Autors

The article is devoted to the issue of relevance of applying the category of trust to the analysis of Internet communications, and to the analysis of the integration in online communities in social networks, in particular. Nowadays, the issue of trust or distrust towards online communities and integration in Russia becomes the factor that sharply splits society and pushes the state to tighten control over the Internet; the issue of trust as an internal factor of the online communities becomes relevant not only theoretically but also politically. The authors attempt to understand the processes of horizontal integration in online communities that quite differ from the genesis of real communities arising in vertically integrated social structures, or adapt to a vertically oriented social environment. We use “grounded theory” approach to analyze the dynamics of mobilization-type online communities in the social networks Vkontakte and Facebook. Weak significance of the interpersonal trust factor in the functioning and development of the observed communities is revealed. The contradiction between this fact and the established ideas of trust as the basis of social interaction and a key component of the social capital can be explained by clarifying the specifics of interaction in online communities. This specific can be described through following features. Firstly, there is institutional trust “at the entrance” to the group, based on the user's loyalty to the values, rules, and norms of the group. Secondly, there is the lack of a hierarchical structure that reduces the role sets and role expectations to minimum. Finally, it is the prevalence of the “weakest” type of links comparing with “strong” and “weak” ones, implying the absence of personal links, and preventing the expansion of the “culture of distrust” into online reality. Horizontal integration is not typical for all kinds of online communities. Nevertheless, the growth of online communications in the world, and inRussia, in particular, allows us to predict the growing influence of the “trust culture”of “online sociality” as an alternative to the culture of distrust inherent in hierarchical societies.

Keywords: trust; institutional and interpersonal trust; online communities; horizontal and vertical integration

Abstract: The article deals with an approach to health as social phenomenon. In this context, the notion of “symbolic capital” is explored. Outside the clinical practice, the concept of health is actually presented in everyday social life and used as a designation (symbolization) of the quality and style of life. In the field of social interaction, the individual experience of health and related physical or spiritual practices becomes an interactive phenomenon, where an investment in health as a symbolic capital and exchange of symbolic resources with other types of resources is simultaneously carried out. Health as a symbolic capital is constructed and consumed in dialogue with different agents of the social world. The article analyzes the strategies of capitalization of health as a symbolic resource. The direction and amount of investment in health is defined by fields of symbolic power that claims the value of health and healthy living as self-evident
and self-valuable. Two most important fields of symbolic control in the sphere of health in the modern world – academic medicine and religious and philosophical systems – are described. Symbolic capitalization in these fields takes place through the construction of an individual image of “healthy person”, or “person following healthy lifestyle”, or “spiritual person”. In this context, health designates itself as the external form of social and individual life. Such form of constructing the “image of health” becomes the point of generation, replication and multiplication of symbolic capital at the individual and group level.
Keywords: individual and public health; symbolic capital; healthy lifestyle; selfpresentation; construction of image of health; capitalization; exchange; symbolic power.

The article describes the modern concept of representation in Russian Federation with reference to the legislation of continental European countries. The result of such comparison becomes the basis to draw parallels with English law of agency and to expose the essence of legal characteristics of civil law concept of representation.

Keywords: legal representation, consensual representation, acting in the name of the principal, commission, “extrapersonal effect”, publicity principle, principle of independence, isolated authorization, conflict of interests, commercial agency.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the use of legal terms «agency», «agent», «agency contract» in the area of international law, in the comparative law studying, in the national law of continental countries, for the purposes of their correct application. 

Keywords: agency, representation, intermediary.

Abstract: The authors explore legal consciousness of Russian higher bureaucracy during the First Russian revolution expressed in its views on the problem of advancing political and legal system. They examine the role bureaucracy played in the course of defining the content of civil liberties and, more broadly, in the political development of the Russian Empire towards democratization. The authors analyze the impact of bureaucracy on the process of decision-making and policymaking. Bureaucracy is treated as the architect of the political and legal modernization of the Russian Empire as the country of “delayed modernization” at the beginning of the last century. The article demonstrates that policy of exercising individual rights and freedoms gave rise to confrontation between conservative officials who were skeptical toward the possibility of implementing civil liberties in the time of revolution and weakening of monarchical power, and reform-minded bureaucrats who were ready to create foundations for the «renewed order». Growing in conditions of deep political and legal reforms in the last decade of the Russian monarchy, the conflict between bureaucratic elites made impact over the policy of granting freedoms, turning it into the result of fragile compromise among the highest power hierarchy. In search for modernization of institutions, laws
and procedures, the enlightened bureaucrats defended the projects of reforms, according to which a person was given the opportunity to exercise his/her rights and to obtain certain guarantees for their implementation from the state, as well as the protection by the judicial system. Traditionalist views of conservative officials limited the content of reforms and adapted them to the conditions of the existing legal order. The reforms aimed at the implementation of civil liberties became the result of the views and influences of both progressive and traditionalist-minded bureaucrats.
Keywords: bureaucracy; individual rights and freedoms; constitutional reform; beginning of XX century; Russian Empire.

