Based on the analysis of the constitutional texts of the Russian Federation, Eastern European states and Federal States of Western Europe, the article systematizes the approaches to state bodies interaction with regard to their function and level specification. The research methods include analysis, synthesis and legal comparative method. The author argues that the Russian Constitution formalization of the state bodies interaction is rather intricate and can be referred to as terra incognita, which requires further investigations resulting in a comprehensive terminological matrix of the Russian state bodies. The results of the research can be used in state building and legal training of experts in Constitutional Law.

The article contains the analysis of the main ideas concerning information civilization, the place and role of the transitional cybernetic state in it. The hypothesis is advanced that modern developed nations are in a transitional state on the way to the creation and functioning of a full-fledged cybernetic state. The formation of “digital inequality” is observed, the possibility of using the technologies of the future at the level of management of the global information society is not excluded. The steady trend of cyber-socialization of the population, dictating its own rules, sometimes dangerous to human life and society, will necessarily lead to the establishment of a certain dependence of the population, self-destruction of man as a reasonable being. Therefore, the information policy of the state should be aimed at preservation and maintenance of moral values in the information space.

The article analyzes the empirical data on the organization and improvement of the judicial system of the Russian Federation as the main mechanism for resolving social conflicts and disputes. The study focuses on identification of the features and problems that have developed in the Russian judicial system. The authors argue the necessity to continue the judicial reform in the direction of increasing its openness and improving its internal structure and developing the system of relations with various institutions of the civil society. The problems arising in the process of improving the judicial system are complex and diverse and without the analysis of the past experience of reforming the judicial system and consideration of future trends, its effective development is impossible. In conclusion, the authors formulate proposals for improvement and development of the judicial system of the Russian Federation to make it more accessible and qualitative. The article is aimed at a wide range of readers interested in the problems of law and state, students of law schools, law enforcement officers and other civil servants and specialists whose interests are in the field of judicial activity.

The article attempts to reveal the heuristic value of present-day interpreting the category of legal liability through the analysis of the existing in legal literature approaches. The research methods are historical, comparative, formal-logical and legal-dogmatic. The analysis of the problem allowed to reveal the existence of continuity in approaching the interpretation of legal liability. On the basis of the views of Soviet and modern scholars the author concludes that the ambiguity is preserved in theoretical and legal interpretation of legal liability and the need exists for its integrative understanding. The author suggested an original interpretation of prospective liability, its connection with the retrospective one and argued the need of combining all theoretical ideas of the measures of legal support (including legal liability) within a single integrative concept of legal protection. The findings of the research can be applicable in legal education, further research, and various types of legal liability practices.

The purpose of the study is to determine the meaning of the principle of good faith in international law practices. The author uses the method of comparative studies, which allows us to prove that in court procedures of different countries there is a system of requirements for the autonomous interpretation of international law sources. However, the sources of law cannot be applied without reliance on the concepts of national legal systems. The novelty of the study is to identify trends in legal practice, according to which the need to implement the principle of good faith to promote the rules of Autonomous Commercial Law («lex mercatoria») is obvious. The author reveals the essence of the implementation of the principle of good faith in the application of different sources of law, revealing the homeward trend, i.e. denial of the autonomous approach to the interpretation of international law sources and neglect of their international attributes. The study is both theoretical and practical and allows the law enforcement officer to see that the exact application of law and legal technique can lead to unfair decisions, violation of justice, turning certain relationships into the so-called severe cases (hard cases). The main conclusions of the author are that the adoption of an arbitral award on the basis of good faith and honesty does not mean that it is based only on a sense of law or on a fair assessment. It should be based on the circumstances of the case. Consequently, contemporary law, whether at the national, regional or international level, provides for appropriate remedial mechanisms in the form of the application of the principles of good faith, fairness, best practices and other standards.

The relevance of the studied problem is in the need of developing new views on educational function of law with regard to delinquents. The article is aimed at identifying the educational function of law in penitentiary institutions for juvenile offenders, its influence on the formation of delinquents’ sense of justice and law. The article presents the authors’ approach to the definition of legal communication, legal education and legal restrictions of juvenile offenders in confinement. Some possible positive changes have been forecasted in the legal consciousness of juveniles in case of implementing legal means, and the guidelines for their use have been provided.

The article analyses the reasons for applying the sociological approach to the legislative process at the birth of the Soviet state. The author studied the first Soviet legislative acts, the texts of draft laws, as well as the works of first Soviet legal scholars, the founders of the sociological approach to law. Based on the study of primary sources, classical works and the works of contemporary authors, it was established that in the first years of the Soviet state the sociological approach was actively used in lawmaking and legislation. The author considers the sociological approach to law as one of the factors determining the nature of the legislative process in the early Soviet years along with the concept of proletarian law, the works of the founders of Marxism-Leninism, Soviet lawyers and the tradition of the regulatory approach to law. The article is aimed at historians and theorists of law, researchers of the history of the Soviet state.

