Vol 12, No 4 (2025)

The paper describes a comprehensive analysis of theoretical and legal approaches to the concept of justice in law. The main doctrinal concepts of justice are studied, including the legal libertarian (Nersesyants), positivistic (Shershenevich, Kelsen, Hart), natural law (Finnis, Fuller, Maritain, Dworkin), neo-Kantian (Stammler), and sociological (Ihering, Ehrlich). The author shows a fundamental polarization of scientific views, from the understanding of justice as an immanent property of law to its interpretation as an external moral assessment. The paper discusses the problematic relationship between justice and legality and analyzes the phenomenon of unjust law in terms of Radbruch formula and through Arendt’s criticism of totalitarian law abidingness. It focuses on operationalization of the abstract category of justice in specific legal institutions and its national perception in various legal systems. The paper analyzes contemporary Russian concepts, including the integrative approach to legal understanding, Alekseev’s theory of legal means, and Polyakov’s communicative theory, and discusses the influence of digital transformation on the development of new concepts of justice. The author reasonably concludes that theoretical discrepancies may be overcome through applied industry research, including the criminal proceedings, where the concept of justice has operational certainty based on national legal profile.

The paper investigates various methods of resolving interpersonal and collective disputes and conflicts used by the Uzbek khanates in the 16th–19th centuries. Significant growth of the global Muslim population and the enhanced role of Muslim states in the political, economic, and financial sectors inevitably contribute to a rising tide of interest to the fundamental principles of Islam expressed in Sharia law and scientifically and practically reflected in fiqh based on the Quran and Sunnah in legal science. According to the legal dogmas of Sharia and the religious dogmas of Islam, which govern the life of Muslims submitting to God, the faithful were first supposed to try to amicably resolve any dispute between Muslims through by themselves, through mediation or negotiations involving respected representatives (relatives of the conflicting parties, aksakals of the mahalla and villages, amins of the amlaqdars, ministers of religion), or an arbitrator chosen by them. If it is impossible to resolve a dispute at the lower level, Muslims used the right to appeal to both the religious court of the qadi (magistrate) or the court of the biys (for nomadic peoples) and the administrative court of the hakim (bek) or the court of the ruler (khan or emir). The paper discusses the procedural features of consideration, methods, techniques, and legal framework for resolving pre-trial disputes and conflicts in the Uzbek khanates and focuses on pre-trial and, in a broader sense, extra-judicial conflict resolution as the main method to find a compromise between the disputing parties. A conclusion is also made that the disputing parties may use the right to choose jurisdiction if it is impossible to resolve the dispute at the lower level.

This paper examines the harmonization of the spirit of the Law on the Federal Civil Service of the Russian Federation as a social and public legal institution of public service enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and its letter—the visually perceived text. It identifies the causes of their inconsistency and the consequences reflected both in the provisions of the Law itself and its enforcement practice. For this purpose, the author studies the content of the Law governing the moral aspect of the civil service, revealing its spiritual and moral foundations, and constituting the value and semantic basis for the comprehensive assessment of civil servants during the development of the professional pool of the civil service. It focuses on the development and legitimization of the terminology of the Russian civil service, primarily the definition of the key concept of state civil service provided by the Law, which is only limited by its functions, leaving a whole block of questions related to the general goal of the state personnel policy, i.e. the development of worthy heirs of the best national traditions of the Russian civil service motivated to serve society, protected by immunity to corruption, devoted to the Motherland and their occupation, as the most important factor in ensuring the trust of individuals in authorities and the stable society, outside the scope of theoretical understanding and practical actions; new terms introduced into the legal framework of the civil service, and concepts borrowed from other terminological systems without due regard of the specific nature of civil service as a social institution. To implement the unimplemented provisions of the laws on civil service and the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation related to strengthening the value and semantic foundations of civil service, a set of measures is proposed that will contribute to the balance of the spirit and letter of the Law in its application, the spiritual and moral development of civil servants as a guarantee of the implementation of public service mission, increasing individuals’ trust in public institutions, overcoming the moral deficit, and combating corruption in the civil service system.

The paper investigates the prosecutor’s office activities to ensure the rule of law and order in preventing deviant behavior of minors beyond criminal law enforcement. The author performed a theoretical and legal analysis of its subject and limits, which is relevant due to the emergence of new deviations and legal regulation gaps. A consistent approach has revealed the collective nature of the subject of this activity with four key areas, including supervision of law enforcement, participation in civil and administrative proceedings, lawmaking, and legal education and awareness. The author theoretically substantiates the system of limits (legal and regulatory, procedural, subjective and time-related) to be used as a condition for effective prosecutor’s activity and a guarantee against the substitution of the crime prevention authorities and institutions. The author proves that compliance with these limits is a guarantee of preventing the substitution of crime prevention authorities and institutions and a condition for higher performance of the prosecutor’s office activities. A clear definition of the subject and limits allows to effectively use the prosecutor’s office resources, focusing on restoring the rule of law and order in the most significant areas. The scientific novelty is achieved through the development of a comprehensive system of limits adapted to the interfunctional activities of the prosecutor’s office in this area, where the risks of substituting other crime prevention actors are particularly high.

The paper thoroughly discusses the application of pre-trial cooperation agreements with defendants accused of committing a crime in Russian law. Similar legal provisions are widely used and, in some countries, referred to as a plea deal. The authors provide examples of foreign legal concepts compared with the summary legal proceedings used in the national legal system and identify similar features and significant differences. The paper emphasizes the special nature of legal regulation of special criminal proceedings related to the prevalence of the principle of publicity in the national criminal proceedings system. The proceedings conducted based on the cooperation agreement are defined as an independent institution of criminal procedure and a theoretical justification is provided for the need for additional regulation of the preliminary investigation in such proceedings to ensure the implementation of the principles of legality of process at its pre-trial stages. In addition, based on the study, the authors propose making significant changes to the existing system of summary proceedings allowing the court to resolve criminal cases related to crimes threatening the most significant objects of judicial protection. The proposed amendments to the criminal procedure may significantly improve the crime prevention performance of law enforcement agencies.

The paper presents an analysis of court practice in criminal cases involving crimes provided by Article 191 (Illegal Trafficking of Amber, Jade, or Other Semi-Precious Stones, Precious Metals, Precious Stones, or Pearls) and Article 255 (Violation of Rules for Protection and Use of Subsoil of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The study identifies the problems of proof in law enforcement activities affecting the effective application of criminal law mechanisms and procedures for protecting the subsoil use sector. Thus, the criminal justice system is instrumental to achieve the goals of criminal prosecution of individuals for some actions covered by the above articles with minor damage (including up to RUB 500). However, judgments issued in relation to persons doing business in the studied sector often do not consider all its differences, which are nevertheless reflected in the case materials. The study of court practice in the above category of criminal cases, regulatory framework, and doctrine allowed to draw conclusions that may contribute to increased effectiveness of criminal law mechanisms and procedures to counter the illegal trafficking of precious and semi-precious stones, metals, and pearls.