History Academy
Saratov State Law Academy is one of the leading law schools in Russia with rich traditions in training legal personnel. The history of the Academy is a difficult path, full of heroic and labor achievements: from a small faculty to a higher educational institution of national scale, which is rightfully proud of its qualified scientific and pedagogical staff and graduates.
In accordance with the Resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of April 20, 1931 "On measures for the training and retraining of personnel of Soviet construction workers", the faculty of Soviet construction and law of Saratov State University was reorganized into an independent institute. Thus, in 1931, a new independent university was created - the Saratov Institute of Soviet Law.
In 1934, the Institute of Soviet Law was renamed the Law Institute, and in 1936 - the Saratov Law Institute. A year later, it was named after D.I. Kursky, a prominent Soviet scientist, one of the first People's Commissars of Justice and at the same time the first prosecutor of the RSFSR. A library bearing his name was established at the institute.
The Saratov Law Institute of the early 1930s was a small educational institution with a limited staff of scientific and pedagogical workers, united in several departments. The institute had 140 students, the material base consisted of seven classrooms. The first graduations of lawyers were extremely small (10-18 people). By the beginning of 1937, the Saratov Law Institute was given a dormitory for 325 people. At that time, 542 students were already studying at the institute.
Despite the difficulties and trials, by the end of the 1930s, the Saratov Law Institute was a real forge of highly qualified legal personnel. More than 500 students were still being trained at the university, taught by 9 professors, 16 associate professors, 8 teachers and 5 assistants.
The years of the Great Patriotic War became a difficult test for the higher educational institution. In the first days of the war, many male teachers, employees from among the teaching and support staff, and young students, including first-year students, went to the front. In the first year of the 1940/41 academic year, about 200 students studied at the institute; after the draft into the army, 34 students remained in the course (5 boys, the rest were girls).
In total, over 500 students, employees and teachers left the institute for the front, many voluntarily. Among them was Vladimir Kirillovich Ventsov, an employee of the institute, who was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for the heroism and courage shown during the forcing of the Dnieper. The title Hero of the Soviet Union was also awarded to future graduates of the SYU during the war: Pavel Mikhailovich Bogatov, Ivan Grigorievich Zelepukin, Boris Grigorievich Sorokin, Aleksey Ivanovich Fadeyev.
In 1941–1944, teachers and students of the Law Institute worked in factories and construction sites of great defense and economic importance, participated in loading and unloading operations at railway stations, the Volga River pier, and carried out active patriotic and propaganda work.
After the end of the Great Patriotic War and the beginning of mass demobilization, 400 people were immediately accepted to the first year alone, three groups were fully staffed with officers. In 1946, 800 students were studying at the Saratov Law Institute, there were seven departments, the number of which increased annually.
A new stage in the development of the university came in the late 1950s – early 1960s, when graduate school was opened and a dissertation council for the defense of candidate dissertations was created.
It was at this time that a new impetus was given to the development of legal thought and the creation of scientific schools in such key industry areas as the theory of state and law (M.I. Baitin, V.V. Borisov, N.I. Matuzov), constitutional law (I.E. Farber, V.T. Kabyshev), civil law (V.A. Tarkhov, Yu.Kh. Kalmykov), civil procedure (K.S. Yudelson, I.M. Zaitsev, M.A. Vikut), criminal procedure (A.L. Tsypkin, Ts.M. Kaz, A.R. Mikhailenko), administrative law (V.M. Manokhin, N.M. Konin), criminal law (I.S. Noy, R.R. Galiakbarov), criminology (D.P. Rasseikin, V.V. Stepanov and others).
The emergence and rapid development of Saratov law schools allowed for an increase in the number of teaching staff at the Law Institute, which in the 1970s already numbered 215 people, including 20 doctors of science, professors and 110 candidates of science, associate professors, and three faculties functioned in the full-time department of the Institute: judicial and prosecutorial, investigative and forensic science, and legal services in the national economy, as well as evening and correspondence faculties.
The scope of scientific and practical research became more extensive. It was aimed at developing such topical issues as means of strengthening the rule of law and order; issues of implementing the constitutional rights of citizens; development of statehood, democracy and justice; regulation of collective farm, land and labor relations, as well as scientific and technological progress; organizational, tactical and psychological foundations for investigating crimes; improving the mechanism of civil and civil procedural regulation; methodological problems of criminology and others.
