The paper analyzes the position of the notarial system as an independent element of the legal system of Russian society. The author examines the conditions under which the legal foundations of the modern notary model were formed, as well as the factors contributing to the development of this model. The content and target orientation of notary functions in relation to the legal system of the society are revealed. For example, transformations that occurred in Russia in the late 20th century, reveal the possibilities of notaries, the opposing processes and phenomena that disrupt the legal system of society. In the context of the study, the author also addresses the regulatory capabilities of notaries, which contribute to the preservation of the legal system of society. The paper reveals the adaptive capabilities of the notarial system in the conditions of changing legal space and unfavorable sanitary and epidemiological situation. At the same time, the paper focuses on the mechanisms allowing for the notary to ensure the stability of civil turnover, contributing to the establishment of the rule of law. The paper considers legislation on notaries aimed at expanding opportunities for citizens and businesses by adding new rules to the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on notaries, adopted by the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation on 11 February 1993 № 4462-1 (as amended December 30, 2020). In particular, there are possibilities of remote access to a notary for performing notarial actions, remote certification of transactions involving two or more notaries, acceptance by a notary for safe storage of electronic documents of participants in civil turnover, placement of machine-readable markings (QR-code) on a paper document, identification of the applicant by a notary through biometrics in notary offices. It is concluded that there is a high importance of the notarial institution and its functions for the legal system of society.

The right to housing is important and universally recognized. In foreign countries, in order to ensure the realization of the right to housing, in addition to the right of ownership, other limited proprietary rights are provided granting citizens with the right to own and use residential premises. The paper considers the limited proprietary rights to residential premises in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Russia. It is established that the legislation of the abovementioned foreign countries enshrines real rights to use the residential premise, which, being a kind of usufruct (personal servitude), possesses specific features. They are facility feature (which includes residential premises), the authorized entity (which allows for a natural person) only, as well as the purposive character (this sets the right to stay in the residential premises for personal needs and the needs of his family).   In Russia, there are problems of legal regulation of relations between the use of residential premises by members of the owner’s family and former members of the owner’s family who gave consent to privatization, which cause difficulties in practice and numerous disputes in the doctrine. The outcomes of the analysis of the proposed changes in civil and housing legislation make it possible to conclude that the discussed innovations are not able to solve the existing problems and contradictions.

The author proposes to consolidate in civil legislation such a limited real right as the right to use residential premises, which is a kind of usufruct, which will combine all existing real rights to residential premises. The legal structure of the right to use residential premises is formulated, its content, the grounds for its occurrence and termination are set out.

. Improving the institution of stay of enforcement of obligations is one of the urgent problems in modern civil law. The need to reform this institution is relevant as in the context of the coronavirus pandemic and forced self-isolation many organizations of trade, public catering, provision of household services and others are forced to suspend their work in connection with the introduced regime of anti-epidemic measures. Due to the lack of income, these organizations often find themselves in a situation where they cannot fulfill a number of obligations, primarily obligations arising from the lease agreement. The purpose of the study is to consider the features of the

institution of stay of enforcement of obligations, to analyze the adequacy of this institution in the new conditions and to suggest ways to improve it. To achieve this goal, the author uses the following methods: analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, formal-legal approach. In the course of the study, it was found that in the new conditions, in particular in connection with the spread of coronavirus infection, it is necessary to reform the institution of stay of enforcement of obligations. The reform of this institution should be aimed at expanding the grounds for stay of enforcement of obligations, including by introducing such grounds as suspending the activities of an organization based on a decision of state authorities or local self-government bodies. In this case, the obligations of the specified organization are considered suspended until the resumption of its activities. It seems that this institution of stay of enforcement of obligations makes it possible to account the interests of both the creditor and the debtor, and therefore, in our opinion, is an effective institution for regulating private relations.

Court Jurisdiction for the Resolution of Cross-Border Private Law Cases in the Context of the Principle of International Cooperation of States.