https://doi.org/10.17506/ryipl.2016.1.112134

Abstract: The article investigates the phenomenon of immigration in Italy, seeking a comprehensive explanation of the political and demographic aspects. It examines the demographic situation in the Italian Republic and explains the specific characteristics, factors and trends (low fertility, increasing life expectancy, and an aging population). It asserts that the relationship between demographics and migration processes in the past, present and future is determined by the need for immigration as a mechanism for social and economic development in Italy. The article reveals the dynamics, trends and development stages of the immigration processes in Italy from the 1980s to the present day taking into consideration ethnic and confessional structure of immigration, as well as ethnic characteristics of immigrant employment in the economy. The article emphasizes the study and analysis of the transformation of immigration policy, including the identification of its stages and patterns, reasons and characteristics of legislation. Special attention is given to the new challenges posed by the problem of refugees and illegal trafficking of people in the Mediterranean region after 2011. In conclusion, the author defines the importance of immigration issue for internal politics in Italy, describing the specifics of the integration of different migrant generations and highlighting the problems faced in relation to the political participation of immigrants in present time and in the future.
Keywords: Italy, demography, immigration, immigration policy, political demography.

The article is devoted to the research of definition and the comparative analysis of characteristics of a number of concepts, such as “radicalism”, “radical” “radical ideology” and the term “radicalization”, derivative of them, in modern foreign literature. The study method is a comparative review of the most common approaches reflected in foreign literature. The author considers the history of the emergence and the process of evolution of the studied concepts, their original and modern meaning, reflected in foreign scientific literature. The ambiguity of the boundaries of these concepts has been demonstrated, while highlighting the common approaches of various researchers to determining their essence, which allows us to talk about their “relative nature”. The signs of such a phenomenon as “radicalization” are highlighted, as well as the features of such varieties of “radicalization” identified in the scientific literature as “violent radicalization”, “terrorist radicalization” and “non-violent radicalization”. The relationship of the concept of “radicalization” with such terms as “extremism”, “violent extremism”, “non-violent extremism” is clearly shown. At the same time, attention is also focused on their fundamental differences allocated in the works under study, as well as on the attitude to political violence. The duality and ambiguity of existing approaches, fundamental differences in the views of different researchers regarding the definition of the characteristics of the “radicalization” process are shown. The conclusion was made about the limitation of the approach, which characterizes the concept of “radicalization” exclusively as a process of “transformation into a terrorist”. It was emphasized that “radicalization” is far from always part of the so-called “Conveyor Belt to Terrorism”, and such an approach is too narrow and lopsided. The importance of returning to the traditional understanding of the essence of the concept of “radicalization”, which considered this phenomenon, is outlined primarily as a process of disseminating radical ideas, regardless of their relationship to violence as a means of achieving goals. The levels and trajectories of the “radicalization” process that can be used in the analysis of this phenomenon are identified, which can be considered as a new contribution to the study of this phenomenon.

 Keywords: radicalization, extremism, terrorism, research, criticism, new approaches, foreign literature 

When it comes to principles of law, most often these issues in the legal consciousness of ordinary people are misunderstood and they are perceived solely as theoretical matter, as something completely out of touch with the real life on the ground and something without any practical importance. In this material, the author proves the opposite, namely, he shows on concrete cases when constitutional principles directly affect the nature of the actions of all subjects of freedom of peaceful assembly in Russia and Germany. The main attention is focused on the written principles of freedom of peaceful assembly, which are stipulated in the constitutional legislation of the two countries, namely, the author studies the content of two main constitutional principles of the freedom of assembly: principles of peacefulness and unarmed assembly. In addition, the article systematically reviews the existing unwritten principles of freedom of peaceful assembly, which originate in the provisions of international treaties, including the provisions of the “soft law”, which forms as a specific source of international law. Based on comparative research the author provides recommendations to amend the current federal law by introducing a separate chapter which would describe the freedom of peaceful assembly as the most important constitutional legal value and which would also consolidate the set of fundamental principles of this constitutional freedom: the presumption in favour of holding peaceful assemblies; the state’s positive obligation to facilitate and protect peaceful assembly; proportionality and on-discrimination of any restrictions imposed on freedom of assembly; the principle of good administration and transparency of the decision-making process, as well as the liability of the regulatory authority for the violation of the constitutional principles of freedom of peaceful assembly. The author ended with the conclusion that it is necessary to enshrine explicitly in the Russian legislation the positive obligation of state and municipal authorities to monitor the freedom of peaceful assembly, namely the obligation to collect, systematize and publish official statistical information on the number and types of public events heldin settlements of the Russian Federation, as well as the information about the number and reasons for ban of the public event during the notification procedure.

