State-like formations (free cities) as subjects of international law. To the question of the international legal personality of state-like entities State-like entities examples

Legal personality of international (intergovernmental) organizations and state-like entities

An international intergovernmental organization is an association of states established on the basis of an international treaty to achieve common goals, having permanent bodies and acting in the common interests of member states.

When studying the law-making role of international organizations, one should take into account the peculiarities of their legal personality. In international law, a unified position regarding the international legal personality of international organizations was not immediately formed. Currently, almost all international lawyers involved in the study of the activities of international organizations are of the opinion that they have an international legal personality. However, since international organizations are secondary subjects of international law, they have a specific legal personality. For example, S.A. Malinin believes that the legal personality of international organizations, their scope, functions and powers depend on the will of the founding states and are limited by the constituent act. From this, in his opinion, one can draw a number of general conclusions about the rule-making activities of international organizations: it is not possible to establish in relation to all of their specific scope of powers to participate in the rule-making process; the specific degree and forms of such participation are determined by the founding states in relation to this organization in each specific case at the time of its creation and ultimately depend on the functions it performs, therefore, the scope of powers granted to this international organization in the field of lawmaking can only be clarified on the basis of a thorough analysis its founding act.

Any intergovernmental organization is a subject of international law. The international legal personality of an intergovernmental organization is manifested in its legal status, in the scope of those rights and obligations that states vest in the organization and from the nature of which the organization itself may (or may not) acquire other rights and obligations in the future.

State-like entities have a certain amount of international legal personality. Such formations have territory, sovereignty, have their own citizenship, legislative assembly, government, international treaties. These, in particular, are the free cities and the Vatican.

A free city is a state-city that has internal self-government and some international legal personality. For example, the status of the free city of Danzig (now Gdansk) was defined in Art. 100-108 of the Versailles Peace Treaty of June 28, 1919, in the Polish-Danzig Convention of November 9, 1920, and in a number of other agreements.

The scope of international legal personality of free cities was determined by international agreements and constitutions of such cities. However, they were subject only to international law. For residents of free cities, a special citizenship was created. Many cities had the right to conclude international treaties and join intergovernmental organizations. The guarantors of the status of free cities were either a group of states or international organizations (the League of Nations, the UN, etc.).

In 1929, on the basis of the Lutheran Treaty, signed by the papal representative Gaspari and the head of the Italian government, Mussolini, the “state” of the Vatican was artificially created. The creation of the Vatican was dictated by the desire of Italian fascism and its domestic and foreign policy to enlist the active support of the Catholic Church. The main goal of the Vatican is to create conditions for independent government for the head of the Catholic Church. According to the Basic Law (Constitution) of the Vatican, the right to represent the state belongs to the head of the Catholic Church, the pope. At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish between the agreements concluded by the pope as the head of the church on church affairs (concordats), from the secular agreements that he concludes on behalf of the state of the Vatican.

The state-like formations include the Vatican (Holy See).

The State of the Vatican is a special entity created in accordance with the Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Holy See of February 11, 1929 and endowed with some features of statehood, which means a purely formal expression of the autonomy and independence of the Vatican in world affairs.

It is now generally accepted that the Holy See is a subject of international law. It received such recognition from the international community due to its international prestige as an independent leading center of the Catholic Church, uniting all the Catholics of the world and actively participating in world politics.

It is with the Vatican (Holy See), and not with the State-City of the Vatican, that 165 countries of the world maintain diplomatic and official relations, including the Russian Federation (since 1990) and almost all CIS countries. The Vatican participates in many bilateral and multilateral international agreements. Has the status of an official observer in the UN, UNESCO, FAO, is a member of the OSCE. The Vatican concludes special international treaties - concordats that regulate the relationship of the Catholic Church with state authorities, has ambassadors in many countries, called nuncios.

In the international legal literature, one can come across the assertion that the Sovereign Military Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta (Order of Malta).

After the loss of territorial sovereignty and statehood on the island of Malta in 1798, the Order, reorganized with the support of Russia, settled in Italy from 1844, where its rights of sovereign formation and international legal personality were confirmed. Currently, the Order maintains official and diplomatic relations with 81 states, including Russia, is represented by an observer in the UN, and also has its official representatives at UNESCO, FAO, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Council of Europe.