The paper expresses an opinion on the content of certain provisions and on the procedure for adopting amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Based on the analysis of the claims made against them by some categories of citizens, the directions of their further scientific understanding are determined. Proposals for improving a number of constitutional provisions are formulated. The authors focus on the consideration of the essence of the constitutional reform in terms of the redistribution of the powers of the head of state in the direction of strengthening popular representation in the formation of public authorities and the exercise of their functions. The study examines the formal consolidation and practical implementation of the competence of the President of the Russian Federation in relation to various branches of state power. Within the framework of the legislative function, it is noted that he is strengthening his position by gaining the opportunity to exert political influence on the senators of the Russian Federation, as well as using the institute of preliminary constitutional control. In the field of executive and administrative powers, the updated procedure for appointing members of the Government of the Russian Federation is considered in detail. Using the method of scientific modeling, the analysis of the influence of the houses of parliament on the process of formation of federal executive bodies is carried out. Based on this, it is concluded that the executive branch of state power is invariably dependent on the will of the President and that the constitutional provisions announcing the gradual transition of the Russian state to a parliamentary-presidential form of government are decorative. The authors express dissatisfaction against the denigration of the role of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation to protection of the Constitution, rights and freedoms of man and citizen. It is concluded that the powers of the head of state are developing in the direction of strengthening his political influence on the process of implementation by state bodies of their daily activities and their adoption of legal decisions.

The paper analyzes the concept of municipal procedural norms. The author justifiably notes that the municipal procedural norm contains all the features of a legal norm and defines the procedure for ensuring the material powers of local self-government subjects. According to the author, municipal procedural norms are contained in the legislation at the federal and regional levels, as well as in municipal legal acts. The variety of identified municipal procedural norms allows us to distinguish three of their types. The first type of norms includes procedural norms that describe the sequential actions necessary to ensure that local self-government entities exercise their powers. The second type of municipal procedural norms is characterized by the presence of references to other normative legal acts. The third type is made up of municipal procedural norms, which only name specific actions necessary for the implementation of their powers by local self-government entities. Due to the large number of municipal legal acts containing procedural norms, it is proposed to codify them, as well as to introduce a new type of municipal legal acts into the system — the municipal procedural code. This codified act could structurally consist of two parts — general and special. In the general part of the municipal procedural code, it is advisable to include municipal procedural norms that establish general procedures for ensuring the implementation of all available material powers of local self-government bodies and other local self-government entities. In the special par, it would be necessary to fix the norms that ensure the specifics of the implementation of each material authority of the subject of local self-government to resolve issues of local significance. This approach to the systematization of procedural norms will significantly reduce the number of municipal procedural acts and duplication of procedural norms, thereby ensuring more effective law enforcement activities of local self-government bodies.

The paper attempts to assess the fiscal, investment, and monetary repatriation results of the application of legislation on the redomicilation of organizations registered in offshore states to Russian special administrative regions. The study was conducted in the context of the fundamental adjustment of agreements on the avoidance of double taxation concluded with foreign countries, which began in the summer of 2020 on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation. In this regard, the results obtained are more promising than current. In the course of the study, comparative legal and statistical methods were used, and the "reinvestment strategy" of economic entities, which is expressed in the reverse investment of funds previously transferred to the accounts of offshore organizations, was analyzed (In the context of changes in double taxation agreements).

The outcomes of the analysis show that direct taxation of an international company that is redomiciled in the Russian Federation does not give a tangible fiscal result and is nothing more than a tool to increase the attractiveness of the Russian legal jurisdiction. However, the volume of mandatory investments accompanying the redomicilation procedure is significant in terms of the degree of financial burden on international companies, which should provide a fiscal effect for the budget system in the medium and long term. Cash-repatriation result of redomiciliation will be equal to the amounts reinvested in Russia from offshore countries; it is expressed in the improvement of the financial system of the Russian Federation by means of displacement of offshore practices. The author summarizes that, in general, the analysis of legal regulation indicates that the Russian Federation does not set the goal of increasing current budget revenues because of the application of the procedure of redomicilation of foreign organizations, but expects a promising financial and economic effect.

The paper explores the issue of fairness of progressive taxation. The introduction of progressive taxation in the Russian Federation in 2021 was announced by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in his Address to citizens on June 23, 2020. The issue of returning to progressive taxation has been repeatedly raised in the scientific community, and one argument in its favor was the provision that progressive taxation is more fair than proportional taxation. At the same time, as Putin’s words suggest, the main goal of the introduction of tax progression is to find funds for financing certain projects, but not to achieve justice. However, the task set by the President does not exclude the need to investigate the issue of fairness of progressive taxation and the doctrinal justification of the proposed changes, which makes the chosen topic relevant.