Keywords: constitutional principles; assemblies; meetings; demonstrations; marches; pickets; freedom of peaceful assembly; public assembly law; presumption in favour of holding peaceful assemblies; soft law; OSCE; United Nations; Germany; Russia; Federal Republic of Germany; Russian Federation; German Democratic Republic

This article provides the comparative constitutional research of the Public Assembly Law in Germany and Russia. In particular, the author examines constitutionality and permissibility of children’s participation in public assemblies. Using examples of real cases from Germany and Russia, the author considers conflicting views regarding participation and non-participation of minors in the different type of political rallies, such as assemblies, meetings, demonstrations, marches, and pickets. The article systematically reviews the existing international standards on freedom of peaceful assembly, relevant domestic legislation and legal practice with regard to public events with the participation of children (i.e. citizens under 18 years of age). The author focuses on restrictions existing in German and Russian laws concerning children’s participation in public assemblies. In particular, the Russian Public Assembly Law limits the rights of minor children to organize three types of the public events (demonstration, march, picket). The German legislation – in the vast majority of the federal states (Bundesländer) – contains a clause, which states that as the marshal (Ordner) must act only adult citizens; however, it should be noted that in remaining three federal states (Bundesländer) – Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein – there are no limits on children’s freedom of the peaceful assembly. Special attention is given to the analysis of the provisions of the Russian educational law; in particular, the author investigates the principle of political neutrality of education and professionalism. According to this fundamental principle, any form of political agitation and campaigning is categorically prohibited in educational organizations; their workers are not allowed to advocate either for or against participation (non-participation) in any type of public assemblies. Based on comparative research, the author provides recommendations to prohibit involvement of children into so-called unauthorized public assemblies. However, the author stresses that this ban should be established in the Russian Law (namely, in the Russian Code of Administrative Offences) in the separate article, which would assign general liability for any involvement of minors in any type of administrative offences (not limited merely to prohibition children’s involvement in so-called unauthorized public assemblies only).
Keywords: children, minors, constitutional capacity, Grundrechtsmündigkeit, assemblies, meetings, demonstrations, marches,pickets, freedom of peaceful assembly, public assembly law, public event organizer, marshal, Ordner, political neutrality of education, Germany, Russia, Federal Republic of Germany, Russian Federation.

The main purpose of the article is to examine the content of the important element of the contemporary federal system of the Russian Federation, namely, the principle of judicial federalism, based on which the Russian Judicial System is divided into federal courts and courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation. The article analyzes the role and significance of the principle of judicial federalism, as well as its transformation in the context of the 2020 constitutional reform and following amendments in the legislation, which completely abolished constitutional and statutory justice in the subjects of the Russian Federation. The article shows the evolution of the constitutional and statutory courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation (these courts were established merely in sixteen Russian regions), as well as the political and legal process, during which, firstly, at the regional level, their competence was gradually limited, and, secondly, their final liquidation took place. The author negatively evaluates the short-term decision to completely liquidate the regional constitutional and statutory courts, because before their liquidation these institutions were an important tool of raising the level of legal awareness of society, and an essential element of judicial democracy and real judicial federalism; also, these institutes have contributed to the improvement of regional legislation and law enforcement practice in the regions of the Russian Federation by means of regional constitutional proceedings. The research shows that the second element of the Judicial Federalism in Russia is the decentralization of the Judiciary, which was expressed in the resettlement of the Constitutional Court of Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg, as well as the fact that the move of the Supreme Court of Russia to St. Petersburg should take place soon. In this regard, the author investigates the need to concentrate two higher judicial bodies in the same subject of the Russian Federation; in the context of the competitive federalism the author considers the alternative scenarios for the decentralization of the Russian judiciary; namely, he put forward the arguments regarding the choice of the location of the Russian Supreme Court in other regions of Russia. Using the example of the Kaliningrad region, the author shows competitive advantages, as well as historical, political, and legal arguments which exist in favor of choosing another subject of the Russian Federation, for example, Kaliningrad region, instead of the federal city of St. Petersburg, for the location of the Russian Supreme Court. The author concludes that it is necessary to preserve and further develop the principle of the Judicial Federalism as the basis of the federal system of Russia, as well as the democratic tradition of the contemporary Russian Federation.

Keywords: judicial federalism; federal system; competitive federalism; constitutional reform; Russian judiciary; judicial power; Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; German Judicial Federalism; constitutional (statutory) justice of the subjects of the Russian Federation; constitutional courts; statutory courts; decentralization of the judiciary; Königsberg Royal Castle

The article examines in what ways the sociological study of cities can produce scholarship and analytic tools that help us understand the broader social transformations under way today. Urban sociology had this capacity early in the 20th century, when industrialization generated massive changes in cities. The thesis is that today globalization is similarly generating major changes that become visible in cities, most notably global cities. One critical issue here is whether these larger transformations evince sufficiently complex and multivalent urban instances as to allow us to construct such instances as objects of study that takes us beyond the urban moment of a process or condition. The urban moment of a major process can help the empirical study of that process in ways that other phases of such a process might not. At the same time, this urbanization of major processes repositions the city as an object of study. And this is the second question organizing this article: what is it we are actually naming today when we use the construct city?

Keywords: urban sociology, global city, transnational processes, globalization, transnational political geography, political subjectivity, new political actors.

