Abstract: Volume 2 of the four-volume compilation of the selected works of the notable Russian criminal law theoretician contains his works dedicated directly to the issues of criminal law. They are connected through the development of methodological aspects of the criminal law theory; firstly, towards the direction of convergence of the sectoral legal science with the general theory of law, and secondly, towards the substantiation and development of the criminal legal science. The author presents such genuinely new theoretical approaches towards the researched problem as: “Formation of the general instrumental targeted theory of criminal law”, “Criminal law as the source of power”, “Criminal law as the resource: problems of modernization”, “Trends and contradictions of the development of criminal law” . In addition to that, especially in giving the characteristic to the level of the Russian criminal legislation in the area of fight against economic crimes and corruption, the author draws attention to the need for “expansion” of the doctrinal “field” of the criminal legal science, and its inclusion into the general theory of criminal law, criminology, criminal procedural law and judicial authority, as well as the economic science, social psychology, and other disciplines.

Keywords: corruption crimes, legal foundations, methodology of science, penalty, inter-sectoral linkages, theoretical aspects of science, criminal code, criminal law, economic crimes, legislation

Abstract: The article analyses the book "Battles of the Diamond Barons" by Sergei Goryainov. The main provisions on which the author founds are highlighted: the price is determined not by the correlation of supply and demand, but the conscious control and regulation; it is the price of the raw materials that determines the basic economic processes and related global markets, and this price is a formed and projected resource; commodity price and global markets are managed not by the governments, but by clubs and elites, and not all of them, but only those owned by the Anglo-Saxon culture, etc. We consider the evidence basis of Goryainov's concept and demonstrate that the author's interpretations are vulnerable and can be interpreted as counterexamples to his constructions. To reveal the basis of the of Goryainov's concept, the author reconstructs his values and personality traits, which are then compared to the outlook of the author, as well as his teacher - the famous Russian philosopher G. Shchedrovitsky. At that, the following methodology was implemented: comparative analysis, methodological problematisation, situational analysis, reconstruction and interpretation of the points stated by Goryainov, that allowed to criticise Goryainov's conspiracy theory and highlight the reasons for the inadequacy of such concepts. As a rule, the authors interpret the facts in the spirit of their own concepts, they ignore criticism and other studies, they do not fulfil the basic requirements of scientific justification. However, their concepts are designed for their own specific audience.

Keywords: criticism, values, personality, conspiracy, concept, theory, interpretation, elite, sociality, facts

Abstract: The topic of the reviewed book is criminal policy, criminal legal policy, the concept of contemporary Russian criminal policy. The monograph defines the place of the criminal policy in the system of criminal legal sciences, justifies the separation of notions 'criminal policy' and 'criminal legal policy', defines the correlation between criminal law and criminal statute. The authors examine the major functions  and aims of Russian criminal policy, based on which they draw conclusions regarding its contemporary state. Relying on the conducted comprehensive study, the authors suggest the mechanisms of elaboration of a modern concept of criminal policy. The methods of the study are based on a complex of techniques and approaches, that include sociological and statistic methods, as well as general scientific and particular methods, e.g. comparative legal, historical, comparative methods, and also methods of observation, analysis, synthesis, generalisation, etc. The novelty of the book lies in the fact that it performs a comprehensive study of the notion of criminal policy and influence of different factors on its implementation; it kustifies the conclusion about the necessity to create a concept of criminal policy. The authors also examine troublesome effects of applying criminal law, which have not drawn enough attention in literature yet. The study of such negative features should be taken into consideration when elaborating and implementing any decisions in the field of criminal legal crime prevention.

Keywords: criminal policy, concept, criminal legal policy, criminal statute, data support, efficiency, criminal statistics, review, monograph, criminology

Abstract: The article reviews the collection of documents "Tambov — Tolna: sister regions. 1971-1989", edited for publication by the Soviet-Hungarian team consisting of Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor of the Tambov State G.R. Derzhavin University A.G. Ayrapetov, Candidate of philosophical sciences, associate professor of the Tambov state technical university G. M. Drobzheva, and the initiator of the project, the head of Archival Institute of Hungary in Moscow, doctor Attila Sheresh. From the point of view of the reviewer, the collection helps to objectively estimate the exchange of know-hows of the staff of enterprises, educational institutions, parties, trade unions, sport and cultural organisations, as well as to characterise the activity of the regional organisation of all-Union Society of the Soviet-Hungarian friendship. With the help of the materials of the collection, the author of the article is trying to remind of the positive features of the sociocultural phenomenon of sister regions in the former socialist countries. The author reveals the gnostic value of information contained in the documents of party bodies, reports of the delegations of labor collectives, and public organisations of two regions published in the collection. The article especially highlights the significance of the documents demonstrating the attempts to increase the efficiency of sister connections in the second half of the 1980s, unravelling the history of the youth movement.

Keywords: historiography, review, Komsomol, Tolna, Tambov region, USSR, Hungary, sister regions, source studies, socialist countries

Abstract: The article contains the review of Natalya Nikolaevna Bilim’s monograph devoted to the youth movement and state youth policy in the Soviet Far East in the 1920th – 1930th (see Bilim, N. N. ‘Youth Movement and State Youth Policy in the Soviet Far East (November 1922 – June 1941)’ published in Khabarovsk at Khabarovsk Border Institute of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in 2013). The importance of the topic is dictated not only by the historiographical signifi cance of that period when the basis of the Soviet political system was founded but also by the poor awareness of modern historians on the real life of the youth of the 1920th – 1930th. Ideologies created by the USSR Komsomol historians together with the accusatory writings of the late 1980th – 1990th created many myths but did not bring us any closer to the truth. According to the reviewer, the effi ciency of Komsomol activities should not be evaluated from the plain ‘effi cient-ineffi cient’ point of view, especially by the communist organizations themselves. Encouraging us to evaluate the Komsomol activities from the point of view of universal and state values, the reviewer notes that at least the book under review had certain prerequisites for that. Even though the reviewer sees the system of the ideological and political education of the youth as an element of the Soviet system of political control, he agrees to Natalya Bilim’s statement about the close relation between propaganda efforts of Komsomol and the tasks of literacy and overcoming drunkenness, immorality and nationalism. The true advantage of the book is the scientifi c criticism of publications and articles showing Komsomol as an organization with no creative potentials at all. At the same time, the reviewer also describes the minuses of the monograph under review.

Keywords: History, historiography, youth, Komsomol, Far East, review, ideology, religion, youth policy, creation.