This article examines recent developments in the field of U.S. voting rights reviewing federal, regional and local legislation and making references to constitutional and standard acts of all U.S. subjects for the beginning of 2019. The methodology of research includes comparative-legal, formal-legal, formal-dogmatic, concrete-sociological, empirical, dialectical, analytical methods, and systemic approach. The outcomes of the research consist in introducing new data on U.S. electoral bodies and officials into Russian legal literature. The author makes his interpretations of some provisions of the legislation and legal awareness of U.S. electoral laws and law-enforcement practice highlighting some legislation gaps requiring further research. The theoretical and practical value of the research consists in reviewing both well-established and recent legal sources (constitutions, organic laws, federal laws, charters, subordinate normative acts) and U.S. subjects and making proposals for the development of Russian legal science and forming objective understanding of constitutional, electoral and state-building processes in the U.S.A.

The article examines the wording of the constitutions and charters of the subjects of the Russian Federation, compares the articles in which the sources of regional government are fixed and evaluates such terms as «people», «citizens», «inhabitants», «population» naming them. Particular attention is paid to the charter of the Volgograd region in which the multinational people of the Russian Federation is recognized as a source of power in the Volgograd region. The research procedures included formal and comparative legal methods. The use of comparative legal method allowed to analyze regulatory acts of various constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The authors conclude that referring to the people as a source of authority of the subject of the Russian Federation corresponds to the traditional constitutional terminology and is quite appropriate for the text of a regional constitution or charter. The article can be used in academic, educational and legislative activities.

The article considers the problem of legal nature and enforcement of the advertising contract. The research procedures include empirical methods of comparison, description, interpretation, theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic, historical-legal and comparative-legal methods. The result of the study is identification of some problems of legal regulation of the advertising contract: the lack of standardized regulations of advertising contractual relations and non-consideration of the use of advanced technologies in this field in the laws of the Russian Federation. Proceeding from these facts the authors argue the need of making legislative provisions to regulate advertising contractual relations. It is concluded that the advertising contract is a type of civil contracts for which it is essential to convey the information on the product to the consumer to increase revenues. This contractual structure should be excluded from the group of contracts considered in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, and make it a distinct type possessing the purpose and legal regulation of its own.

The purpose of the article is to examine the legal consequences of the violations of major transactions committed by corporations: both on the part of recognizing such a transaction as invalid, and on the part of the responsibility of individuals, and in particular on corporate management bodies. The article provides an analysis of the views of researchers on the issues of subsequent approval of a conducted major transaction. Based on the findings of the study, the authors argue that the nature of government-public relations is important for proper legal qualification of these relations and determining the conditions and procedure of liability for a major transaction, as well as the assessment of possible losses or damage. In conclusion, the proposals are made for making amendments to the concept of personal interest in a transaction so that its grounds should be changed from formal to genuine ones, the latter being qualified as the related-party presumption and the non-related party presumption. In the conclusion of the article, proposals are formulated on the need to make changes to the concept of determining the interest of a person in relation to a transaction in such a way that such a classification would take place not on formal grounds, but on the actual interest of individuals, defining such a mechanism as a presumption of interest and a presumption of no interest.

The purpose of the paper was to study the legal features of maintaining the price of goods during resale. By this design, the author understands the agreement or concerted action of independent market participants on the establishment of a minimum or fixed price. The author argues that currently there is an increase in the number of online retailers who are dissatisfied with the fact that manufacturers indicate to them what minimum price should be set for the product or what advertised price to use. They believe that such recommendations hinder the realization of their competitive advantages, limiting the possibilities of offering lower prices for goods. On the other hand, manufacturers provide various rationales for price recommendations, for example, the desire to protect the image of a brand and the need to avoid cannibalization of traditional distribution channels with online stores. Procedure and research methods: the author used a comparative approach and modeling method. Results of the study: the author summarized the discussion of scientists and practitioners about whether manufacturers can influence retail prices by setting different wholesale prices for retailers depending on the intended product sales channel (traditional trade or via the Internet). Theoretical /practical value: the author argues that charging different (wholesale) prices from different retailers is generally considered as a normal element of competition. The use of a double pricing system for the same (hybrid) retailer is generally considered an explicit (classic) restriction according to VBER.

The article is concerned with the problems of modern pre-trial procedures and the reasons for making numerous amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.The author analysed empirical data (on the number of suspects taken into custody during the preliminary investigation in 1998-2017). The research methods include a dialectical analysis of social and legal processes that allowed to assess the state of legislation and law enforcement practice concerning pre-trial procedures, and the changes in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. Based on the analysis of the norms of criminal procedure legislation, the study of both law enforcement practice and empirical data, the author made several proposals for making changes in the pre-trial criminal procedure rules. The practical value of the article is in interpreting big statistical data and making proposals for pre-trial procedure changes in criminal cases. The study is aimed at researchers, the teaching staff who conduct the courses «Criminal procedure law», «Criminal procedure» and relevant special courses at universities, students, adjuncts, graduate students studying these disciplines, practitioners (officials of preliminary investigation, bodies of inquiry, prosecutors, judges, lawyers, other participants of criminal procedure).