Abstract: The article provides a short comparative analysis of the doctrine of constitutionalism in Ukraine in the context of the main tendencies of its development in the contemporary world. Based on the theories of social interaction, rational choice, and game theory, the author concludes that constitutionalism is the result of a spontaneous, stochastic interaction of individuals, social institutions and agencies. Liberal constitutionalism is compared with the liberal-democratic and societal constitutionalism. The conclusion is made that the idea of limits, constraints and control over the government should be added through the expansion of the circle of subjects of decision-making powers at the expense of civil society’ institutions and international organizations. In addition, the model of resource allocation should be revised in the context of the sustainable development of the society, which presupposes the protection of the environment and the responsibility of society, country, and humanity before the coming generations. The content of transnational and supranational onstitutionalism, as well as some trends of globalization of constitutionalism, is revealed from the perspective of multilevel constitutionalism. The article focuses on the need to defend national interests, national sovereignty and territorial integrity in the context of the defense of human rights and freedoms. The growing importance of societal constitutionalism, which is characterized by the de-concentration of power and delegating it to the civil society and to the supranational institutions, as well as the expansion of social rights and the right to development, is emphasized. Constitutionalism is revealed not as an abstract phenomenon, but in the context of the specific dynamics of social processes and phenomena, which reflects specific legal status of the measure of government and public institutions, the level of legal awareness, and legal culture. The author concludes that the dynamism of constitutionalism is embodied in the specific procedures of achieving public consensus on the content of social values, which are provided with the constitutional protection.

Keywords: rule of law, globalization, constitutionalism, liberal constitutionalism, societal constitutionalism.

This article analyzes the human rights competences of deputies of all levels of state authorities in the Russian Federation: federal parliamentarians (including senators), deputies of legislative (representative) authorities of subjects of the Russian Federation, and deputies of local representative bodies. The human rights competences of deputies are delimited from human rights powers of the Parliament. The article justifies the use of the term “competence” regarding the human rights activities of deputies. It introduces the division into individual and group human rights competences. The specifics of the human rights competences of deputies is noted, it is shown through the peculiarities of the methods to obtain and keep information about violations of rights and freedoms. The correlation between the method of electing deputies and their potential as human rights advocates is revealed. The following human rights competences of deputies are analyzed: initiating judicial proceedings (in the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and courts of general jurisdiction); sending deputy appeals (requests for information, deputy requests and demands to eliminate violations of the law, rights and freedoms of citizens); visiting bodies and organizations by a deputy. Conclusions are drawn about the incompleteness of the human rights competences of deputies, the imperfection of the legal mechanism for their implementation, the absence of many important human rights competences of deputies in the subjects of the Russian Federation and especially deputies of the municipal level. In this regard, some novelties are proposed: endowing federal parliamentarians with individual competence to appeal to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the similar but already group competence of deputies at the level of the subject of the Russian Federation; endowing all deputies with the right to appeal to the courts of general jurisdiction to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens and organizations; unification of the institution of deputy appeals, including specification regulating the institution of the deputy’s claim to eliminate violations of the law, subjective rights and freedoms; expansion of the number of organizations available for deputies to visit by involving entities that implement publicly significant functions.

Keywords: deputy, competence, human rights, deputy inquiry, judicial protection, parliament, control, human rights activities

Abstract. Article 33 of Constitution of the Russian Federation provides the right of citizens to address state authorities and local self-governments. However, the Federal Law “On the order of consideration of appeals of citizens of the Russian Federation” contains the statutory definition of the term “appeal”, but it is limited to the enumeration of its varieties; in the best, it points to the destination but does not reflect the features of appeal as legal and factual category. The article presents the lexical and legal study of the term “appeal”, as well as the analysis of the practice of its application in the legislation. The author concludes that the term “appeal” should be used only in close conjunction with the additional term clarifying its content. Based on the works of other researchers, international experience and regulations, the author of article formulates the following definition of the term “citizen’s appeal”: it is the will of the individual (groups of individuals, or associations); it is the subject of mandatory review; it corresponds to regulatory-established rules; it is expressed in the form of written, oral or tacit demands of implementation of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests; it is addressed to the state authorities, local government body or organization carrying a significant public function, as well as to their officials. Thus, the features of the appeal are: 1) mandatory review; 2) particular subject of the will; 3) action as objective side; 4) special procedural form; 5) purpose; and 6) destination. These six characteristics are necessary and sufficient; the proposed definition not only describes citizen’s appeal from factual and legal points of view, but allows to distinguish it from other related categories. The definition reflects the recent changes in legislation regarding the change of the subject composition (by including citizens’ associations), and the destination (due to including state [municipal] institutions and organizations implementing publicly important functions into the law on appeals).

Keywords: citizen appeal; concept of appeals; applicant; legislation of appeals; destination of appeal; purpose of appeal.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the elucidation of the place of the constitutional right to appeal as a subjective human right. First, the article deals with the disclosure of general theoretical issues of the concept and content of subjective rights, as well as with the adaptation of the studied categories to the phenomenon of citizen’s applications. In particular, the existence of two similar but not overlapping subjective rights is revealed: the first one is the constitutional right to appeal, the second – general civil right to appeal (not based on Art. 33 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). The features of the constitutional right to appeal are specially identified and analyzed. The main part of the article is devoted to the most common classifications of human rights and freedoms and, accordingly, to the place of the constitutional right to appeal. The article analyses seven most common classifications of the place of the constitutional right to appeal. The research allows to assert that the constitutional right to appeal is a) positive right, which implementation depends entirely on the regulatory activities of the established order and the authorities; b) the right of human being regardless of his (her) nationality; c) the individual right because it guarantees the possibility of expression of will to every citizen; d) the right of the first generation of rights; i) the relative right, that is, according to part. 3 Article 56 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, may be limited (that seems incorrect); f) the procedural right because it ensures the implementation of substantive rights or guarantees the possibility of procedural protection. The analysis of the place of the right to appeal within the classification according to the areas of life (which is traditional in the constitutional right of Russia) proves that it can not be attributed to the pure form of personal, political, socio-economic, or cultural rights, and should be considered as mandatory prerequisite of the realization of most of them.
Keywords: citizen’s appeal; subjective right; system of rights and freedoms; constitutional right, right to appeal, classification of rights and freedoms.