The headquarters of the Order in Rome enjoys immunity, and the head of the Order, the Grand Master, has the immunities and privileges inherent in the head of state.

However, the Order of Malta is, by its very nature, an international non-governmental organization engaged in charitable activities. The preservation of the term "sovereign" in the name of the Order is a historical anachronism, since only the state has the property of sovereignty. Rather, this term in the name of the Order of Malta from the point of view of modern international legal science means “independent” than “sovereign”.

Therefore, the Order of Malta is not considered a subject of international law, despite such attributes of statehood as the maintenance of diplomatic relations and the possession of immunities and privileges.

The history of international relations also knows other state-like entities that had internal self-government and some rights in the field of international relations.

Most often, such formations are temporary in nature and arise as a result of the unsettled territorial claims of various countries to each other.

This category has historically been Free City of Krakow(1815-1846), Free State Danzig (now Gdansk)(1920-1939), and in the post-war period Free Territory of Trieste(1947-1954) and, to a certain extent, West Berlin, which enjoyed a special status established in 1971 by a quadripartite agreement between the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France. A regime close to the status of a "free city" existed in Tangier ( 1923-1940 and 1945-1956), in Saare(1919-1935 and 1945-1955), and was also provided on the basis of UNGA resolution of November 26, 1947 for Jerusalem.

The common thing for political-territorial formations of this kind is that in almost all cases they were created on the basis of international agreements.

Such agreements provided for an independent constitutional structure, a system of government bodies, the right to issue regulations, have limited armed

The international regime established for "free cities" and similar political-territorial entities, in most cases provided for their demilitarization and neutralization. Either international organizations (the League of Nations, the United Nations) or individual interested countries became guarantors of compliance with their international regime.

In essence, these entities were "special international territories", which later became part of the respective states. Since the treaties and other acts did not provide for the endowment of these entities with international legal personality, they were represented on the international arena by certain states.

(quasi-states) are derivative subjects of international law, since, like international organizations, they are created by primary subjects - sovereign states.
By creating, states endow them with an appropriate amount of rights and obligations. This is the fundamental difference between quasi-states and the main subjects of international law. For the rest, state-like education possesses all the features inherent in a sovereign state: its own territory, state sovereignty, the highest bodies of state power, the presence of its own citizenship, as well as the ability to act as a full participant in international legal relations.
State-like formations are, as a rule, neutralized and demilitarized.
The theory of international law distinguishes the following types state-like entities:
1) political-territorial (Danzig - 1919, West Berlin - 1971).
2) religious-territorial (Vatican - 1929, Order of Malta - 1889). Currently, the subject of international law is only one religious-territorial state-like entity - the Vatican.
The Order of Malta was recognized as a sovereign military entity in 1889. Its seat is Rome (Italy). The main goal of the Order is charity. At present, the Order has established diplomatic relations with sovereign states (104), signifying its international recognition. In addition, the Order has observer status at the UN, its own currency and citizenship. However, this is not enough. The Order has neither its territory nor its own population. From which it follows that he is not a subject of international law, and his sovereignty and ability to participate in international relations can be called a legal fiction.
The Vatican, unlike the Order of Malta, has almost all the features of a state: its own territory, population, supreme authorities and administration. The peculiarity of its status lies in the fact that the purpose of its existence is to represent the interests of the Catholic Church in the international arena, and almost the entire population is subjects of the Holy See.
The international legal personality of the Vatican was officially confirmed by the Lateran Treaty of 1929. However, long before its conclusion, the institution of the papacy received international recognition. Currently, the Holy See has established diplomatic relations with 178 sovereign states and other subjects of international law - the European Union and the Order of Malta. It should be noted that the entire volume of international legal personality granted to the Vatican is exercised by the Holy See: it participates in international organizations, concludes international treaties, and establishes diplomatic relations. The Vatican itself is only the territory of the Holy See.

UDC 342 BBK 67

LEGAL SYSTEMS IN STATE-LIKE FORMATIONS

Vitaly Vasilyevich Oksamytny,

Head of the Scientific Center for Comparative Law, Head of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law

Institute of International Law and Economics named after A.S. Griboedova, Doctor of Law, Professor, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation

Email: [email protected]

Scientific specialty 12.00.01 - history of teachings about law and the state

Citation-index in the NIION electronic library

Annotation. The problems associated with the maintenance of legal systems in state-organized entities other than states, such as unrecognized states, territories with associated statehood, and dependent territories, are considered.

