Increasingly states engage in armed confl icts private military and security companies. It is believed that they are more mobile and effective in comparison with the regular national armed forces. However, the legitimacy of the activities of such companies in the armed confl ict is doubtful. In this connection, the article discusses some of the laws of the United States, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, applicable to the activities of PMSCs, and explores the question of the degree of regulation in international law.

The article presents a brief analysis of the events taking place in Ukraine in recent months; with the objectives justify their qualifi cation as an armed confl ict, accompanied by war crimes and gross human rights violations by the military units of Ukraine.

In the Soviet period the areas of seabed in the Okhotsk Sea and in the Pechora Sea were considered in doctrine as the seabed of the USSR’s historic waters. The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources has got different view and regards the above mentioned areas as continental shelf. This means that the status of the areas is less strong than in the Soviet period: instead of claiming sovereignty Russia claims only rights to natural resources. This article addresses the validity of such change of view with reference to the other cessions of continental shelf compared to the position of the Russian Empire and the USSR.

The foregoing analysis argues that uti possidetis ’ originates from jus civile of Roman Law. The principle’s main purpose in Roman Law was the preserving of the status quo and stability of property possession. From the rule of private Roman Law uti possidetis transformed into a principle of international law dealing with state or territorial sovereignty issues. Only in the 18-19th centuries it became a principle of interstate relations in Latin America and then in African and Asian continents. It is argued that the principle of uti possidetis juris is a specifi c mechanism and process of international law, which serves for the purposes of transferring the sovereignty from preceding sovereign to the new state.

Tremendous and multifaceted development integration between the EurAsEC state-members evokes much attention of international community. The new Treaty of the Eurasian economic union signed by the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation on May 29, 2014, is of much interest, because it differs in various ways from the preceding Treaty on the Eurasian economic community. The member states claim to have coordinated their policies almost in all fi elds. The new integration association (Eurasian economic union) and its founding Treaty is a subject of close and accurate examination and analysis.

In the paper, the authors analyze the institute of unworthy heirs in Russia, France and Spain, carry out a comparative legal analysis of classes of unworthy heirs and consider issues in the Russian Civil Code regulation.

This article investigates questions concerning unification of term “foreign worker”. The author analyzes legislative instruments, which contain related terms that designate subjects of external labour migration. Among these instruments are universal and regional international treaties, bilateral agreements, Russian and foreign national legislation. The author draws attention to legislator’s consistent approach to elaboration of criteria for legal defi nition of the terms in question. It is emphasized that there are certain collisions that prevent consistent determination of foreign workers’ status. The author comes to a conclusion that terminology must be unifi ed by establishment of conceptual framework.

The jubilee year (the 20th anniversary of the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the EU and Russia - the PCA) of the relations between the Russian Federation and the European Union has turned out to be the most complicated. In 2014 the Ukrainian situation has strongly affected the long-lasting relations between Russia and the EU, and now enormous efforts shall be made in order to regain the level of trust and mutual understanding reached in the past years. Shortly before the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis the year 2014 had been offi cially announced as the EU-Russia Year of Science, Technology and Innovation. A huge scientifi c potential of relation between the Russian Federation, the EU and its Member States can be well exemplifi ed by cooperation of the partners in the area of exploration and use of outer space. A comprehensive legal and institutional base of the cooperation provides for successful performance of complex projects. Further development of contacts in this fi eld would make a positive effect on the general scope of cooperation.

It is objected in the text that federative entities may be determined as subjects of international law. Legal component of the European Union regional policy, when Euroregions connected by economical but not political reasons were created, was also analyzed on the example of the Austrian Republic. Cases of the international treaties and European Union secondary law implementation on the level of the Austrian federal lands were also put in the article. Attention was also paid to the cases of federal lands non- feasibility in questions of international and European law implementation and to the system of legal mechanisms which were created to escape this lack of action.

The article deals with specifi c legal regulations regarding international navigation for the Northern Sea Route and Northwest Passage. The article draws particular attention to foreign policies regarding transportation passages development and their economic potential in the Arctic.

The procedure of merger and consolidation of joint stock companies in Russia is legislatively fi xed in the Federal law «On joint stock companies». In the United States in each state the rules on mergers are adopted within the Corporation laws. The greatest interest represents the law of the state of Delaware. This procedure includes three steps. In Russia at the fi rst stage the companies sign an agreement on merger or consolidation, and in the state of Delaware, the fi rst step is the adoption by the Board of Directors of each participating corporation of a decision on approval of the agreement on merger or consolidation. At the second stage the boards of Directors of Russian joint stock companies bring to the decision of the General meeting of each participating company, the question of reorganization, on approval of the agreement on the merger. In the state of Delaware at the second stage of the General meeting of shareholders should approve or reject the transaction of merger or accession. The third stage both in Russia and in the state of Delaware, is registration of a new joint stock company, corporation, or registration of changes in society, corporation, in which another one has merged.

The negotiators, representatives of the Council of Europe member states and of the European Union, fi nalised the draft accession agreement of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights in spring, 2013. Due to the fact that the possibility of the accession is now not confi ned to the provisions of Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights and article 6 of the Treaty on European Union, the questions of cooperation between the ECJ and the ECtHR and interpretation and application of the main European acts on human rights - the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights - are becoming more and more important.