http://doi.org/10.17506/ryipl.2016.17.1.720

Abstract: The modern Marxist approach toward the analysis of the Communist alternative to global capitalism is not utopian, but at the same time goes beyond the tradition of “scientific communism”. From the point of view of Marx, communism is a historical stage of the future, which does not arise ex nihil; it is a natural product of evolutionary (quantitative) and revolutionary (qualitative) transformations of capitalism due to the social and economic contradictions. In contrast, modern Marxists (A. Badiou, L. Althusser, D. Bensaid) believe that communism is the absolute “break” (“rupture”), a sudden “event” which has no causes in the past. Moreover, for them the future of communism is not a natural result of the immanent development of capitalism representing just a “Communist horizon”. The author of the atricle shows that the qualitative – revolutionary – changes are not absolute, total, sudden, and spontaneous ruptures, as they are represented by Badiou, Althusser, and others. They do not arise out of nowhere. On the contrary, there is an essential connection between consistent, quantitative phase of the revolutionary, high-quality breakthrough, which is its outcome. There is continuity, as well as discontinuity. A revolutionary break may well seem to be sudden and unexpected, but it is never entirely unheralded. Although capitalism is in crisis, there is no sign of the forces, which as Marx believed would bring about its overthrow, and create a new society. The capitalist world is still riven by the contradictions that Marx describes, and it will eventually lead to the emergence of forces that will abolish it, and create a more socialist form of society. The author cannot prove or demonstrate it, because today is not the time to point out the forces that are necessary if the alternative is created. Therefore, it is ultimately a matter of faith: faith in communism. But, this is not the mere blind faith implied by Badiou’s notion of a sudden revolutionary “event”, and his dematerialised “idea of communism”. The faith involved in Marxism is very different. It is the belief that communism is not a mere “idea” but an actual tendency of history itself. This belief is grounded in the Marxist theory of history and its analysis of the forces at work in capitalism.
Keywords: Marxism, communism, capitalism, history, rupture, event, determination, faith, A. Badiou.

This study aims to map politicized online communities (groups) on VKontakte, a social networking service, and to identify their clusters – ideologically related and/or tightly connected factions – while measuring the online influence of these communities and factions. The authors propose a toolkit that enables a quantitative assessment of user engagement within these online communities, including individual’s openness to group opinions, willingness to change their ideas, or even take actions influenced by the group. The toolkit is grounded in the theory of self-organized criticality (SOC), which is an interdisciplinary concept developed within the framework of exact and natural sciences. The chronological scope of the research spans from May 31, 2021 to May 31, 2024. The study involves nearly 400 connected politicized communities, identified through an analysis of approximately 40,000 groups. A shared number of members among communities served as a criterion of establishing associations between them. The mapped network is presented as a graph, visualized using Gephi software with the ForceAtlas2 layout algorithm. All communities were categorized using high-quality coding that is continuously updated. This approach indicates the political orientation of each group, and provides insights into the assortment of political factions on the Internet. Sufficiently long time series were obtained for each community, reflecting user activity in disseminating messages posted by the community. Spectral analysis of these series revealed instances of pink noise – an attribute associated with SOC. It is possible to specify explanatory frameworks based on SOC theory, so that communities in a SOC state can be regarded as highly engaged. For such communities, an online influence index was calculated; for factions, a normalized index of generalized online influence (GOI) was determined for the past year (May 31, 2023 – May 31, 2024). The analysis established that the conglomerate of patriotic propresidential factions has the highest aggregate GOI index (50.85 out of 100 units). Next the conglomerate of nationalist factions (GOI=15.31) appeared, then liberal (GOI=8.89) and left factions (GOI=0.63) among others. Calculating the influence of factions and visualizing their relative position based on ideological attraction/repulsion enabled us to reconstruct the landscape of ideas within the politicized segment of the Internet.