Simultaneously with the build-up of the personnel and scientific potential of the institute, its material and technical base was also strengthened. In 1972, under the leadership of Rector Ivan Pavlovich Demidov, the construction of a new four-story academic building was completed, which today remains the main educational and administrative building of the Academy.
For its merits in training personnel and great contribution to the development of domestic legal science, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 16, 1981, the Saratov Law Institute was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.
With the change in the socio-political and economic situation in the country in 1991, a new stage of development began at the university. In 1994, by order of the State Committee for Higher Education of Russia, the institute was transformed into the Saratov State Academy of Law, and on May 27, 2011, by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia - into the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Saratov State Law Academy" (hereinafter - the Academy, SSLA).
On July 8, 1996, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted Resolution No. 787 "On the establishment of prosecutor's offices as part of the Moscow State Law Academy, the Saratov State Law Academy, and the Ural State Law Academy". The Prosecutor's Office Institute became the first and only structural division of the Saratov State Law Academy created by decision of the Government of the Russian Federation. A representative office of the Prosecutor General's Office was created at the Academy.
A new building of the Prosecutor's Office Institute with modern educational equipment was built for training students.
In the 1990s, the Interregional Law Institute and the Law Institute of Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness were also opened at the Academy, which was later transformed into the Law Institute of Legal Administration, and currently the Law Institute of Justice and Advocacy.
In 1999, in order to improve the legal culture of the population, to form traditions of unconditional respect for laws, law and order, integrity and good faith as the prevailing model of social behavior, and to expand the availability of free legal assistance for citizens, a legal clinic began its work at the Academy.
In 1999, at the initiative of the Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin, the Institute of Lawmaking was created within the structure of the Academy, the purpose of which is to improve legislation and the practice of its application. During the formation of the new Russian statehood, the university's scientists prepared conclusions on the draft codes of the Russian Federation: family, land, labor, criminal procedure, civil procedure, on draft laws: "On Corruption", "On National Security", "On Agricultural Cooperation", "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation", "On Political Parties in the Russian Federation". In 2023, the Institute of Lawmaking was transformed into the Institute of Lawmaking and Legal Forecasting.
Maintaining traditions, we are actively developing in the present
Today, the Saratov State Law Academy is a powerful scientific and educational center with a developed material and technical base, a strong teaching staff and research potential, recognized in the professional community of employers, legal scholars and practicing lawyers. The Academy successfully combines in its educational and scientific activities the long-standing traditions of the Saratov School of Law. Highly qualified lawyers of the Academy, specializing in all branches of law, allow solving various problems of legal theory and practice.
Historically established single-profile has proven its effectiveness and has become one of the competitive advantages of the Academy: graduates are in high demand both in public authorities and in the corporate sector, and occupy high government positions, and applicants from all over Russia choose to study at SSLA.
The Academy implements the entire list of specialties and areas of training at the bachelor's, specialist, master's, postgraduate, secondary vocational education levels included in UGSN 40.00.00 Jurisprudence. In 2017, the Academy was one of the first in Russia to begin implementing the higher education specialty 40.05.04 Judicial and prosecutorial activity. Since 2021, the higher education specialty 38.05.01 Economic Security has been implemented. Currently, the Academy implements more than 50 educational programs of higher and secondary vocational education, including 32 interdisciplinary and interdepartmental master's programs. Every year, applicants are offered master's programs in the most relevant and in-demand areas. In 2023, recruitment was opened for the programs "Medical Law", "Environmental and Energy Law", "Forensic Expert Activity", "Lawyer in the Sphere of Urban Development and Property Relations".
It should be especially noted that in 2023, a unique master's program "Lawyer in the Field of Rule-making and Expert Activity" was opened on the basis of the Institute of Law-making and Legal Forecasting. Leading teaching staff of the Academy departments, research fellows of the Institute of Law-making and Legal Forecasting, as well as experts in the field of rule-making and law enforcement activities participate in the implementation of this program.
All educational programs have both state and professional-public accreditation.
The relevance of the implemented profiles and specializations within the framework of training areas and specialties is confirmed by a consistently high contingent, the average number of which over the past ten years is more than 14,500 people. Every year, about 800 people study at the Academy under contracts for targeted training (or as part of targeted training of specialists). Among the customers of targeted training are public authorities, state and municipal enterprises and institutions. One of the Academy's key partners in the framework of targeted training is the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, by whose order the Institute of the Prosecutor's Office trains specialists for regional prosecutor's offices in 47 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
As part of the practical training, 465 contracts and agreements have been concluded with representatives of 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which allows students to undergo practical training and internships throughout Russia not only in the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, and judicial authorities of the Russian Federation, but also in the entities of the corporate sector of the economy.
