The article explores the evolution of the constitutional delimitation of competence in the Russian Federation. The issues related to the consolidation and implementation in practice of the constitutional delimitation of competence between the Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation are considered. Attention is paid to the evolution of the constitutional model of delimitation of the objects of reference. Articles 71-73 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation are analyzed, determining the current model of delimitation of the terms of reference, as well as specifying the contents of these articles in current legislation. The author considers experts’ opinions regarding the text of article 72 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as other constitutional provisions relating to the delimitation of competence in a federal state. The conclusion is made about the positive role of Article 72 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation fixing the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation. The author argues that the federal government needs self-restraint to prevent unreasonable intrusion into the competence of the subjects of the Russian Federation and absorption of the subjects of regional regulation.

The article analyzes the problems of social security in the context of legal support. Through the research, the author attempts to identify the legal foundations of social security. The study uses the historical method, the method of system and complex analysis, as well as comparative legal. Scientific research of the problem allowed to show the essential value of the historical balance of rights and obligations for ensuring social security. The author’s main conclusions can be used in educational literature on the theory and history of law and the state, as well as for the analysis of legal concepts and norms from the standpoint of social security. A new definition of social security and the author’s position of its legal basis are presented. The author concludes that it is necessary to carry out a set of measures in order not only to include the category “social security” in the system of Russian law, but also to create legal conditions for its provision.

The article provides the overall assessment of current problems of the US election law and electoral process at federal and local levels; the state of the US election law and ongoing scientific discussions on it; leading legal doctrines; historical aspect and modern trends important for the understanding of the role and aim of US electoral and law enforcement processes. The author analyzes the empirical material - US legislation at the national, state and local levels; resolutions of the US Supreme Court and other courts; sub-legal regulatory acts (instructions, recommendations, application forms), scientific publications and monographs on the topic under study. The research methodology consisted of comparative legal, formal legal, formal dogmatic, concrete sociological, empirical, dialectical, analytical methods, and a systemic approach. The works of Thomas M. Cooley and John F. Dillon that so far have not been covered in the Russian literature are introduced. All US federal laws relating to election law, including current changes, have been studied and summarized. Interpretations of certain provisions of the law and legal framework of US election law and law enforcement practice are provided. The lacunae of legislation requiring additional research have been revealed.

Absract. The article deals with the doctrinal substantiation of the significance and development of the institute of legal monitoring in Russia. Russian and foreign legal acts are analyzed, the doctrine of legal monitoring is generalized. The research methodology included formal-legal, comparative-legal, systemic methods, as well as a modeling method. The authors come to the conclusion that legal monitoring and its regulation develop and improve in the the following directions: their foundations are fixed in the Law on Normative Legal Acts; monitoring studies are conducted; the scope and range of subject composition of legal monitoring are expanded; its efficiency is ensured; its results are endowed with obligatory force; the uniform information base of the results of legal monitoring is created; legal artificial intelligence is used; public legal monitoring is introduced.

The article discusses some problems of the development of law in the modern world, explores the relationship and interdependence of law-making and legal values as a basic trend in the development of a legal state. Certain aspects of the concept of “legal values” as a basis and guide for law-making are revealed. The research methodology included analysis, synthesis and comparison. The article makes an attempt to show the interconnection and interdependence of law-making as a legal category and legal values at the level of studying the problems of local law-making.

The article is devoted to the problem of rule-making caused by low quality of the legislative technique in the Russian Criminal Law. The author revealed the flaws made by the developers of regulatory acts and proposed new structures that could turn the law into an effective instrument of legal regulation in the modern period. The methods of the research are deduction, induction, logical comparative analysis, historical method and formal legal technique. In course of the research based on the analysis of the norms of Criminal Law, the author also carried out the modeling of new law structures. The study is practice-oriented and proposes holistic tools for effective work on making new laws. It is recommended to legislators for improving the norms of Criminal Law in modern Russia. The author carried out a thorough independent analysis of the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and indicated the mistakes made by legislators, which requires the revision of the current legislation and the necessity of significant changes in it. The author also makes suggestions for improving the quality of Criminal Law.

The article explores the use of symbols personifying evil in canon and (from the 18th century) ecclesiastical laws of Russia. The symbols of evil are considered in the context of the theory of social trauma developed by sociologists in recent decades. The article shows that with the registration of the symbols of evil in law a certain coding occurs, allowing both to construct a social trauma and overcome it. The study concluded that in the Russian Canon Law, evil meant any inconsistency with the image of God the creator symbolizing good, a transition to chaos, and in Ecclesiastical Law, evil acquired political implications. At present, the revision of many events of the twentieth century in many states, including Russia, boosted the process of defining new symbols of evil in legislation, so the previous experience can assist in comprehending this process.