Keywords: social networks; politicized communities; socio-political ideas; theory of selforganized criticality; pink noise; network activity; network analysis

http://doi.org/10.17506/ryipl.2016.17.1.83105

Abstract: The article is devoted to the attitude towards the concept of priority of rights and freedoms of a person as major legal principle of liberalism in Russian and foreign legal sources. The approach, which rejects availability of this concept within the liberal theory and denies the supreme value or priority of rights and freedoms of a person in general, i. e., in theory and practice, is critically analyzed. The understanding of international standards of democracy and liberalism in Russian and foreign sources is discussed. It is indicated that the idea of priority of human rights lies in the basis of liberalism, and it is connected both with advantage and personal freedom, as well as with other ideas, for example, the ideas of natural rights, constitutional state, and supremacy of law. It is emphasized that the priority of human rights has nothing in common with the absolutization and hypertrophy of these rights. The later contradicts not the interests of society, but the powers of state apparatus. If to deny or – what is even simpler – not to protect the priority of human rights, then there is nothing else to do then to approve the priority of the government and its representatives – government employees. Any type of government including democratic one shall be limited to human rights, which in that case are higher, more important, and prior. The state is a mean of protection of human rights, which being the purpose (I. Kant), are the main, leading, prior beginning in this pare of categories. The mean though being extremely necessary for the achievement of the goal and at the same time something secondary and subordinate, sometimes possesses – as in case with the state – significant power, from which it is necessary to protect certain individual as it is seen by liberalism. Liberalism speaks about primacy of the individual over the state, but not over the society. This idea is often confused in the Russian sources where the formula of the priority of human rights over the state is criticized, and the opposition of individual to society but not the state is attributed to it. The government, even democratic, does not carry out the mission of human rights protection “automatically”; civil society shall be mature enough “to stimulate” these activities of the state. Considering the Western attitude towards the idea of the rights and freedoms of the person and their priority, it is explained why today this idea is not so much spoken in comparison with the Russian political and legal sources.
Keywords: priority of human rights; rights and freedoms of person; liberalism; democracy; state; personality and state; constitutional state; constitutionalism.

The article focuses on problems of studying identity of Russian regions using the example of Chelyabinsk oblast. The authors carry out qualitative sociological research of identity, which provides the basis for the article. While conducting the focus groups in five municipal units of Chelyabinsk oblast, the authors purposed to reveal positive characteristics of the regional identity. The intensity of utterances about different identification characteristics makes possible to define and rate several groups of such characteristics. The article describes the following identifiers in descending order of importance: “nature”, “industry”, “people”, “sport and culture”. Negative identification characteristics are included into separate group. Special attention is attracted to the fact of the significant amount of such identification characteristics, which relate to industry and sport. This is not typical for Russian regions. At the same time, those identifiers, which seem to be traditional for Russia and relate to history and culture, are poorly represented in the identity of Chelyabinsk oblast. It is concluded that the use of methodology for studying regional identity proves to be successful, and the perspectives of the second stage of research oriented on application of the qualitative sociological approaches are estimated as promising. The article provides recommendations for authorities concerning construction of regional identifiers, and evaluates perspectives of the development of regional identity of Chelyabinsk oblast.

Keywords: regional identity, Chelyabinsk oblast, Ural, methodology of identity studying, focus group.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the types of property attributable to immovable one according to the legislation of the Russian Federation, and to factual and recognized by the Russian laws characteristics of real estate. The author distinguishes the criteria of attributing property to the immovable one and features of the real estate. The article examines the nature of the rights to the constructions in the Soviet legislation and determines two independent (horizontal) rights: the right of the landowner and the right to objects on the ground. The existence of structures with limited property rights, which are “adjoined” to the right of property according to the scope of powers, is noted in opposition to the classical principle of private law: “Should be located on the
surface of the earth”, or so-called “vertical” right of the ownership of the land. The author particularly examines the essence of the criteria of attributing property to the immovable one and the legal “content” of the criteria. At the same time, the author uses philosophical categories of form and content in the analysis of the legal nature of state registration of the immovable property right and immovable property transactions, as well as reveals the ratio of the terms “transaction form” and “the state registration of the immovable property rights and the immovable property transactions”. In particular, the author addresses the problem of restrictions of the immovable property rights in Russia according to subjective composition of owners (applicants for the emergence of the right).
Keywords: real estate; immovable property, land, soil, subsoil, continental shelf, object, surface, registration, state registration of the immovable property rights, legal regime, criteria, feature, property rights structure, things, physicality.

Abstract: The article presents the consideration of the European Union as supranational political entity. The main points of view, which characterize the European Union as an imperial system, and the problems associated with the interpretation of supranational sovereignty, are analyzed. The characteristics of the European Union, which are similar to imperial statehood type, are reviewed: European universalism, political heterogeneity, the emerging system of center-periphery relations, expansionist policy. It is argued that the European Union in its present form can be hardly described as neo-imperial political organization. However, it is likely that after overcoming the consequences of the financial and economic crisis and strengthening the prerogatives of the EU (and thus the influence of the founders of the Union), a neo-imperialist system would become closer to a completed form. It is necessary to consider this statement when shaping the foreign policy of Russia.
Keywords: empire, the European Union, European integration, neo-imperial conglomerate, supranational sovereignty.

The review of the first manuals, textbooks, and dictionaries of English written and published in Russia has been made. The author compares the methods of teaching English in Russia in the 18-19 centuries with modern ones.

Keywords: English as a foreign language, methods of teaching, the history of English teaching in Russia, the first manuals, textbooks, and dictionaries of English written and published in Russia.