Key words: legal system, state, state-like formations, unrecognized states, territories with associated statehood, dependent territories.

LEGAL SYSTEMS IN STATE-LIKE FORMATIONS

Vitally V. Oksamytnyy,

Doctor of Law, Professor, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation, Head of the Scientific Center of Comparative Law, Head of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law of the А.S. Griboedov Institute of International Law and Economics

abstract. In article the author deals with problems related to the content of legal systems in state-organized entities other than the state - unrecognized states, territories with associated statehood, dependent territories.

Keywords: legal system, state, state-like formations, unrecognized states, territories with associated statehood, dependent territories.

The state-legal map of modernity indicates that the system-forming processes of formation, consolidation and development of statehood, which began thousands of years ago in the bowels of the tribal society, are far from complete.

Special sources point to the existence on the modern world map of more than 250 different countries1, of which about 200 are recognized as independent states. The latter have sovereign territorial and personal supremacy, are recognized by the entire international community and, as such, are full-fledged member states of the United Nations2.

1 See, for example, the All-Russian Classifier of Countries of the World (OKSM) // URL: http//www.kodifikant.ru.

2 Members of the United Nations. // URL: http:// www.un.org./en/members.

At the same time, highlighting the fundamental category of the modern world, one should distinguish between often confused and often used as synonymous concepts - “state”, “country”, “state-like formations”, “quasi-state”, “state-organized societies (communities)”. The concept of "country" rather refers to historical, cultural, general geographic (community of territory), other factors (peculiarities of residence and the prevailing culture of the population, introduced by the language of communication, customs, traditions, mentality, religion) and, because of this, is less official.

It is quite possible that a country is also called colonial possessions, or one country could be represented by two or more state entities.

In particular, Germany from 1949 to 1990 consisted of the German Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and a "special political unit" - West Berlin, which had its own power structures and even a 1950 constitution.

Yemen as a country was separated for three decades and consisted of the Yemeni Arab Republic proper and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, until it was also united in 1990 into a single state - the Republic of Yemen.

The "temporary" division of Vietnam following the Geneva Convention of 1954 resulted in the existence of two states - the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the State of Vietnam until their forced unification in 1976 as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

After World War II, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel of north latitude into two zones of military responsibility - Soviet and American, and in 1948, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north of the once unified state and the Republic of Korea in the south of the country arose on the territory of these zones, etc.

The difference in understanding and application of these concepts exists, in particular, in European languages. So, in English - with the words "country", which is closer to the concept of "country", and "state" (state). At the same time, in a certain context, as in the Russian language, they can act as interchangeable.

The realities of the modern world include, in particular, situations in which a number of entities with elements of statehood, challenging their belonging to the "mother countries", claim to create their own states and consider themselves as such.

Until now, there are remnants of the colonial system, which in the era of political correctness, it is customary to call dependent territories within the framework of statistics adopted by the UN. More than 40 territorial possessions, dependent or "self-governing" territories, are scattered across the expanses of the Earth. And most of them, having certain independent legal

powers, insist on granting them a special state status.

In addition to countries declaring their actual or imaginary independence, there are other state-organized entities in the world that have almost most of the characteristic features of a state, with the exception of such a feature that defines it in the modern era as international recognition.

Among them, a special place is occupied by state-organized formations that claim to be completely independent, but are considered so-called unrecognized states, states in the making, quasi-states.

There are dozens of such formations, both in recent history and today3. Everyone has their own destiny and place in the global state-organized community.

The reasons for their appearance can be both revolutionary upheavals, protracted inter-confessional and inter-ethnic conflicts, the national liberation struggle and the desire of individual parts of a complex state for independence and independence.

They can be supported by like-minded people in other countries, recognized by neighbors or influential powers, can remain in a political, economic or military blockade for decades. And at the same time, to maintain order on its own territory, to exercise power, fiscal and other functions, that is, to have its own legal system.

The legal order is formed on the basis of the functioning of all the constituent parts of the mechanism of action of law (and it practically includes both “fixed” elements (for example, sources of law) and the processes of law-making, law-realization and law-interpretation). And therefore, the establishment of the legal order as the goal of the legal system involves considering the latter both in statics and in dynamics, which makes it possible to include in the content of the legal system the totality of its elements and the links between them.