The Academy maintains a consistently high position in both the number of students and the quality of their admission. Over the past decade, the average Unified State Exam score of students admitted to full-time education has remained consistently high. This state of affairs is due to well-structured career guidance work, a distinctive feature of which is its focus on applicants not only from the Saratov Region, but also from other regions of the Russian Federation. Over the past few years, representatives of at least 79 constituent entities of the Russian Federation have been consistently enrolled in the first year of the Academy, which allows us to talk about the training of highly qualified personnel on a national scale.
The Academy's Career Center became one of the best in Russia in 2023. Following the successful defense of its development program, it entered the final stage of training under the Acceleration Program for the transformation and updating of the work of career centers, conducted by the Expert Center for Career and Assistance to the Realization of Professional Opportunities of Young People under the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.
A special feature of the educational process at the Academy is the practical training of students at the Legal Clinic of SSLA, whose activities are related to the provision of free legal assistance to residents of the Saratov Region and other constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The activities of the Legal Clinic are aimed at solving several problems: increasing the legal culture of the population, legal education, obtaining practical skills and abilities by students, and developing social responsibility. In addition, in order to gain practical experience, young teachers of law departments whose work experience at the Academy is less than seven years are required to work at the SSLA Legal Clinic to consult citizens on legal issues and train interns. The demand for the work of the SSLA Legal Clinic is confirmed by the fact that more than 5,000 citizens seek free legal assistance every year.
The Academy offers not only educational programs of higher and secondary vocational education, but also additional educational programs (professional retraining and advanced training programs) and general development programs aimed at the modern labor market, which are implemented on the basis of the Institute of Additional Education of SSLA (hereinafter referred to as the IED, the Institute). Currently, the Institute implements more than 100 programs, 90% of which use distance learning technologies and e-learning. Over the past decade, more than 28,000 students have been trained on the basis of the IED, of which: more than 19,000 students have improved their qualifications, more than 6,000 have undergone professional retraining, and 2,900 people have been trained in additional general development programs. The Academy is a platform for conducting scientific research, training and advanced training of personnel in the field of prevention of neglect and juvenile delinquency. In 2015, the Center for Methodological Support of the Activities of Commissions on Minors and the Protection of Their Rights began operating at the Academy, which was later transformed into the Research Center for the Study of Problems of Legal Regulation of the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency in the interests of all bodies and institutions of the system for the prevention of neglect and juvenile delinquency. It implements 12 additional programs, under which more than 2,000 specialists from the subjects of the system for the prevention of neglect and juvenile delinquency have been trained over the period of its existence.
On behalf of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, in November 2021, the Coordination Center for the development of an active civic position among young people, the prevention of interethnic and interfaith conflicts, countering the ideology of terrorism and the prevention of extremism was created at SSLA. The Academy became one of the first universities in the country on the basis of which such centers were created.
The training of lawyers at the Academy includes the formation of future graduates not only fundamental knowledge in the field of jurisprudence, but also high moral and ethical qualities that serve as the basis for citizenship and patriotism.
Work in this area of youth policy is based on the implementation of the most important value guidelines reflected in the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 9, 2022 No. 809 "On approval of the Fundamentals of state policy for the preservation and strengthening of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values", which covers a large-scale seamless process of training and education with traditional moral ideals. This approach allowed the Academy to enter the top 50 universities in Russia in 2023 in the field of educational work and youth policy, formed by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.
The substantive aspect of this direction lies both in the formation of an educational environment through infrastructural tools, and in working with students through actors of educational work on the ground.
As part of the first direction, a conceptual museum space has been created at the Academy, which is a set of exhibits and information stands containing information about the history of the development and formation of the Saratov law school, the university as a whole, as well as individual events and historical facts, for example, an exhibition dedicated to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, and information about the history of the creation of the prosecutor's office and justice bodies. This space has a technological feature: many exhibitions have a digital analogue in a mobile application, which allows for further scaling and development of the historical and memorial space. In the future, it is planned to create new expositions dedicated to the most important state events, for example, a special military operation.
A separate important aspect of educational activities and youth policy is the functioning of public youth associations in order to involve the overwhelming majority of students in them and ensure the permanent employment of the latter in socially useful activities.