In empirical studies of environmental law and policy, an important place is occupied by the issue of the underlying mechanisms that determine the relationship between territorial state structure and environmental performance. Duplication is among such mechanisms in the federations, including Russia. This paper addresses a specific aspect of the problem, i. e. the duplication in the establishment of regional categories of specially protected natural territories. The goal of the research is to determine the combination of originality and duplication among regional categories and to provide a legal interpretation of the observed phenomena. The objectives are (1) to collect a database of legal information about all regional categories; (2) to compare each federal category with each regional category and to find out whether the given regional category is original or duplicated; and (3) to aggregate the results of the comparison and make their legal interpretation. The main method of the study is a comparison made with a special quantitative technique. Additional methods are analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, abstraction. Also, a few methods of statistical data analysis are used. As a result of the research, it is determined that duplication among regional categories in Russia often prevails over originality, and the median level of similarity between federal and regional categories is higher than the normal level of similarity. Most likely, part of the duplication results is explained by the fact that regional legislators do not sufficiently regulate the specifics of regional categories. Duplication has negative and positive consequences; i. e. it could result in lax legal protection of valuable territories,but it also could act as a compensatory mechanism overcoming the drawbacks of the federal regulation, and as a safeguard against negative changes of federal legislation. Thus, it may be proved that duplication could be unreasonable or justified. The regional legislators should avoid unreasonable duplication and regulate in detail the specifics of regional categories.

Keywords: specially protected natural territories; categories of specially protected natural territories; kinds of specially protected natural territories; governance types of protected areas; comparison of categories; federalism; regional legislation; duplication; statistical analysis; empirical legal studiest

In empirical studies of environmental law and policy, an important place is occupied by the issue of the underlying mechanisms that determine the relationship between territorial state structure and environmental performance. Duplication is among such mechanisms in the federations, including Russia. This paper addresses a specific aspect of the problem, i. e. the duplication in the establishment of regional categories of specially protected natural territories. The goal of the research is to determine the combination of originality and duplication among regional categories and to provide a legal interpretation of the observed phenomena. The objectives are (1) to collect a database of legal information about all regional categories; (2) to compare each federal category with each regional category and to find out whether the given regional category is original or duplicated; and (3) to aggregate the results of the comparison and make their legal interpretation. The main method of the study is a comparison made with a special quantitative technique. Additional methods are analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, abstraction. Also, a few methods of statistical data analysis are used. As a result of the research, it is determined that duplication among regional categories in Russia often prevails over originality, and the median level of similarity between federal and regional categories is higher than the normal level of similarity. Most likely, part of the duplication results is explained by the fact that regional legislators do not sufficiently regulate the specifics of regional categories. Duplication has negative and positive consequences; i. e. it could result in lax legal protection of valuable territories,but it also could act as a compensatory mechanism overcoming the drawbacks of the federal regulation, and as a safeguard against negative changes of federal legislation. Thus, it may be proved that duplication could be unreasonable or justified. The regional legislators should avoid unreasonable duplication and regulate in detail the specifics of regional categories.

Keywords: specially protected natural territories; categories of specially protected natural territories; kinds of specially protected natural territories; governance types of protected areas; comparison of categories; federalism; regional legislation; duplication; statistical analysis; empirical legal studiest

The relevance of this study is dictated by the fact that relations in the field of urban planning presuppose the interest of citizens in the formation of urban space, as well as by the fact that the provisions on the need to ensure an appropriate level of public participation have been consolidated in regulatory legal acts emanating from the authorities. The reasoning presented in the article was aimed at establishing the legal nature of the right of citizens to participate in making urban planning decisions, as well as identifying the key problems of its protection within the framework of both judicial procedure and using extrajudicial methods. The article analyzes the constitutional and legal basis of this law, substantiates the correspondence of its essence to the concept of subjective public law, examines the problems of its judicial protection, and also reveals various ways of its protection out of court. The authors come to the conclusion that the protocol and the conclusion on the results of public discussions or public hearings are non-normative legal acts, as a result of which it is possible to file an administrative statement of claim declaring them illegal in accordance with Chapter 22 of the CAS RF, as well as that cases of local referendums, which are subject to issues that can directly affect the adoption of final urban planning decisions, require a positive assessment due to the obligatory nature of the decisions taken by the population. Meanwhile, the prospect of such an extrajudicial method of protecting the right to participate in making urban planning decisions as the cancellation of a municipal legal act issued by local self-government bodies in the order of self-control is interesting.

 Keywords: participation of citizens in making town planning decisions; principles of town planning law; public discussions; public hearings; judicial protection; local referendum; survey; cancellation of a municipal legal act by way of self-control

Abstract: In this article, we investigate features of the incorporation into the political elite in the Orel region. From the point of view of the author, specificity of Orel`s case lies in the fact that until now the processes of incorporation into the regional political class are managed by representatives of the old nomenklatura of Orel region, who were put into power by ex-governor Egor Stroev. The distribution of power in the Orel region is almost entirely dependent on the former governor. In the modern Russia, it is not an exclusion. The continuity of the reproduction of political elites characterizes Russia at the federal level, and it is spread over the practice of incorporation of regional political elites as well. From the point of view of the author, Egor Stroyev`s factor is decisive in
the practice of political legitimation of new governors of the Orel region – Aleksander Kozlov and Vadim Potomsky. Despite the differences in transmitting into the Orel region, it is non-disputable that at one time both of them represented the powerful circles of federal groups in the field; they had to solve problems on their own. Eventually, the need of creating the own team turns into a certain problem due to a shortage of loyal and professional bureaucracy. To a certain degree, limited staff resources explains the desire of both governors to get Egor Stroev’s support and efficiently combine local people and «vikings» in the new political class of the region. The consensus between the «old» and the «new» elite is the optimal model of the dialogue. However, the renewal of the political elite of the Orel region may reduce the value of the factor of Egor Stroev; it can bring some uncertainty into the development of the political elites and indicate difficult processes within the elite community. Further reproduction of the political elite in the Orel region will need some kind of authority and popular actors. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the search for such a figure will have positive results.
Keywords: power, governor, legitimation, Orel region, political elite.

