V. F. Afanasiev is a well-known teacher and scholar, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, who devoted his life to teaching and studying the history of education in Yakutia. V. F. Afanasiev left not only a galaxy of talented students, but also a rich academic and pedagogical heritage, which is of great value for modern education. V. F. Afanasiev published over 200 books, brochures, articles on pedagogy, ethnopedagogy, on topical issues of improving the educational process of secondary educational institutions and the history of folk schools in the republic. The article attempts to analyze the enormous legacy of V. F. Afanasiev and determine his role in studying the history of the folk education of the region.

The article deals with the situation of Yakut teaching in difficult conditions of revolutionary events and the Civil War, highlights the activities of the Yakut Union of Teachers and Figures on Public Education, the Ministry of Public Education of the Provisional Siberian Government and the All-Russian Government in an attempt to resolve problems with the salary and pensions of teachers.

The article discusses a complex of issues arising to enforce the right to defense at the stage of initiating a criminal case. The focus is on the circle of persons entitled to defense and regulation of their procedural status in the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation (hereinafter - the RF CCP). Based on the study, practical and regulatory recommendations are offered. The purpose of the study is to study the legal and doctrinal state of the process of ensuring the right to defense at the stage of initiating a criminal case during verification procedural actions against persons formally not having the status of a suspect or accused. The applied research methods are formal-legal, comparative-legal, as well as systemic research and modeling, historical-legal and logical-legal methods.

In the article, the author continues the study of the little-known pages of the bright life and activities of the first prosecutors of Yakutia. It explains the reasons of political repression of I. D. Emelianov, a former prosecutor and the Minister of Justice of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, who, while studying in Moscow, signed a letter where the authors expressed their views on the illegal methods of fighting and eliminating the rebel movement that arose in 1927 in Yakutia. Analyzing the prosecutor’s work of S. F. Gogolev, on the basis of archival materials, the author concludes that the principled, highly educated, firmly guardian of the Law, the republic’s prosecutor refused to become the punishing hand of the ruling Communist party in the implementation of political repression in Yakutia. The wish is expressed to young post-graduate students seeking an academic degree to join in the study of historical events that open unknown pages of the activities of prosecutors in Yakutia.

Recently, violation of environmental laws due to the collection of paleontological collection materials has increased. This is evidenced by the Yakut environmental prosecutor’s office. Recently, illegal turnover of mammoth fauna has been growing in Yakutia. The problem is the lack of laws in the field of collecting mineralogical, paleontological and other geological collection materials. Deputies of the State Duma of Russia propose introducing into the law the collection of paleontological materials (mammoth tusks) as a commercial activity. The author does not agree with this position, predicts negative consequences. The law should not recognize the collection of paleontological material as a commercial activity. Negative consequences can lead to legal conflicts, to the deterioration of the state of natural resources and the natural environment of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, weakening of the control and supervision functions of environmental authorities. Research methods: formal-logical and systematic analysis of the laws of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), forecasting techniques. In the article, the author offers ways to improve the law in the field of subsoil use: collecting mineralogical, paleontological and other geological collection materials as extracting single samples, as an accompanying (associated) type of subsoil use. Gaps in the law on subsoil should be eliminated by developing a conceptual framework, determining the order of collection and circulation, introducing geological (mineralogical and paleontological) expertise to assess the scientific and cultural value of mineralogical, paleontological and other geological collection materials. The proposed ways to improve the law on mineral resources are aimed at preventing the negative consequences of other economic activities on natural sites, natural landscapes, and the natural environment of our country.