Currently, 46 youth public associations operate at the Academy. Particular attention is paid to associations with a patriotic focus. In 2023-2024. activists of the pedagogical and military-patriotic detachments were among the organizers of the project "University Shifts", conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia to attract new applicants from among students from the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. Over two years, more than 100 such applicants visited the Academy.
A special place in the framework of patriotic education is given to the development of volunteer activities. On the initiative of students, the "Humanitarian Headquarters of SSLA" was created, which carries out activities to collect humanitarian supplies. A separate area of volunteering is working with minors in difficult life situations. The volunteer headquarters "Academy of Good" carries out monthly work with orphanages, as well as with children registered with juvenile departments. In order to carry out their socialization and instill moral traditional values, the Academy is implementing an educational educational project "Academy for Children", within the framework of which master classes are held for participants in creative and sports activities, as well as legal educational lectures for teenagers. An important point in the field of education is the involvement of students in projects implemented within the framework of the state youth policy. In 2023, as part of the Rosmolodezh competition. Grants" The Academy implemented seven projects, and in 2024 became the winner of the Rosmolodezh. Grants competition and received the right to host the 10th All-Russian Forum "Student Russia".
A special place in the educational process is occupied by the involvement of students and employees of the Academy in systematic sports. Currently, a sports club operates on the basis of the university, within which 27 sections for students and teachers operate. At the moment, the work of the sections covers more than 900 people.
The total coverage of students involved in youth policy is more than 6,400 students, which is more than 80% of the total number of students. This figure indicates a clearly formed model of student self-government and its transition to co-management of the university, which reflects the continuous dialogue between the student body and the administration on key issues of interaction.
Separately, it is necessary to note the student media center of SSLA SM Production, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in April 2023. During this time, it has become one of the most actively developing and well-known in Russia. The media center team works in various formats to create interesting educational media content: TV and photo reports, social advertising, documentaries, music videos, video blogs, online educational courses and other genres. The media center employs 35 students, who are also freelancers of the online publication "Legal Academy", registered by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) as an official media outlet. SM Production cooperates with regional and federal government bodies, media editorial offices, the open platform "Russia - Country of Opportunities", the Russian Union of Youth, the Association of Students and Student Associations of Russia, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), the Association of Lawyers of Russia, the Russian Society "Knowledge" and others. During this time, members of the media center have won seven federal and two regional grants. In 2014–2019 and 2021–2022, the SSLA media center was recognized as the best in Russia, receiving six grand prix in the Journalism category and two in the Video category at the federal stages of the Russian Student Spring competition. In total, over the years of its existence, members of the media center have won more than 200 awards at international, all-Russian, regional, and city competitions and festivals. In addition, the Saratov State Law Academy received the official status of a regional platform of the Student Media Center of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia in the Saratov Region, which is a confirmation of the numerous successes of the SM Production team. Today, 18 people from SM Production are part of the Student Media Center of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia and are active participants in a variety of federal media projects of the ministry.
The successful work of the SM Production team served as a prerequisite for the creation of the professional retraining program "Legal Journalism". Not only leading teachers and specialists of SSLA, but also practicing journalists are involved in the implementation of this program. Students who have successfully mastered it, since 2023, will be awarded a diploma of the established form on professional retraining with the assignment of the qualification "lawyer in the field of media". It is worth noting that since 2009, the All-Russian competition of television films and programs "World of Law" has been held at the SSLA site, organized by VGTRK, GTRK "Saratov" and the Academy. The competition is held in order to improve the professional level of journalists, cameramen, directors involved in the production of films, television and radio programs on legal topics, exchange of experience, intensification of coverage in the media of the activities of government agencies, public organizations for the prevention and suppression of crime, attracting the attention of the journalistic community and the public to participate in the consolidation of the state and society to counter illegal actions.
The Saratov State Law Academy is not only a leading educational organization for training legal personnel, but is also widely known for its scientific schools and achievements.
As part of scientific research, the Academy implements a number of main areas: improving educational legislation, legal regulation of scientific and technological development, legal support for the activities of bodies of the system for preventing neglect and juvenile delinquency, legal regulation of ensuring the agro-sovereignty of Russia.
