Discipline: «Law enforcement agencies»

Faculty: Law

Department: Theory and history of law and state

Level of education: Bachelor’s

Author: Gurkov Aleksandr Dmitrievich, lecturer

Lecturer: Gurkov Aleksandr Dmitrievich, lecturer

  1. Explanatory note

Approaching the discipline students should possess basic knowledge in theory of law and be acquainted with the legal system of Russian Federation.

The «Law enforcement agencies» discipline is an introduction to a practical jurisprudence. The goal of the discipline is to help future in-house counsels, law-firm employees and attorneys at law get a deeper understanding in a comparative perspective of actions, structure, system, administration and management of judiciary, law enforcers as well as state and non-state bodies entrusted with law-enforcement authority. Special attention is paid to considering the above questions from the point of view of participants in economic activities.

  1. Goals of the discipline

As a result of studying the discipline the students should:

1. be acquainted:

- with the main directions of cooperation within law enforcement agencies and cooperation between law enforcement agencies and other state authorities;

- with system, composition, structure and main spheres of responsibility of law enforcement agencies of contemporary foreign states;

2. know:

- role and place of law enforcement agencies within the governmental system of a state;

- operating principles, tasks and main spheres of activities of law enforcement agencies;

- procedural and institutional grounds of activity of law enforcement agencies;

powers and competences of law enforcement agencies in protecting human rights and freedoms, interests of state and society;

3. gain skills of:

- applying contemporary legislation of Russian Federation to solve issues arising when dealing in practice with law enforcement;

- acquire new knowledge in the field of law enforcement agencies using contemporary sources of information;

-in a logical manner deliver and argue their points of view on the issues studied within the discipline, including while drafting documents.

  1. Topics

Theme / Lectures / Seminars / Self study
1. / Judiciary / 2 / 2 / 14
2. / Principles of justice / 2 / 2 / 14
3. / Regular courts / 2 / 2 / 14
4. / Commercial courts / 2 / 2 / 14
5. / Constitutional courts / 2 / 2 / 14
6. / Executive authorities in law enforcement / 1 / 1 / 7
7. / Law enforcement organizations / 1 / 1 / 7
Total / 12 / 12 / 84
  1. Brief description of topics
  1. Judiciary

Definition of judiciary. Functions of judiciary. Judicial system. Judicial levels.

  1. Principles of justice

Principles of justice – definition. System of principles. Justness. Independence and impartiality of judges. Public hearings.

  1. Regular courts

Magistrate courts. District courts. Supreme courts. Military courts. Plenum and Presidium.

  1. Commercial courts

Commercial disputes. Commercial courts’ system. Supreme commercial court. Plenum and Presidium.

  1. Constitutional courts

Constitutional control. Constitutional court judges. Branches of activities for Constitutional court.

  1. Executive authorities in law enforcement

Public prosecution. Supervision by a public prosecutor. Administration of justice. Police.

7. Law enforcement organizations

Attorneys at law. Public notary. Notary actions. Domestic and international arbitration.

  1. Types and forms of testing

Type of testing / Form of testing / Parameters
Current / Work at seminars / Student activity and understanding of the covered topics.
Final test / Pass-fail exam / Open and closed questions. 60 minutes.
  1. Literature

Main text-book

Гуценко К.Ф. Правоохранительные органы: учебник — М.: КНОРУС, 2013. — 376 с.

Obligatory reading

Bell J. Judiciaries Within Europe: A Comparative Review. – Cambridge University Press, 2006. – 399 с.

Lee H.P. Judiciaries in Comparative Perspective. – Cambridge University Press, 2011. – 624 с.

  1. Contact person

Gurkov Alexander Dmitrievich