out variety and wide range of sources for the notary activities, which is due to the specifi c features of the relations involving foreign legal orders, namely: defi ning the legal status of foreign persons (entities) participating in notary proceedings, use of foreign documents (defi ning the international validity of the documents). As a result of the study the author drew the following conclusions. The modern realities of social and economic development of state and society require a transition to the more active model of notary work, which would not be limited to the verifying functions of notaries. The foremost important role in the legislative development belongs to the new draft of the Federal Law “On Organization and Notary Activities in the Russian Federation”. That is why documents verifi ed by notaries should be recognized as authentic acts, having higher evidentiary force in comparison to plain written documents, which would guarantee reliability and stability of the documents and other acts in the civil turnover and ease the work of the courts.

Keywords: International private law, notary, Latin notary system, Anglo-Saxon notary system, sources of legal regulation, notary proceedings, consular legalization, apostil, lack of formalities, exequatur.

Abstract: The article concerns specifi c features of legal regulation of the international fi nancial relations. The author analyzes methods, subjects and sources of regulation, defi ning the role of international private law. The author also singles out the main types of deals in the international fi nancial market, pointing out three levels of regulation: macro-regulation, functional regulation, self-regulation. The article provides for the common feature of the international private fi nancial legal relations – presence of a foreign element, which may be involved among the subjects of the relations, in the object of the relation, or as a legal fact, concerning formation, alteration or termination of this relation. The author offers to divide the operations in the international capital market into three groups: trans-border issue of shares, international obligations and the treaties for the international syndicated loans. The article involves systemic, complex, historical, dialectic, comparative legal scientifi c methods. The author also provides a detailed evaluation of the foreign sources. The author attempts to analyze private law relations in the international fi nancial market, as well as specifi cities of their legal regulation. The author offers to view the legal regulation of the relations in the international fi nancial market from the three standpoints: the position of macro-regulation, functional regulation and self-regulation. Macro-regulation involves an international fi nancial market as a whole, and it is implemented by the IMF and the Financial Stability Forum (FSF), while the functional regulation and self-regulation are implemented in different sectors: the former involves the market for the banking services (BIS), securities (IOSCO) and insurance (IAIS), while the latter involves the market for the syndicated credits (LMA), securities (MARC) and derivatives (ISDA) The international private law and the UNIDROIT activities play a special role in the regulation of the international fi nancial relations. The common features of the international private fi nancial legal relations is that they are formed based upon the trans-border deals, and their main feature is a foreign element, which may be present among the subjects of the relations, their object, or a legal fact.

Keywords: Legal relation, fi nancial deals, syndicated credit, international fi nancial organizations, functional regulation, international fi nancial market, self-regulation, international obligation, liquidation netting, international associations.

Abstract: The disputes regarding forceful seizure of property of a foreign investor serves as bases for many claims in the ICSID, and they form a signifi cant share among the existing disputes arising from the international investment relations. When dealing with these issues the international arbitration inevitable face the questions of applicable material law. The Washington Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States provides relevant norms, however, in spite of clarity of their formulation, the practice of ICSID involves various issues regarding applicable law. The said article involves analysis of the value of the provisions of the Washington Convention in the applicable law, singling out the main confl ict of laws ties and specifi cally stressing the defi ning role of autonomy of will of the parties. The article provides a detailed analysis of the topical issue regarding correlation between the international law and national legislation as sources of material law regulating the issues of regulation of investments. Based upon the analysis of the normative basis and doctrine the author draws a conclusion on the priority of the national legal system of the state, where the investment of capital takes place, as law applicable to the investment expropriation, stressing special role of international legal norms.

Keywords: Foreign investments, expropriation, nationalization, forceful seizure of investments, international investment arbitration, ICSID, applicable law, confl ict of laws norms, investment protection, autonomy of will of the parties.

