Introduction. This paper analyzes the history of development of the European Union’s political and military cooperation. The author gives an in-depth review of the origins of the European integration, its reasons and key political figures who played the crucial role in this process. The author shows that the establishment of cooperation between West European countries right after 1945 dealt with projects that were not implemented. Much attention is paid to the activities of the Western European Union (WEU) that played a considerable role in shaping the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union. The article also presentshow different the members of the European Union are, how the views of the European countries vary in many areas and how difficult it is to coordinate the positions of the member-states on important issues concerning the foreign, security and defense policy of the European Union.Materials and methods. Building on the system analysis of the theories of international relations, international integration and the materials of related sciences such as political and conflict resolution studies the author considers the development stages of the European countries’ political and military collaboration from the establishment of the EuropeanDefense Community to the European Political Cooperation.Results. Proceeding from the results of the analysis the author concludes that the activities aimed to build military and political collaboration of the European states had laid a solid foundation to establish the second pillar of the EU - the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) by the time the Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992.Discussion and conclusions. The materialsof this paper describe the stages and historicalroots of the development of the military and political collaboration of the European countries. Complexities and contradictions that are inherent in this process explain the challenges the EU’s current foreign, security and defense policies have to face.

Introduction. The article provides the overview of the transformation of state sovereignty due to global trends. Main stages of the historical development of this concept are indicated. The author identifies and evaluates from various positions the key «reference points» of the correlation between state sovereignty and the modern globalized world based on international law, and presents the vision of the impact of integration on it. Materials and methods. The study is based on general scientific and special methods. In view of the nature of the researched issues, the comparative legal research, as well as analogy and modelling were of particular importance. Much attention was paid to the legal framework of the EU, the EAEU, Russia and a number of foreign states, as well as to the doctrine of international law and the theory of international integration. Research results. The article presents the integrated approach to the source of state sovereignty and the primacy of its natural, national or international nature according to the modern trends. Correlation between state sovereignty and international legal personality is also reviewed. The author designs the prototype of «integration sovereignty» on the basis of theoretical approaches and practical examples. Discussion and conclusion. The author substantiates a broad interpretation of the «classical» understanding of sovereignty within the framework of international integration trends. It is noted that the presented concept requires deep understanding, theoretical study and further scientific discussion, however, ignoring its existence, according to the author, is impossible, and taking it into account in practical work is necessary.

Introduction. The article presents a study of the legal category of "impartiality" of a judge in the administration of justice. Until recently, the concept of impartiality was identified exclusively with reason (rationality), where there was no place for the study of emotions. There is a point of view in legal positivism that the term "impartiality" is a state of consciousness in which the possibility of expressing emotions is excluded. However in recent decades Western scientific publications have revived interest in the knowledge of emotions in law which bypasses the consideration of the emotional theory of ethical phenomena by L. I. Petrazhitsky. In this regard the author of the article, first, conducted a study of the concept of impartiality of a judge based on the analysis of international documents and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Secondly, the author reviewed the Russian legislation which regulates the features of the term "impartiality" in the administration of justice. Third, the term "impartiality" was analyzed through the prism of the main concepts of emotions in law. Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the study is characterized by the following methods: 1) general (dialectics); 2) general scientific (analysis, synthesis, system and functional approaches); 3) private scientific (formal-legal and comparative-legal); 4) problem-theoretical reconstruction. Results of the study. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that the author of the article not only analyzed the formal features of the term "impartiality" based on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights but also studied the nature of impartiality through the prism of modern approaches to emotions in law and classified them. As a result of the study, the following conclusions are made, which, among other things, are of practical importance: 1) impartiality in making the justice can be objective and subjective; 2) the basis for impartial decision-making by a judge can be: a) exclusively, the reason (formal-rationalistic approach);b) the reason and emotions with the dominance of the former and the negative consequences of the latter for the process of making a legal decision (irrational approach); c) reason and emotions, which are not opposed to each other, but interact with each other as equivalent components in the formation of a judicial decision (cognitive approach); d) imperative and attributive emotions, which are the source of law (ethical and legal approach). Discussion and conclusion. It is proved that the impartiality of the judge's personality is formed not only by intellectual, moral, and volitional spheres, but also by emotional ones, where the latter includes conscientiousness and receptivity. It is precisely the judges' behavior, their decision-making, that determines their beliefs based on conscience, which is the source of true law, called intuitive law.

