The right of a citizen of the Russian Federation to appeal to state bodies and bodies of local self-government is one of the oldest human rights. It is an integral part of the mechanism for the implementation of a large number of subjective rights and freedoms. However, the concept of the legal category “citizen’s appeal” contained in the Federal Law “On the Procedure for Considering Appeals of Citizens of the Russian Federation” is not informative and creates many questions and problems. It is difficult to establish the content of the category “citizen’s appeal” because the word “appeal” is a verbal noun and has several meanings in Russian. In order to establish the true meaning of the term “citizen’s appeal”, the authors conducted a lexical analysis of the word “appeal” and examined its use in legal acts. Based on the analysis, it has been established that the term “appeal” in normative acts is used in different meanings and, to clarify it, an additional term is required that would explain the context of the use of the word “appeal”. Then, using specific legal methods of cognition (formal-legal, formal-logical, systemic, technical-legal methods), the authors analyzed the legislative definition of the term “citizen’s appeal”, namely, its understanding in the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, and in special legal literature. The authors have formulated the definition of the category “citizen’s appeal”: it is the will of a person (group of people or organization) guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, corresponding in its form to the normatively established rules and expressed in the form of a written, oral or implied-in-fact requirement to a state body or local government. The appeal is aimed at realizing the subjective rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the applicant and third parties. The definition includes the necessary and sufficient set of essential characteristics that reveal the analyzed phenomenon, namely: constitutional conditionality, the proper applicant (subject of the appeal), the proper addressee, the form of expressed will, the purpose of the appeal. The absence of any of the above elements eliminates the citizen’s appeal as such or transforms it into a different kind of expression of will. Based on this theoretical construct, a new legislative definition of the legal category “citizen’s appeal” is formulated. The terms “applicant” (citizen, group of citizens, or organization sending the appeal) and “organization that performs publicly significant functions” (a legal entity established by a public law entity with the aim of performing non-commercial functions or a legal entity that exercises certain state or municipal powers) are also defined.

The subject. The article analyzes the phenomenon of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the human rights and freedoms. It emphasizes that some information about the corona-virus infection was available several decades ago. At the same time, the specialists unfortunately weren’t ready for the possible mutation of this virus, which has now exposed a large-scales threat to the population of the whole world.The purpose of the article is to identify the problems of the implementation of the citizens’ rights and offer proposals for improving the Russian and Belarusian legislation and the practice of its implementation in the field of combating the coronavirus infection.The methodology. The authors take into account the practice of the European Court of Hu-man Rights and the constitutional control bodies of Russia and foreign countries. They make a conclusion on the legitimacy and necessity of the taken restrictive measures. The article is based on the dialectical method, as well as at the logical, historical, systemic methods. Methods of analysis and synthesis were of particular importance. The authors have applied the functional method to research the main areas for ensuring a reasonable balance of private (individual) and public interests.The main results, scope of application. Modern constitutions, including the Russian and the Belarusian ones, contains the most important principles of the rule of law, enshrine human rights and freedoms as the highest value. Human rights and freedoms continue to be are at the epicenter of many disputes and discussions. The modern system of rights and freedoms is constantly developing; the legal status of a person receives new content as the human civilization develops and the paradigm of values changes. For example, we see how information technology and other advances affect the scope of rights and freedoms. Rights, freedoms and obligations are interconnected and interdependent. All groups of rights are currently in the field of view of international organizations. The problem of equality, the elimination of discrimination, the restoration of violated rights, the assessment of the limits of the state's invasion in human rights and freedoms continues to be relevant nowadays.The article focuses on the international and national standards for the possible restriction of rights and freedoms in order to protect the health of the population. The international law rules on human rights oblige states to take measures to protect health and provide medical assistance to those in need.Conclusions. One of the constant problems is the relationship between the rights of a particular person and the rights of other persons, group or society as a whole and the state. At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic forced the public authorities to determine the balance of the priority of human rights and freedoms or the protection of the life and health of citizens. The coronavirus pandemic is the factor that affects the content of the legal regulation of relations in the field of human rights and freedoms. The measures taken by the state affect the right to health protection, freedom of movement, the right to education, right to have sport activity, right to work, freedom of assembly and others.The article proposes to inform the population more fully about the measures taken by the state and society in this direction, about the wider use of information technologies, about the possible responsibility for non-compliance with the requirements for the use of per-sonal protective equipment and the self-isolation regime.

The acquisition of statehood by the Eastern Slavic peoples - Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians -actualized the issue of self-determination of another related community - Rusyns, who originally lived in Transcarpathia and on the territory of other countries. In the modern Ukrainian state, Rusyns are not classified as a separate (indigenous) people or national minority, they are regarded as part of the Ukrainian ethnos and are under the threat of targeted assimilation. The article aims to substantiate the right of the Rusyn people to be recognized as an ethnic minority, to search for an optimal model of its self-identification, and to determine its equal position in the family of Eastern Slavs, taking into account the political and legal reality. For a comprehensive characterization of the object of research, the authors analyze scientific and normative sources that reveal the historical and political prerequisites for the formation of the Rusyn people's ethnic identity, caused by its isolated and long-term presence in the environment of a foreign-speaking and other-confessional population. Based on general scientific, specific scientific and special research methods, in particular, on the fact of an established original culture, a stable way of life, a well-developed literary Rusyn language, maintained permanent cross-border relationships between communities of foreign countries, the authors infer that there is a sociocultural reality - the Rusyn people. This conclusion is confirmed by examples from foreign legislation that classify Rusyns as an ethnic minority different from Ukrainians and allow the official use of the Rusyn language in places of Rusyns' compact settlement at the level of local communities in several European countries. In addition, attention is focused on international documents on human rights, which reflect the approach that national self-identification is realized as a result of an ethos's own sociopolitical choice rather than on the basis of ideological or other expediency in relation to an ethnos from the outside. Recognition of Rusyns as a national minority in Ukraine is seen in the introduction of this item on the agenda of international relations, including the convening of an international conference on this topic. Self-determination of the Rusyn people can be carried out in the form of intrastate autonomy, by analogy with what happened earlier in Article 81 of the Versailles Treaty of 1919 by decision of the leading powers of the world. Here, according to the authors, the main role belongs to Russia, since apart from it there are no other influential actors in world politics capable of ensuring the rights of the kindred Rusyn people through the involvement of international human rights mechanisms and other opportunities.

Раскрывается проблематика прямой демократии в России. Отмечается, что к институтам прямой демократии следует относить как общепризнанные референдум, выборы, голосование по отзыву выборного должностного лица или органа, сход граждан, так и институты соучастия. В результате анализа авторами сделаны выводы о достоинствах и недостатках фактических институтов прямой демократии в России, в том числе осуществление прямого народовластия с помощью электронных, технических средств, виртуального пространства. Ключевые слова: Конституция России; представительная демократия; партисипаторная демократия; делиберативная демократия; электронная демократия.

This collective monograph is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It conducts a comprehensive study. The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which mainly considers the historical and theoretical and legal aspects of the development of the Basic Law of the country, as well as its practical component. In addition, special attention is paid to the comparison of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the constitutions of other post-Soviet states. The publication is intended for undergraduate and graduate students, postgraduates and teachers of higher educational institutions, as well as anyone interested in foreign constitutional law.