The promotion of scientific research results is facilitated by periodical scientific journals published by the Academy, two of which - "Bulletin of the Saratov State Law Academy" and "Legal Policy and Legal Life" - are included in the List of peer-reviewed scientific publications of the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. Along with this, there are periodical scientific publications included in the RSCI system: "Law. Legislation. Personality", "Man and Law - XXI century", Legat.
Particular attention is paid to the journals "Bulletin of the Saratov State Law Academy" and "Legal Policy and Legal Life". The first of them was founded in 1995. The journal faces new important tasks - to combine in one publication the best modern theoretical and applied developments of different scientific schools in the field of law, to assist young scientists in their development, to attract domestic and foreign legal scholars to discuss topical issues of modern legal science. Representatives of different regions of Russia, neighboring countries, as well as prominent scientists from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Volgograd, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk and other cities publish their articles in the journal. Along with the classic ones ("Theory of State and Law", "Civil Law", "Administrative and Municipal Law" and others) there are headings that are relevant to the agenda ("Discussing the Anti-Crisis Program", "Asocial Personality and Society", "Constitutional and Legal Foundations for the Integration of Crimea and Sevastopol into the Russian Federation: Realities, Development Trends", "Personalities"). The strategy of the journal "Bulletin of the Saratov State Law Academy" is aimed at the interaction of universities in developing a unified approach to solving modern problems of legal science, having a positive impact on the development of human resources, supporting young scientists, and improving the scientific level of published materials.
The journal "Legal Policy and Legal Life" has been published jointly with the Saratov branch of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 2000 and combines the efforts of academic and university legal science. The founders are the Saratov branch of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Saratov State Law Academy and the Association of Law Schools (Moscow). The mission of the journal is to organize scientific work and cover its results; integrate scientific and expert activities; expand cooperation between legal scholars; provide information support and support for scientific projects; cover grant activities; directly organize and hold conferences, round tables, seminars, training and consulting projects. The traditional headings of the journal are: "Legal Policy of Modern Society", "Sectoral Problems of Legal Policy", "Judicial and Law Enforcement Policy", "Tribune of Young Scientists". The journal promotes the presentation of educational and research organizations with a legal profile on the pages of special sections: "Introducing Law Schools of Russia", "For the Anniversary of the University".
The main principle of organizing the scientific work of the Academy is its complexity, which involves the formation and implementation of a unified scientific and educational policy of the university using the scientific potential of the teaching staff.
Currently, more than 550 scientific and pedagogical workers work at 23 departments of the Academy, 87 of them have a doctorate in science, 428 have a candidate of science.
One of the main conditions for the successful development of the Academy is the replenishment of the departments with young talented scientists.
Postgraduate programs are implemented in the direction of training 40.06.01 Jurisprudence, scientific specialties 5.1.1. Theoretical and historical legal sciences, 5.1.2. Public law (state and legal) sciences, 5.1.3. Private law (civilistic) sciences, 5.1.4. Criminal law sciences, 5.1.5. International law sciences.
In order to attract talented young people to scientific activities, since 2022 the Academy has been implementing the practice of concluding apprenticeship agreements for postgraduate studies in priority scientific areas for the Academy. This approach allows, on the one hand, to provide the Academy departments with highly qualified scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel, and on the other hand, to guarantee employment for postgraduate graduates. As part of this initiative, 19 candidates who showed excellent results in entrance examinations and have significant individual achievements in science were selected from 2022 to 2024.
All this together encourages postgraduate students to actively engage in research work and guarantees the preparation of candidate dissertations within the established deadline. The Academy creates the necessary conditions for such work, publication activity and participation in scientific events, and also establishes a monthly stipend, twice the state stipend for budget postgraduate students, and facilitates the employment of postgraduate graduates.
The existing high scientific level of the Academy is confirmed by the preservation and development of three dissertation councils in the main scientific areas: Dissertation Council 24.2.390.01 (5.1.3. Private law (civilistic) sciences); Dissertation Council 24.2.390.02 (5.1.1. Theoretical and historical legal sciences; 5.1.2. Public law (state law) sciences); Dissertation Council 24.2.390. 5.1.4. Criminal law sciences). Dissertation councils are the main element of the certification system of highly qualified scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel, ensuring the maintenance of scientific continuity. The number of defenses in the dissertation councils of the Academy remains at a consistently high level. Over the past ten years, over 300 dissertations have been defended in the dissertation councils of the Academy. Successful work is underway to prepare dissertations for the degree of Doctor of Law. In particular, over the past ten years, more than 30 doctoral dissertations have been defended.