3 Modern unrecognized states and countries of the world // URL: http://visasam.ru/emigration/vybor/nepriznannye-strany.html

The following interpretation of the components of the legal system, taking into account comparative studies conducted in legal science, draws attention to the sequence of manifestation of its structural parts and the relationship between them, considering them as universal categories that are characteristic of almost all state-organized societies:

Law in all its manifestations in public life (natural and positive, legitimate and legislative, subjective and objective, ordinary and formal, official and shadow, etc.);

Legal understanding in the totality of the dominant legal teachings of society, the level and characteristics of the legal thinking of the people;

Law-making as a cognitive and procedurally fixed way of preparing, formalizing and adopting generally binding rules of conduct in society;

Sources of law as official legal documents and / or provisions containing generally binding rules of conduct in a state-organized society;

A legal array that includes legislation in force in a state-organized society as a system of officially established and interconnected normative acts of general significance;

Legal institutions created in a state-organized society for the functioning of its legal system (law-making, law enforcement, human rights, law enforcement);

The mechanism for exercising the right, in which the processes of its implementation are concentrated (legal relations, legal facts, law enforcement, solving gaps in the law, resolving legal conflicts, interpreting the law);

The results of the operation of law, consisting in the establishment in a state-organized society of the rule of law, determined by the regime of legality and the legal culture of its subjects.

Among modern state-like entities that are not members of the UN, but claim to be

who have an official state status and in some cases recognized by some UN member states, are distinguished:

Partially recognized states that are in the process of being created (they include Palestine, whose international legal status is defined as “an observer state at the UN that is not a member of it”);

Partially recognized states that actually control their territory (these include Abkhazia, Kosovo, Northern Cyprus (“Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”), Taiwan (“Republic of China”), South Ossetia);

Partially recognized states that control part of their territory (for example, Palestine, the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic);

Unrecognized state formations that actually control their territory (in particular, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh), the Donetsk People's Republic, Somaliland);

Unrecognized proto-state formations that control part of the territory they claimed (such a quasi-state includes ISIS (DAISH) - an Islamist-Sunni terrorist organization with a Sharia form of government banned in many states, which forcibly holds part of the territory of Syria and Iraq). Self-proclaimed state-like structures have almost all the attributes of state power, including legislative-representative and law enforcement institutions. Their essential difference from sovereign states lies precisely in their international legal status, which does not allow such formations to be considered full-fledged parts of the world community.

Often their legal systems are qualitatively different from the states they formally belong to, and this gap continues to widen.

Thus, prior to the actual self-separation of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic from Moldova, a law was in force on the territory of the PMR.

Publishing house of the Moldavian SSR, later - SSR Moldova. Since September 2, 1990 (the day of the unilateral declaration of independence of Transnistria), their legal systems began to develop independently of each other, and the difference between the "mother" and breakaway legal systems is increasingly growing.

If the new law of the Republic of Moldova is guided by the traditions of the Romanesque legal family of continental (European) law, then the legislation of Transnistria since the moment of the proclaimed statehood has generally followed the Russian model. The literature states, in particular, that “a feature of the legal regime of the territory of the PMR is a significant limitation (almost absence) of the influence of the legal system of Moldova and the effect on the territory of the Left Bank of Pridnestrovie, in addition to the laws of the PMR, the laws of the USSR and the laws of the Russian Federation refracted through acts of the bodies of the PMR (without any no matter the official initiative of Russia).

In November 1983, in the northeastern part of the island of Cyprus, occupied by Turkish armed forces, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (in 1975-1983 - the Turkish Federative State of Cyprus) was proclaimed, currently recognized only by Turkey. Despite international isolation, this territory is trying to implement its own state-legal policy, creating structures of its own legislative, executive and judicial power within a closed legal system focused on the principles and institutions of Turkish law4. Moreover, on maps published in Turkey and Northern Cyprus, it is this part of the island that is called the state, while the southern part of Cyprus proper (a member state of the UN and the European Union) is only the “Greek Administration of Southern Cyprus”.