Introduction. The article provides an overview of the legal regulation of copyright protection using technical means of protection. German law states that technical means of copyright protection are technologies, devices, and their components. Such technical means are created to prevent or impede illegal actions of users that are not authorized by the copyright holder in relation to the results of intellectual activity. At the same time the legislator pays special attention to the fact that the distinguishing criterion of a technical means of protection against other methods of protection is effectiveness. In the article the authors analyze the legal consolidation of the specified criterion as a distinctive feature of technical means of copyright protection, and also consider the concept and cases of bypassing technical means of protection provided for by German law. Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the research is formed by the following general scientific and special methods of cognition of legal phenomena and processes in the field of intellectual law: the method of system-structural analysis; method of synthesis of social and legal phenomena; comparative legal method; formal logical method. Results. As a result of the analysis it was revealed that according to German law the distinguishing feature of technical means of copyright protection from other methods of protection is the criterion of effectiveness. A technical protection device is recognized by the German legislator as effective if the technical protection device cannot be bypassed without the consent of the copyright holder. In the context of the effectiveness of a technical means of protection, German legislation broadly defines the concept of circumvention of technical means. German copyright law, unlike other foreign jurisdictions, contains provisions prohibiting the removal of a technical remedy.Discussions and Conclusions. The main criteria for technical means of copyright protection under German law have been studied, the fundamental of which is the criterion of the effectiveness of a technical means. Cases of circumvention of technical means of copyright protection provided for by German law have been identified. The legal regulation of the ban on the removal of technical means of protection has been explored.

Introduction. The purpose of this article is to develop recommendations for improving the consistency of documents in the field of foreign policy planning, optimizing the algorithms for their formation and use in the activities of overseas agencies of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Materials and methods. For achieve this we use both qualitative methods (e.g. systematic approach, classification, comparative legal analysis) and quantitative methods (network graph method, statistical analysis etc.). Results of the study. The results of the work are as follows. First, we classified all documents in the field of foreign policy into groups according to their goals: regulatory (legal regulatory and goal-setting) and reporting (political reports and reference). Second, we have studied the relationships of these documents and have revealed the prevalenceof goal-setting documents over other groups while a number of such documents are poorly coordinated with each other and with reporting documents. Third, we suggested utilizing the potential of the state program of the Russian Federation “Foreign Policy Activity” and the national project “International Cooperation and Export”. Forth, we’ve proved that the foreign policy documentation mainly deals with the tasks of overseas agencies which are the link between the documents of the upper and lower levels. On the contrary, the Concept for Strengthening the Resource and Personnel Potential of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not receive development. Fifth, the degree of use of various technical reports is minimal among all reporting documents.Discussion and conclusions. The following conclusions have been made. The priorities of theforeign policy of the Russian Federation and the leading role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in coordinating their implementation may be formulated in a state program of the Russian Federation “Foreign Policy Activity”, which systematizes the priorities and allows assessing the effectiveness of their implementation in relation to the budget and key targets. It is also proposed that the diplomatic staff of overseas agencies be freed from the technical reporting which should be delegated to the administrative and technical staff. The greater effectiveness of reporting processes will be facilitated by using unified online forms. The possibility of their computer processing in the Foreign Ministry will allow summarizing data and making data-oriented organizational and personnel decisions.

The article gives a detailed assessment of the contents of the monograph "Regulation of the financial services market under the EU and EAEU law" written by Rustam Kasyanov. The work is devoted to the analysis and comparison of the key features of financial integration in the EU and the EAEU, including creation of a single market for the EU financial services and a common financial market of the EAEU. The issue under study is of particular relevance, since both unions intend to reach the same level of financial integration. It is also planned to create a supranational body for regulation of the common financial market of the EAEU according tothe EU example. Kasyanov's monograph was highly appreciated in academic circles as long as it describes a set of legal mechanisms for creation and functioning of a single market for the EU financial services that can be used to provide legal support for financial integration in the EAEU.