Review: The article is devoted to the prospects of using mediation techniques in the settlement of electoral conflicts. It is well known that electoral conflicts are among the most intense and rapidly developing due to the fact that election campaigns are a time-limited process. With that said, mediation, as a relatively new technology for the Russian socio-political reality, seems to be one of the most promising techniques for resolving such conflicts, since it combines mobility, focus on positive results, constructiveness and maximum flexibility, allows you to formulate and take into account the current and rapidly changing interests of the parties in the political process. The article has a pronounced practical orientation and takes into account, among other things, the existing practical experience of using mediation in the settlement of designated conflicts.   The scientific novelty of the article consists in an attempt to assess the prospects of using mediation techniques directly in the settlement of electoral conflicts. Electoral conflicts in themselves are a promising topic for research, since their occurrence is inevitable in any political system that provides at least only partially competitive elections. At the same time, due to the specifics of such conflicts, it is not possible to achieve even partial settlement by existing (predominantly legal) mechanisms, since such mechanisms are aimed only at assessing the formal circumstances of what is happening, are rather cumbersome and cannot always be applied due, for example, to the limited time of the election campaign (and even more so – voting). In this paper, an attempt is made to analyze the potential of mediation in this direction.

Keywords: elections, conflict, mediation, conflict resolution, electoral process, election campaign, mediator, voters, candidates, election commissions

Review: The subject of the study of the influence of the religious factor in the electoral behavior of Muscovites. The purpose of the study is to assess the motivation of political choice and the participation of the electorate in the 2022 election campaign in Moscow from the point of view of the religious factor. We have considered aspects of electoral behavior, the significance of the religious factor, and conducted a characteristic of municipal self-government elections in the city of Moscow. The main analytical base of the article was collected as a result of a sociological survey conducted in August 2022, the data of which were obtained through a remote survey via the VKontakte social network, as well as through personal surveys of respondents. The voter's personal religious beliefs, which formed his attitude to the candidate, as well as the declared religiosity of the candidate himself, affecting his image, were established as a source of forming attitudes towards the candidate. Our research allowed us to form an opinion on the impact of the religious factor on the political sympathies of the electorate. Often, the political choice depends on the ethical and moral ideas formed by religion, with the help of which the program and the candidate's image are evaluated. At the same time, the electoral behavior of the voter is not dependent on his religiosity. We hope to continue our research to further understand the value of a religious resource in creating motivation for political participation among the electorate.

Keywords: sociological research, candidate, voter, political image, elections in Moscow, religious beliefs, municipal elections, religious factor, elections, electoral behavior

Review: The article examines the image of the Sevastopol garrison and the Russian army during the Crimean War in the works of English-speaking authors. The aim of the study is to reveal the main trends in the consecration of the events of the Crimean (Eastern) War in the studies of American and British researchers. Due to the current situation related to restrictions on the part of foreign publishers, it was not possible to consider a number of works published in the period from 1970 to 2020. The subject of the study is the works of English-speaking authors devoted to the history of the Crimean War (1853-1856). The object of the research is the narrative created by English-speaking authors around the Russian army and the garrison of Sevastopol during the First defense of the city.  Based on the research that was found in the public domain, the author comes to the conclusion that the dominant trend in the English-language literature on the Crimean War is to consider events from the point of view of exclusively British or Allied retrospect. At the same time, due attention is either not paid to the Russian side at all or it represents a brief dry squeeze. The emphasis on battlefields, on problems of supply and training of the Allied army command staff, on weather conditions takes the defense of Sevastopol and its importance into the background. Statements and assessments that are openly Russophobic in nature are not as widely presented as in studies on the Second World War.

Keywords: Political technologies, British retrospective, Russian empire, Russiaphobia, Image of Russia, Eastern War, Foreign literature, Crymea, Russian army, Crimean war

Review: In the modern social world, there are various trends associated with digitalization, aimed primarily at the development and implementation of digital technologies in various spheres of society. Civil servants as a socio-professional group are developing, adapting to new unknown digital technologies. Currently, there is a problem of insufficient development of digital literacy among civil servants. This is evidenced by ongoing research, regulatory documents. The purpose of the study is to assess the level of digital literacy of civil servants, the subject of the study is the features of digital literacy in public administration. The scientific article used the methods of empirical sociological research: analysis of documents, the purpose of which is to study currently possible studies, scientific publications on the topic of digital literacy of civil servants and testing, the purpose of which is to assess the level of digital literacy among civil servants of the Government and the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation. The results of the study are as follows: the analysis of respondents' responses showed that the respondents' most pronounced competence is "The ability to collect, process and analyze information data" (71.03%). The reason for this was the forced work with a large volume of incoming information in government agencies. The competence "The ability to use digital tools to ensure the cybersecurity of state structures" was the least important (38.11%). This suggests that most government employees are not familiar enough with the tools of using antivirus programs, two-factor authentication systems, password protection and do not take the existing threats to government systems seriously enough. The following recommendations are proposed based on the results of the study: to include in the programs and plans for the professional development of civil servants of a practice-oriented nature aimed at the formation and development of digital literacy, to develop competency models for specific categories of civil servants, to develop a special motivation system for civil servants, including material incentives, as well as non-material motivation.

Keywords: civil servants, public administration, digitalization, assessment, digital technologies, digital security, digital divide, components, digital competencies, digital literacy

Review: The article discusses some aspects of the legal defense of the defendants of the International Military Tribunal for the Trial and Punishment of the Main War Criminals of the European Axis Countries and the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. A comparative analysis of the provisions of the Statutes of international Tribunals concerning the rights of the accused to defense is given. The rights of the defendants are considered in detail, including the right to defend themselves personally, the right to choose a lawyer, and the right to provide evidence. The article is carried out within the framework of the study of the history of international criminal justice and the history of the formation of international criminal law. The analysis of some modern problems in the field of ensuring the rights of defendants to defense in the activities of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), as well as their origins found in the activities of the ICTY, is carried out. Using the methods of comparative jurisprudence, the analysis of the norms of law established in the statutes of the Tribunals was carried out. The dogmatic method is applied in the interpretation of the norms of law set forth in the statutes. The dogmatic method is applied in the interpretation of the norms of law set forth in the statutes. The author concludes that some modern problems of international criminal justice originate in post-war tribunals. Thus, violations of the rights of the accused by the ICTY had their historical roots in the form of norms laid down in the Statute of the Tokyo Tribunal. A proposal was made on the need to develop basic rules for granting the right of protection to defendants, based on the experience of international criminal trials. It is also concluded that it is necessary to exclude the possibility of pressure from international courts, judges and prosecutors themselves on defenders. For this purpose, it is proposed to provide for the impossibility for judges to arbitrarily ban unwanted lawyers from participating in the process. It is also proposed to introduce a direct ban on the appointment of a lawyer to the defendant against his will and to provide for the possibility of recusal of a lawyer only in the case of a proven crime against the administration of international justice.

Keywords: Inernational law, international criminal justice, international military tribunal, war criminals, history of international law, World War II, Tokyo Tribunal, Nuremberg Tribunal, right to defense, attorney