Such unrecognized states with their own law-making bodies and legislation can exist for decades. In particular, the current legal system of Taiwan, an island that its authorities officially call the "Republic of China," has been in force for almost 70 years.

4 The legal system of Cyprus. URL// http://cypruslaw.narod.ru/legal_system_Cyprus.htm.

is the "heir" of the legal system of mainland China, based on the principles and institutions of the German legal family of continental (European) law, in the presence of some elements of Anglo-American law. Historically, the sense of justice and legal culture of the population of the island is to a certain extent influenced by the Confucian traditions of the Chinese.

In mainland China, they believe that Taiwan should recognize the PRC and, according to the formula "peaceful unification and one state - two systems," become a special administrative region of China under the jurisdiction of a single government, having the right to a high degree of self-government while maintaining its social system. In 2005, the PRC Anti-Secession Law was passed. In Art. 2 of the document specifically emphasizes: “There is only one China in the world, located on the mainland and on the island of Taiwan. China's sovereignty and territorial integrity extend equally to its mainland and Taiwan."

However, as the authors of the study of the political system and law of the PRC note, Taiwan, while remaining legally a province of China, continues to be "in fact an independent state entity that appropriated the name, constitution and attributes of state power of the Republic of China in 1912-1949" .

While the People's Republic of China, based on the ideas of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, is building a "socialist rule of law state with Chinese characteristics", the Constitution of the Republic of China of 1947 (with subsequent amendments and additions) continues to operate in Taiwan. In accordance with it, the highest representative body is the National Assembly, which decides constitutional questions and elects the president and vice president. There are also separate Legislative and Judicial chambers that develop new laws and additions to the Constitution, and the Executive Chamber - the government. Many codes were developed under the strong influence of German, Swiss and Japanese law and were put into effect in the 20-30s of the last century. Subsequently, these laws were modified and consolidated into Lufa

quanshu - "The Complete Book of Six Laws", which included legislative norms grouped into the following branches: constitutional, civil, civil procedure, criminal, criminal procedure and administrative law.

Both the Constitution and the basic codes of Taiwan have undergone certain changes following the changes in this entity after its isolation in the international arena. The military-authoritarian regime gradually faded into oblivion, opposition parties began to emerge, and now the political system of Taiwan has acquired more democratic features. In particular, the powers of the president are increasing, while the role of the Legislative Chamber, which has received the function of control over the activities of the government, is being increased.

A characteristic example of a territory with a transitional regime is the Palestinian national autonomy, which has been in the process of gaining independence for a relatively long time. After the First World War, Palestine was a territory administered by Great Britain on the basis of a mandate received from the League of Nations (1922-1948). On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution on the creation of two states on the territory of Palestine - Jewish and Arab. The latter, for a number of reasons, was never created.

In 1988, the Palestinian National Council proclaimed the formation of a Palestinian state in the Israeli-controlled territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The United Nations General Assembly recognized this statement and decided to refer to the Palestine Liberation Organization as "Palestine" without prejudice to its observer status with the UN. Five years later, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed the Declaration of Principles on an Interim Settlement in Washington, providing for the establishment of an interim Palestinian self-government. The latter began to be implemented (inconsistently and with great obstacles) in subsequent years within the framework of the Palestinian national autonomy. In 2012, the UN General Assembly

granted Palestine "the status of a non-Member Observer State to the United Nations, without prejudice to the acquired rights, privileges and role of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the United Nations as the representative of the Palestinian people, in accordance with the relevant resolutions and practices".

The creation in this entity of the post of president as the head of a self-governing territory, the government as an executive authority, the parliament - the Palestinian Legislative Council (Palestinian Autonomy Council) as a body with certain legislative powers in areas that have come under the control of the Palestinians, indicate the formation of their own authorities and administration and, consequently, the legal system. Its foundations are based on Islamic concepts and classical institutions of modern Muslim law.

Of interest for comparative legal research are such a legal phenomenon as self-governing parts of the state, historically having a special status, that is, practically functioning within their own legal system.

Yes, Art. 105 of the Constitution of the Hellenic Republic declares “the region of the Holy Mount Athos, by virtue of its ancient privileged status, ... a self-governing part of the Greek state”, which “in accordance with this status is controlled by the twenty Holy Monasteries located on it, the entire peninsula of Athos is divided between them, the territory which is not subject to expropriation." Listed in the article "the functions of the state are carried out by the manager" (Holy kinot). The monastic authorities and the Holy Kinot on the territory of the so-called "Monastic Republic" also exercise judicial power, customs and tax privileges (Greek Constitution of June 11, 1975).