The scientific activities of the Academy are reflected in the scientific events held, combining the values of fundamental training of legal personnel and conducting diverse scientific research in the field of law. As a center of gravity, the Academy brings together legislators and law enforcement officers, scientific and scientific-pedagogical workers, government and public figures from all over Russia and many foreign countries.
The flagship scientific platform of the Saratov State Law Academy is the traditional June Saratov Legal Forum. Over decades of development, the traditional All-Russian conference "Saratov Legal Readings" has formed and accumulated the best solutions, mastering new forms of organizing a dialogue between lawyers and practitioners, mentors and young scientists. As a result, in 2021, the year of the 90th anniversary of the Academy, the "Saratov Legal Readings" reached the scale of an international forum, bringing together representatives of the scientific and professional communities, the number of which exceeded 900 people. In 2024, the IV forum was held, dedicated to the role of law in ensuring the national security of modern Russia, which brought together more than 1,000 people from 52 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and 11 foreign countries - Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, the UAE, Turkey, India and Iraq - at 22 industry sites. The traditional strategic session of prosecutors was devoted to topical issues of improving labor and social legislation, the proposed solution to which was expressed in the final resolution, which combined a number of proposals for improving the activities of prosecutorial authorities in the relevant area. The participation of representatives of the leadership of law enforcement agencies at the federal and regional levels had a significant impact on the effectiveness of the sites. Effective implementation of training programs for scientific and pedagogical personnel depends significantly on how timely and proactively students are involved in scientific research activities. The involvement of students of all areas of training and specialties in this activity is facilitated by the Scientific Society of Students (hereinafter - SSS). SSS includes more than two thousand participants striving to obtain deeper knowledge in various areas of legal science, develop creative thinking, increase their intellectual potential, acquire skills in scientific research and organizational activities under the guidance of experienced scientific, pedagogical and practical workers.
Today, the Academy has more than 30 scientific clubs, participation in which allows you to expand your knowledge both in individual legal disciplines and in interdisciplinary topics. Mentors (from among the faculty) and leaders (from among the students) of the clubs help students take their first steps in scientific activity, prepare teams for Olympiads, competitions, business games, and lead them to victories at various levels. Another area of activity of the NOO is to support the participation of students in external scientific events at various levels, including all-Russian and international. The geography of scientific trips is constantly expanding (for example, during the 2023/2024 academic year, representatives of youth science of the Academy visited over 70 cities in Russia, including neighboring countries). Among the most significant scientific events held by the Academy and aimed at developing youth science, it is worth noting the Saratov Student Law Forum, which has absorbed the values of the flagship June forum, but focused its platforms on the tasks of training and education of young people, creating conditions for both immersion in research activities within the framework of in-depth study of legal disciplines, and for probation of their practical skills. This scientific event has a very rich history of more than a quarter of a century: back in the 1990s, it was called the "April conference" by the date of the event. The event was held four times as a forum. Thus, in October 2024, the IV Saratov Youth Legal Forum "The Role of Law in Ensuring National Security of Modern Russia" was held, uniting 48 industry platforms, more than 500 young researchers from 37 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and 9 foreign countries. The speakers were famous lecturers, practitioners, civil servants and researchers. Guests from dozens of universities presented the results of their scientific research. The hallmark of the Youth Forum was model trials in civil or criminal cases - multi-stage competitive events, during which teams of students, under the guidance of experienced mentors from among the representatives of the judicial and legal corps, prepare to defend their positions in a mock court hearing, conducted according to all the rules of a real trial. A number of interactive scientific events in the format of business games touched upon the most pressing issues of modern Russian law, including the legal protection of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values, the preservation of historical truth, the legal aspects of using artificial intelligence, cooperation with partners of the BRICS countries and many others. The social mission of the forum was reinforced by a series of open lectures organized by the Russian Society "Knowledge", during which students were motivated to self-educate, immerse themselves in the legal profession and take a responsible attitude to their role in the development of a state governed by the rule of law. The personal presence of participants from different regions of the country confirmed the relevance of both the forum itself and the topics covered within its work, dedicated to the national security of the Russian Federation and the specifics of the application of modern law to achieve it in all manifestations. An important result was also the productive implementation of research by teachers and students in studying the legal features of the BRICS international association during the Youth Scientific and Educational Model "Meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Education".