The paper deals with the essence of “fair taxation” on the basis of the theories of justice, developed by John Rawls and Amartya Sen, and principles of taxation. The author analyzes the Federal Law of November 23, 2020, No. 372-FZ “On Amendments to Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in Part Concerning Taxation of Personal Income Exceeding 5 Million Rubles for the Tax Period” that introduces application of a combined tax rate to the income exceeding 5 million rubles per year, as well as the issue of prospects for further changes in personal income taxation in the Russian Federation in the context of achieving justice. Methodologically, the paper is based on the principles of the dialectical approach. The author applies general scientific methods of cognition, namely: analysis, synthesis, generalization, induction.

Based on the principles of taxation and several approaches to the interpretation of fairness, it is concluded that progressive taxation is more fair than the ones in force until 2020, including proportional taxation. The author proposes amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation aimed at enhancing fairness of taxation. They include intensification of tax progressiveness (taking into account amendments entering into effect on January 1, 2021) and the introduction of a tax-free minimum on personal income.

In the Russian legal system, the crime, unlike other wrongs, is characterized as the act that has specific, namely criminal, public danger. Criminal liability in contrast to administrative liability is established for cases of high public danger. Turning to the meaningful characteristic of the phenomenon of public danger, the Russian doctrine proposed a number of theoretical constructions that in modern conditions, taking into account the need for updating the methodological framework of criminal law, can and should be reinterpreted and, to some extent, rediscovered.

Parameters of the “criminal” danger are not originally determined; they do not have clear evidence and criteria, and in modern conditions they cannot be calculated mathematically accurately. It is hardly possible to determine empirically the minimum threshold at which “crime begins”, since this task is political rather than experimental and cognitive, and it is resolved in the course of implementing the criminal policy of the State. Being a characteristic of all offenses, public danger has special quantitative parameters allowing us to assert specific criminal public danger that can be presented as a generalized indicator of the risk of a wrongful act, its actual or projected consequences and the identity of the perpetrator. The danger of a wrongful act serves as a starting point in assessing the risk of the crime at the lawmaking and law enforcement levels, assessing the risk of the wrong and of the crime that represent mismatched assessment practices. The risk created by the wrong depends on the balance between two significant factors: (a) the content and hierarchy of constitutional values at which the wrongful act is directed to cause harm; (b) characteristics of the threat emanating from the wrongful act that must be real, valid and must be confirmed by the specific actions or omissions of the wrongdoer.

A comprehensive study of the perpetrator’s role leads to the following conclusions: “perpetrator of the crime” is a universal term used to describe an act that constitutes an objective element of the crime committed both in complicity and without complicity. Four alternatives to the actions of the perpetrator exist: executor who performed the objective element alone, an accomplice who performed the objective element with other accomplices, an indirect perpetrator, an indirect accomplice. Other ways to qualify person’s act as a perpetrator are based not on the law, but on the recommendations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation that de facto acquired the status of the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (joint participation in the organized group, joint participation in a crime with “technical distribution of roles”). The main element of the act of the perpetrator includes the fulfillment of the objective element described in the disposition of the article of the Special Part. The content of the objective element of a particular crime does not depend on the existence of complicity, hence the term “perpetrator” is applicable to any crime and has a universal value. It is impractical to describe in the law the same acts in different terms. “Technical distribution of roles” is a doctrinal term. Its content is disclosed in some resolutions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the RF. Extensive interpretation of the term “perpetrator” in crimes with “technical distribution of roles” is a forced measure on the part of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, since the term “the group of persons in conspiracy” is interpreted restrictively. This interpretation complicates the application of the criminal law and does not allow us to adequately assess the greater risk of crimes committed in complicity. The term “technical distribution of roles” does not have a universal (acknowledged) interpretation in jurisprudence, which also makes it difficult to apply the law. Joint participation in a legal sense in crimes committed by an organized group is a construct that is not based on law applied to crimes with a special subject, which contradicts part 4, Art. 34 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