Abstract: The global ageing of the population is one of the key modern challenges, requiring special attention of the global community. Analysis of the relevant Resolutions of the UN General Assembly in the last 30 years and of other international documents shows that the views of the organization on this problem and the proposed solutions and practical recommendations for its Member States have changed considerable. The object of studies involves conceptual approaches of the UN to the risks regarding global ageing of the population. Special attention is paid to the methods, which are employed by the UN in order to improve manageability of the processes involving regional and national implementation of the international strategies in the sphere of ageing. In order to achieve goals of the research the authors applied systemic, structural functional, formal logical, historical legal, comparative legal and other scientifi c methods. For the fi rst time the tendencies and changes in the UN strategy were studied in respect to a set of problems regarding objective ageing of the population at the global scale. It is shown that the modern transition into viewing the issues of global ageing solely through the prism of the human rights issues in the international organization involves a number of delayed risks, regarding the changes in the hierarchy of goals and accent on the growing number of current and local issues at the cost of the strategic goals. The authors analyze the situation in the sphere of practical implementation of the ideas on the formation of the global monitoring system regarding the position of the elderly people in the world and universal mechanisms for their protection, including the development of the new international legal treaty on support and protection of rights and dignity of the elderly persons, as provided for by the UN General Assembly Resolution 67/139.

Keywords: International organizations, international law, the United Nations Organization, the UN General Assembly, ageing of the population, human rights, the “third age” the Vienna Action plan, the Madrid Action Plan, social and economic development.

Abstract: According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation (p. 4 of the Art. 15) the international treaties form part of its legal system along with the generally recognized principles and norms of the international law. The issue regarding inclusion of the international treaties into the list of sources of constitutional law is approached from various standpoints in the Russian legal literature. As a result, in this article based upon the analysis of the scientifi c literature, current constitutional legislation of Russia and foreign states, as well as the relevant provisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the author attempts to show the place of the international treaties within the system of constitutional law. The author considers that the issues of whether the international treaties of the Russian Federation are sources of the constitutional law of the Russian Federation, whether they are directly applicable in its territory and what their legal force is have no unambiguous solutions, which is due the fl awed formulations of part 4 of Art. 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, while there are references to these issues in other provisions of the Constitution (e.g., part 2 of Art. 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation), and there are also various types of treaties and laws. As a result, the author considers that resolution of some problems, which are directly regulated by the current legislation should take place in strict conformity with their provisions, while the issues causing confl ict of laws should be resolved individually with due regard to each specifi c situation by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation or by the courts of general jurisdiction based on their competence.

Keywords: International treaty, Constitution, source of international law, source of constitutional law, constitutional law, legislation, resolutions, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, globalization, problem.

Abstract: The author deals with the issue of preservation of the international peace with the help of the international bodies making obligatory decisions – international courts. The author studies the causes for the growing interest to this form of resolution of the international disputes: globalization, pacifi cation, etc. The author studies certain aspects of the judicial activities, which have became especially attractive, causing development of the judicial forms of international dispute resolution in the modern world. The author provides a classifi cation of the international judicial bodies, discussing their various categories, studying some aspects of the genesis of the international court. The author provides an example of the situation, when an international confl ict was resolved by this court (the dispute between Honduras and Nicaragua regarding activities of the armed groups in from the Honduras territory against Nicaragua). The author draws a conclusion that the true role of the international judicial procedures involves guarantees of the supremacy of law. Supremacy of law in the international relations requires formation of an unifi ed global legal order, which would provide every sovereign state with the freedom of actions within the framework of the generally recognized legal principles and norms.

Keywords: International law, international court, judicial procedure, judicial precedent, judicial practice, decision, codifi cation, international dispute, development of law, the UNO.

Abstract: The article concerns the acts regulating the judicial procedures in various international criminal tribunals, as well as the doctrine regarding the issues of victims in the international criminal process. The documents regulating the international criminal process have no special defi nition of a person, to whom a crime has caused damage. It is impossible to wholly apply the defi nition applicable in the national criminal law, since in the international criminal tribunal victims are often rather large groups of persons. For the purposes of the criminal process, it is also impossible to recognize a legal entity as a victim. The author also considers that it is hardly plausible to recognize groups (collectives) of persons as victims. The practices of the ad hoc tribunals shows that in the course of the investigation they take into account the special needs of certain types of victims. It is due to the fact that the Statute and the Regulations involve various provisions obliging the Court to take into account the interests and personal situations of the victims. As a result, the author provides a classifi cation of victims (children, victims of sexual crimes, etc.).

Keywords: International law, international criminal process, international criminal tribunal, collective victim, legal entity, international criminal court, victim, classifi cation, national judicial procedures, victim of a crime.