Since the existence of the United Nations since 1945, about 100 territorial entities whose peoples were previously under colonial or other external rule have become sovereign states and

received UN membership. In addition, many other territories have achieved self-determination through political unification or integration with independent states.

At the same time, despite the significant progress achieved in the process of decolonization, there are about 40 territories in the world under the external administration of a number of states. They are also referred to as territories with a transitional or temporary, "because we are talking about the inevitable termination of the existing status in advance" legal regime.

Most of the territories do not have their own state-organized structure and are classified, according to the classification of the United Nations, as non-self-governing territories. Among them are: American Samoa, New Caledonia, Gibraltar, the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands, Guam, the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, etc. Public authority over them is exercised by the so-called administering states, which are currently Great Britain, New Zealand, United States and France. However, even under such conditions, such formations have the authority to organize and maintain law and order.

As an example, let's take the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands - an archipelago in the South Atlantic, over which Great Britain controls as its overseas territory. The Falklands are led by an English governor who is accountable to his government and the British crown. However, the practical administration of the islands is carried out by the Legislative Council (8 out of 10 members of which are elected by the population) and the Executive Council (3 out of 5 council members are elected by the legislature).

However, there are also examples of dependent territorial structures that have their own representative and administrative institutions, including legislative and judicial ones, that make regulatory decisions and implement them throughout the education space and in relation to the entire population. They are called territories with associated statehood, whose statuses imply a broad framework

self-government within the framework of political connection with the metropolis.

In particular, the countries that independently exercise internal governance include, for example, the Pacific island of Niue, officially referred to as "a self-governing state entity in free association with New Zealand", as well as an island in the Caribbean - Puerto Rico as an "unincorporated organized territory" .

The former Spanish colony of Puerto Rico becomes a possession of the United States at the end of the 19th century. Subsequently, this island in the Caribbean Sea de facto lost the regime of a non-self-governing territory, having received from the mother country the status of "a state freely joined to the United States of America." This provision was enshrined in the Puerto Rico Constitution, adopted on July 25, 1952. In accordance with it, the supreme legislative power belongs to the US Congress, which is in charge of matters of foreign policy, defense, approval of laws, etc.

Regional power within the autonomy is exercised by a bicameral Legislative Assembly, elected by direct vote for a term of 4 years. The Puerto Rican Parliament is represented in the US House of Representatives by a Resident Commissioner with the right to initiate legislation, but not the right to vote. Executive power is exercised by the governor, elected since 1948 by Puerto Ricans also for 4 years. The Governor is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Militia and chairs the Government's Advisory Council, which includes 15 ministers he appoints.

The people of Puerto Rico are granted broad self-government, exercised by their own legislative, executive and judicial bodies. This indicates the functioning in this territorial entity of its own legal system, moreover, in many respects different from the legal systems of common law countries to which the United States belongs. The norms of civil law in force in the "attached state" are drawn up according to the Spanish model, and the procedural

and most of the other legal norms follow the Latin American models.

A specially created in the United States presidential commission on the status of Puerto Rico recommended that the inhabitants of the island be granted the right to self-determination. However, in 2017, the fifth referendum in half a century, once again showed that, with three choices (maintain the status quo, become an independent state, ask the US Congress to join), the citizens of Puerto Rico do not seek to receive complete independence. Only 3 percent of Puerto Ricans who came to the polls supported the demand for independence. The vast majority of citizens voted to change the political status of the island by fully joining the United States as the 51st state5.

The appeal to various manifestations in the world reality of the legal system, which combines all legal phenomena, institutions and processes in a state-organized society, testifies in favor of the conclusion that its consideration is limited only within the framework of state limits. The legal system as a political and legal phenomenon reflects the diversity of modern

5th referendum in Puerto Rico. // URL: https://www.pravda.ru/world/northamerica/caribbeancountries.

of the state-legal map of the modern world, requiring closer attention.