. The paper analyzes the legal views of Nikolay I. Palienko, a prominent philosopher of law and a state historian of the beginning of the last century. The authors pay significant attention to the integrative concept of legal understanding that is followed by Prof. Nikolay Palienko. They also substantiate originality and significance of the concept in the light of modernization of the political and legal order in late imperial Russia. It seems that under certain conditions it could serve as a bridge between positivist jurisprudence and the doctrine of “reborn natural law” developed in pre-revolutionary Russia. It was intended to smooth out the contradictions in both doctrines and contribute to the development of a new methodology for law understanding in the context of transformation of the Russian legal system towards establishing institutions of constitutional order.

On the basis of published sources, the authors show the evolution of the scholar’s views from the positivist theory of law to idealism that is not properly estimated in the legal literature and is quite typical for the legal scholars of the interrevolutionary period.

The authors conclude that Prof. Nikolay I. Palienko scholarship and knowledge allowed him to substantiate his own concept of legal understanding that can be considered integrative on the basis of achievements of the positivist theory of law, philosophy of natural law, psychological and sociological concepts of legal understanding. Prof. Palienko proclaimed the normative nature of law and at the same time expressed ideas of the supremacy of law over the state and the coherence of the state provided by law. An essential element of his legal concept was the legal consciousness of the society, acknowledgement of its role in the course of law education, as well as its establishment as a source of law. Palienko’s idea of legal coherence of the state represents a synthesis of positivism with idealism and leads to a new stage of development of legal methodology and ideology, namely: integrative jurisprudence. Scholar’s political and legal ideas contributed to the development of ideas about the rule of law, which were very popular in Russia during the period of development of representative institutions and constitutionalism.

The paper examines the concept of recovery of harm caused by the crime under Russian law in comparison with the concept of compensation for harm under German law. The results of the comparative legal study represent characteristics of the legal regulation and disclosure of the content of recovery and compensation for harm caused by a crime under the legislation of the Russian Federation and Germany, as well as the problems related to restrictions associated with compensation of harm in a narrow sense and recovery of harm under German Law. In Germany, the law provides for the legal institution of compensation of harm to the injured person by the person who committed a criminal act, which envisages its comprehensive legal regulation in specific provisions of criminal and criminal procedure laws. Legal regulation of recovery of harm in the Russian Federation is still unsettled due to the fact that recovery of harm is a mandatory element of various legal institutions (for example, termination of the criminal case due to active repentance, reconciliation of the parties, imposition of a judicial fine or circumstances mitigating the sentence, etc.). To determine the content of the harm caused by the crime, it is necessary to refer not only to the text of the law, but also to the legal acts of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with due regard to the article defining the contents of recovery of harm caused by the crime. Under German law, compensation for the injured person by a person who committed a criminal act is used in two senses: narrow and broad ones, including recovery. The paper presents the criteria that allow us to limit these forms of response to the crime committed, as well as the content of compensation for harm in a broad sense.

The paper provides for a critical analysis of the monographic work by famous Marxist legal scholar, Doctor of Law, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation Vladimir M. Syrykh. As known, there are a lot of works investigating the crimes of Stalinist politics based on open sources that have become available to scientists. Prof. Syrykh cultivates a different, legal view of the activities of Stalinist leadership. As a legal theorist and methodologist, he set himself the goal of analyzing the legal nature of Stalin’s repressive policies and his associates in the 1930s-1950s. The researcher concluded that Stalin’s leadership in the process of building the socialist state turned away from the requirements of the constitution and Soviet legislation, acted contrary to law, replacing it with Directives, which can be qualified as undermining the state system.

Reviewers praise the work by Vladimir M. Syrykh, sharing many of his submissions. As reviewers see, the author’s intention was to purge the very idea of socialism from the distortions and perversions brought by Stalin. According to the author, Stalin perverted the creative nature of Marxism and Lenin’s legacy. However, the authors of the review indicate that the policy of terror against the Soviet people coincides with the period of Stalin’s rule, which gives grounds to Prof. Syrykh opponents to claim: 40 years of socialist construction involved violence, coercion and killing thousands of people. The book under review is written to counter such claims.