The article reveals the main activities of the government of the Russian Empire to overcome poverty. The author emphasizes the importance of historical experience accumulated in this field for the improvement of the current legislation of the Russian Federation aimed at overcoming poverty. The research methodology included historical, systemic analysis and comparatively legal method. The author was able to analyze a huge array of regulatory material that provides solutions to the issues of overcoming poverty in Russia in the past, which allowed to identify the most effective mechanisms for solving social problems, and also to propose new laws to regulate such issues in modern world. The author proved that the attack on poverty as a social phenomenon was made from two directions: on the one hand, the police struggled with poverty, applying the relevant norms of the legislation in force, on the other hand, charitable societies and institutions provided charity and work for the poverty-stricken. The results of the study can be used in lawyers’ training courses. The novelty of the study lies in the comprehensive analysis of big data and identification of new trends in the legal regulation concerning poverty reduction in the Russian Empire.

The article examines the significance and place of master’s course in the modern model of legal education. The author analyses the views of academics and experts in education concerning the issue under study as well as a significant amount of legal regulations. The outcomes of the study are the following: Master of Law courses should foster in students worldview competences, a respectful attitude to regulations and law, high level of legal awareness and legal culture, research and job readiness. To meet such ends training should be based on the data obtained from legal, judicial and law enforcement practice.

The article argues the necessity of including legitimacy in the set of characteristics of a human right. The author demonstrates the shortcomings of the normative approach to the definition of right, formulates new characteristics of right, provides the definition of right and parameters of its legitimacy. The research methodology is a post-classical one. The scientific novelty, theoretical and practical value of the research consist in substantiating the new feature of right, determining the process of legitimizing rights and measuring their legitimacy. Legitimacy is defined as the process of recognizing a right. The legitimacy of right is measured at three levels: micro, meso and macro. It is proved that an indicator of the legitimacy of the system of right is its stability.

The article identifies some problems of legal regulation of the insurance of a credit agreement and suggests the ways of solving them. The authors analyze credit agreement insurance, current Russian legislation governing insurance in crediting and argue their position on this type of insurance activity. The research methodology included empirical methods of comparison, description, interpretation, theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic, as well as historical, legal and comparative legal methods. Certain problems of legal regulation of credit agreement insurance are identified. The findings of the study can be the basis for further research. The necessity of legislative recognition of the general term ‘risk’ applied to any civil and business relationships is identified.

The author attempts at identifying a state mechanism regulating the interaction of economic entities in order to prevent monopolization of economic activity, since there are serious problems of unfair competition, particularly in the field of civil aviation, which leads to a different approach to the issues under study. The research methods are historical, comparative legal, formal dogmatic, statistical and method of complex analysis. The study revealed the efficiency of existing mechanisms for ensuring the constitutional ban on monopolization of certain types of economic activity is merely declared and substantiate scientific analysis is needed to improve the regulatory mechanism and eliminate the deficiencies identified by the author. Such deficiencies may lead to a disruption in the balance of interests of various business entities in the field of legal regulation of civil aviation (commercial traffic) and, as a result, to decrease the availability of aviation services to the public. The findings can be used in educational literature on constitutional and transportation laws, and serve as recommendations for law-making. The author proposed an innovative approach to improving the regulatory mechanism for the implementation of constitutional ban on monopolization of economic activity and unfair competition based on the example of legal regulation in civil aviation industry.

The article develops a new doctrine of legal and pedagogical protection of children in the conditions of modern society; identifies the most effective mechanism for the prevention of negative phenomena that pose a threat to the lives and activities of people under age. The author made an analysis of empirical material - German legislation at the national level, land level; decisions of the Supreme Court of Germany and other courts; subordinate regulatory legal acts, scientific publications and monographs on the research topic. The research methodology included comparative legal, formal legal, formal dogmatic, concrete sociological, empirical, dialectical, analytical methods, systemic approaches. The works of German scientists that had not been covered in Russian scientific literature were introduced, the author provided a thorough analysis of modern German legal norms regarding the protection of children, and concluded that the German system of child protection is at a crossroads: it can develop towards strengthening a holistic democratic system assistance where highly qualified specialists together with those receiving assistance (Hilfeteilnehmer), create socially oriented multidisciplinary networks that take into account rights, duties and responsibilities, as well as the interests and needs of all participants. On the other hand, the protection system can develop in the direction of an authoritarian anti-democratic system of assistance which is limited in its services and attracts specialists to neogovernmental procedures and bureaucratic methods of management and also takes little account of the participation of all actors.

The article discusses the causes and conditions of invalidity of wills in the Russian and Belarusian civil law, as well as the search for preventive measures of a legal nature. A brief description of the institute of invalidity of wills in the legislation of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus is given. The author investigates the most common grounds for recognizing a will invalid which can be ascribed to improper form and subject composition of the latter. The article provides an analysis of the theoretical views of legal researchers on the testamentary capacity of the citizens of Russia and Belarus. In course of the study, the author identified a number of problems and suggested ways of improving the legal regulation of inheritance in order to prevent the invalidity of wills and to the best realize the will of the testator.