Literature

1. Oksamytny V.V. State-legal map of the modern world: Monograph. Bryansk: BGU Publishing House, 2016.

2. Oksamytny V.V. General Theory of State and Law: Textbook. Ed. 2nd, revised. and additional M.: UNITY-DANA, 2015.

3. Oksamytny V.V., Musienko I.N. Legal systems of modern state-organized societies: Monograph. M.: Publishing House of the Moscow State University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, 2008.

4. Baburin S.V. The world of empires: the territory of the state and the world order. M.: Master: INFRA-M, 2013.

5. Comparative law: national legal systems. T. 3. Legal systems of Asia. / Ed. IN AND. Lafitsky. Moscow: IZiSP; Legal. firm "Kontrakt", 2013.

6. The political system and law of the People's Republic of China in the process of reform. / Hand. ed. coll. L.M. Gudoshnikov. Moscow: Russian panorama, 2007.

7. Key facts about the United Nations: United Nations Department of Public Information. Per. from English. M.: Publishing house "Ves Mir", 2005.

Constitutional law of Russia

Constitutional law of Russia: a textbook for university students / [B.S. Ebzeev and others]; ed. B.S. Ebzeeva, E.N. Khazova, A.L. Mironov. 8th ed., revised. and additional M.: UNITI-DANA, 2017. 671 p. (Series "Dura lex, sed lex").

The new, eighth, edition of the textbook has been updated with the latest changes in Russian legislation. The issues traditionally related to the subject of the science of constitutional law are considered: the constitutional foundations of civil society, legal mechanisms for protecting the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, the federal structure, the system of state authorities and local self-government in the Russian Federation, etc. Much attention is paid to the electoral system in Russia. The legislative norms on the merger of arbitration courts with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation are reflected.

For students of law schools and faculties, graduate students (adjuncts), teachers, practitioners, as well as for all those interested in the problems of domestic constitutional law.

State-like entities are special political-religious or political-territorial units that, on the basis of an international act or international recognition, have a relatively independent international legal status.

These primarily include the so-called "free cities" and free territories.

In principle, free cities were created as one of the ways to freeze territorial claims, to mitigate tensions in interstate relations that arise over the ownership of any territory. A free city is created on the basis of an international treaty or a decision of an international organization and is a kind of state with limited legal capacity. It has its own constitution or an act of a similar nature, the highest state bodies, citizenship. Its armed forces are purely defensive in nature, or more of a border guard and law enforcement force. The creators of a free city usually provide ways to monitor compliance with its status, for example, appoint their representatives or representative for this purpose. In the international arena, free cities are represented either by interested states or by an international organization.

The status of the Free City of Danzig, which existed between the two world wars, was guaranteed by the League of Nations, and in foreign relations the interests of the city were represented by Poland. The Free Territory of Trieste, established by the 1947 peace treaty with Italy and divided between Italy and Yugoslavia by the 1954 agreement, was protected by the UN Security Council.

West Berlin had a unique international legal status in accordance with the Quadripartite Agreement of the USSR, Great Britain, the USA and France of September 3, 1971. These states retained the special rights and responsibilities assumed by them after the capitulation of Nazi Germany in relation to West Berlin, which maintained official relations with the GDR and the FRG. The German government represented the interests of West Berlin in international organizations and conferences, provided consular services to its permanent residents. The USSR established a consulate general in West Berlin. In connection with the reunification of Germany in 1990, the rights and responsibilities of the four powers in relation to West Berlin were terminated, since it became part of the united Federal Republic of Germany.

Currently, state-like entities with a special international legal status are the Vatican (Holy See) as the official center of the Roman Catholic Church and the Order of Malta as an official religious entity with internationally recognized charitable functions. Their administrative residences are in Rome.

Outwardly, the Vatican (Holy See) has almost all the attributes of the state - a small territory, authorities and administration. About the population of the Vatican, however, we can speak only conditionally: these are the relevant officials involved in the affairs of the Catholic Church. At the same time, the Vatican is not a state; rather, it can be considered as the administrative center of the Catholic Church. The peculiarity of his status lies, among other things, in the fact that he has diplomatic relations with a number of states that officially recognize him as a subject of international law.

The Order of Malta was recognized as a sovereign entity in 1889. The seat of the order is Rome. Its official purpose is charity. It has diplomatic relations with many states. The order does not have its own territory or population. Its sovereignty and international legal personality are a legal fiction.