Abstract: The author of this presentation sees it her task to fi nd out, whether the ITLOS has helped to systematize the law of the sea, to make its rules more clear and obligations of states stemming therefrom more precise. The methodology of this paper is to undertake the analysis of the following questions: to begin with the general capacity of international courts to promote development of international law; then to light up the special place of ITLOS in the development of the law of the sea; to analyze the work by ITLOS on the law of the sea rules in different spheres of the ocean activity case by case; and to conclude. A very special place occupied by the International Tribunal for the of the Sea in progressive development of the law of the sea is dicussed in the article. It is submitted that ITLOS follows the ways and methods of the ICJ in the process. No other judicial body is capable to analize in detail rules of the law of the sea neither can infl uence positions of states.

Keywords: International Tribunal, progressive development, international law, ICJ, international judicial bodies, ITLOS, rules, positions of states, infl uence, the Sea.

Abstract: The hybrid (mixed) tribunals are bodies of international criminal justice, activities and competence of which are regulated with the combination of national and international norms. Internationalized national criminal courts form a type of mixed courts, and they are understood as national courts having jurisdiction over the cases involving international crimes. The international judges and national judges are both involved in the work of these courts. The said matter makes the mixed courts different from the international criminal ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. After several years of work of the ad hoc tribunals, there came up discussions on their formation in Sierra-Leone, Burundi, Congo, East Timor, Cambodia, etc. It showed that the international community has found the political will for solving these problems, and it also showed the quest of certain persons and whole nations for justice. The article concerns specific features of formation and work of the mixed courts and tribunals in the above-mentioned states.

Keywords: Hybrid (mixed) courts, tribunals, Sierra-Leone, Burundi, Congo, East Timor, Charter, judicial proceedings, criminal indictment, judicial chamber.

Abstract: The article contains analysis of the activities of the international organizations in the sphere of provisions of the free of charge legal services. The author presents a study of the activities of the specialized international organizations, majoring in the provision of the free legal aid. The author shows the spheres of activities of such organizations, their interaction with other international, governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as with the citizens and organizations in need of the free legal aid. The author pays special attention to the large international organizations majoring in pro bono activities. At the same time this is not always the sole direction of their activities, it is combined with other types of activities. The methodology of the studies is based upon the dialectic method, which is fundamental for the scientifi c cognition as such. The article also involves comparative legal, historical, formal logical, statistical, sociological methods of scientifi c studies . The article presents the fi rst comprehensive study of the international organizations in the sphere of pro bono practice. The author provides a classifi cation of the international organizations regarding the main spheres of their activities. The fi rst group involves organizations specializing solely on pro bono. The second group involves organizations implementing pro bono in addition to their main activities. The article may be of help for both the theoretical studies of the legal nature of the international organizations and the practical issues regarding interaction with the international organizations providing free of charge legal aid.

Keywords: Pro bono, international organizations, bar associations, standards for the legal services, poor persons, non-governmental charitable organization, international cooperation, international association of lawyers, cooperation agreements.

Abstract: The object of studies involves the views of the Russian and foreign scientists specializing in the environmental law, on the issues of legal regulation and policy in the sphere of climate protection and energy saving in the European Union as a whole and some of its Member States: the Great Britain, Germany, France. The author analyzes the main directions of the development of the legislation on climate protection and energy saving, evaluating the need for the reform of the European legislation in these spheres, and bringing European and national laws on climate protection closer to each other. Special attention is paid to the issues of use of renewable energy sources, climatic engineering methods, protection of biological variety. The method of studies involves comparison of the substantiated opinions, as expressed in the articles of the leading Russian and European specialists, evaluation of their applicability once the Russian Federation uptakes relevant obligations. Scientifi c novelty and conclusions are as follows: the reviewed collection of article contains a number of newest articles, involving topical studies of legal regulation of application of the mitigation and adaptation measures for the climate change and guaranteeing sustainable environmental development. The conclusion is made on the need to take into account the modern situation in the environmental policy and climate protection law of the EU, once Russia uptakes relevant environmental obligations.

Keywords: Modernization, energy, energy saving, climate, adaptation, mitigation, the European Union, Germany, France, the Great Britain.