The article presents results of the empirical study of symbolic aspects of perception of international relations by Russian mass consciousness. Attention is paid to the consideration of symbolic images of international relations as an integral part of symbolic map of the world. The results of qualitative study allow us to consider the ideas of Russians about the subjects, structure, principles of international relations, as well as about the likely, desirable and undesirable trends in the transformation of international relations. The study of symbolic representations of international relations is based on political and psychological approach. The study of images takes into account both rationalized assessments and unconscious aspects of the perception of the political map of the world. For this purpose, the author used projective techniques as part of the polls. The article identifies factors of symbolic representations of international relations in mass political consciousness. The results of study makes it possible to assert that the symbolic perception of international relations is Russian-centered, fragmented and situational in nature, which is to a large extent determines the dependence of the process of forming political map of the world on the specifics of communication. As a result of the study, several models of the political perception of world maps are identified: a model of an alarming type, a positive-optimistic type, a pragmatic-rational type, and a fragmented-indefinite type. The revealed tendencies in the perception of political map of the world include some incongruence of symbolic images of the world map in case of pragmatic type of perception; anxiety at the level of mass political consciousness; blurry images of «friends» and «strangers» in international relations. The ambiguity of Russians' ideas about the place of Russia in the world and its possible strategies for behavior in international politics makes the perception of political map of the world hypersensitive and dependent, first of all, on stereotypes, clichés and media’s information agenda.

Keywords: political and psychological approach; symbolic space; political perception;political map of the world; country image; image of international relations; symbolic representations; factors of political perception

Abstract: The article is devoted to the justification of the term technological adaptability as the characteristic of the criminal process. The term determines the most important criteria for the admissibility of the use of information technology in the investigation and resolution of criminal cases. The content of the category of criminal procedural information is revealed; the concept of information technology in criminal proceeding is used. The goals and objectives of the use of information technology in the criminal process are clarified. The detailed criteria of eligibility of such technologies in the criminal process, as well as requirements for the legal regulation of the use of information technology, are highlighted and analyzed. Based on the proof as the heart of criminal justice, the author proposes fixing the selected criteria in a separate article of the Criminal Procedure Act (chapter on “Evidence”). Legal regulation of the use of information technology in criminal
proceeding has to comply with legality, adequacy, relevance, practicality, promising, dynamics, ethics, safety, and optimal legal prescriptions. The shortcomings of the current criminal procedure law in matters of legal regulation of the use of information technologies are discussed. The consolidation of the principle of technological adaptability on the level of the law aimed on the use of new information technologies in the proof in criminal cases is proposed.
Keywords: criminal proceeding; information technology; technological adaptability; criminal procedural information; criteria of eligibility.

Abstract. The development of energy, agriculture and industry, the growth of consumption of natural resources inevitably increases the risks of environmental offenses, and lead to increase the negative impact on the environment. In accordance with the Strategy of Environmental Safety of the Russian Federation until 2025 (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On the Strategy of Environmental Safety of the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2025” 2017), minimization of damage caused to the environment, elimination of negative consequences of anthropogenic factors on the environment, as well as the rehabilitation of territories and water areas contaminated as a result of economic and other activities, prevention of environmental harm are named as the main directions of solving the main tasks in the field of environmental safety. The current system of accountability for environmental damage in our country could not be called effective. Improvement of legislation on compensation for environmental harm should start with the norms of material (environmental) law. According to N. Robinson and L. Kurukulasuriya, “To be an effective means of environmental protection, liability regimes should cover not only traditionally accepted forms of compensation, but the damage caused to the environment. The main task of developing special regimes of environmental responsibility is to help people understand the consequences of the negative impact on the environment – the public good, which is the basis of the system of life support of people and all living things. However, many countries have not introduced special liability regimes for environmental harm, relying on traditional civil liability standards applied in the environmental context”. As noted by leading foreign researchers in the field of environmental law, one of the main problems in solving the issue of compensation for environmental harm in the framework of classical tort law is the need to belong to an environmental good, which is public in nature, to any person. Another equally important problem that characterizes liability for environmental damage largely as public law is the methods of assessing the damage caused. Environmental damage may not be quantifiable from an economic point of view, for example, in the case of loss of fauna and flora that have no market value, and in the case of damage to ecosystems or landscapes, economic value may not be assessed using traditional approaches to damage assessment.
Keywords: compensation of harm to the environment; environmental damage; environmental courts; environmental remediation; environmental court expertise.