In addition, the Academy organizes other traditional, no less interesting student scientific events: "Problems of Improving Legislation and Prosecutor's Activity"; "Modern Legal Problems: The View of the Young Generation"; "Justice and Advocacy in the Russian Federation: Past, Present, Future" and others.
The Academy is constantly searching for new promising areas of legal research. One of these areas is legal forecasting, based on the foresight of socio-economic and technological trends and the construction of models of legal regulation of the new reality. This work is carried out at the Institute of Lawmaking and Legal Forecasting. Its main mission is to monitor federal and regional legislation and the practice of its application with the aim of improving them, as well as legal forecasting.
In accordance with the goals and objectives, the Institute of Lawmaking and Legal Forecasting carries out: research related to lawmaking and legal forecasting; scientific and legal examinations of concepts and drafts of federal and regional regulatory legal acts; formulation of proposals for improving current regulatory legal acts at various levels and monitoring their application; compilation of analytical materials on the state and trends in the development of modern legislation and the practice of its application; expert research, including the conduct (production) of judicial and extra-judicial examinations. In order to achieve the main priorities of the expert and analytical transformation of the Academy, joint expert and analytical work was carried out (with 20 leading universities in the country) within the framework of the Consortium of Educational and Scientific Organizations supervised by St. Petersburg State University to develop proposals to bring the legislation of the Russian Federation in line with the provisions of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of July 2, 2021 No. 400 "On the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation" and the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 9, 2022 No. 809 "On Approval of the Fundamentals of State Policy for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values" in the following areas: "Administrative and Legal Regimes", "Social Security and Social Insurance", "Labor and Employment of the Population". All of the above allows us to scale up the acquired experience, knowledge and competencies within the framework of the stated mission of the Institute of Lawmaking and Legal Forecasting for the promotion of the Academy's own scientific fundamental and applied projects. Like any modern university in Russia, the Academy annually increases the international component of its activities. To date, the Academy has concluded 28 cooperation agreements with educational and scientific organizations of the near and far abroad.
Since 2021, the Academy has become a platform for holding, jointly with the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS, the International Student Internet Olympiad "Electoral Systems of the Countries of the World", and since 2023, the International Olympiad in Humanities and Social Sciences among schoolchildren of the CIS countries.
In 2023, the Center for Chinese Language and Culture was opened, on the basis of which training was organized according to the new general development program "Introductory Course of the Chinese Language". This program unites not only students and teachers of the Academy, but also students of other educational organizations. In April 2023, the Academy was visited by a delegation of the People's Republic of China, headed by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the PRC to the Russian Federation. In August 2024, SSLA became one of the venues for the IX Russian-Chinese Youth Forum in the Volga-Yangtze format, which brought together more than 300 representatives of student youth from Russia and China. One of the promising areas for the development of international relations is the study of possible vectors of interaction with educational organizations of the BRICS countries, including in the context of priority areas of cooperation identified within the framework of the Russian Federation's chairmanship in 2024.
From the challenges of the present to the challenges of the future
A careful attitude to the past and the results of the present activities pose a difficult but necessary task for the Academy to determine promising areas of work in the future, contributing to the continuous improvement of scientific and educational activities of SSLA as one of the leading law schools in the country, immediately responding to the challenges of modern society.
The development program of the Saratov State Law Academy for 2023-2032 defines the foundations of the image of the Academy of the future and forms a full-fledged plan for the transformation of the university as an advanced scientific and educational center.
The mission of the Academy is to form and implement the agenda of the state's legal policy through frontier scientific research in line with the advanced development of jurisprudence and the training of a new generation of highly qualified legal personnel capable of meeting the needs for legal support for the socio-economic, scientific, technological, spiritual and moral development of the country.
The strategic goal is to transform the Academy from a classical educational organization of higher education into a fundamental scientific and educational center, ensuring its leadership in the formation of a new legal paradigm through legal forecasting and modeling based on the strategic objectives of the state, traditions and innovations of Russian legal science and practice, as well as by training competitive specialists on the ideas of a multicultural educational environment and interdisciplinary approaches in science and education.
The long history of the Saratov State Law Academy demonstrates its high level of adaptability and sustainability in the context of a dynamically changing social, economic and legal reality. This allows us to preserve and develop the continuity of the Saratov law school, as well as make a significant contribution to the formation of legal science and the training of legal personnel in Russia. SSLA is, first of all, people who have developed, are developing and will continue to develop jurisprudence in our country for many years.
