Organizational basis of the participation of citizens in the protection of public order: experience of Russia and Kazakhstan

Introduction: the article examines modern forms of citizens’ participation in the protection of public order, as well as the legal status of persons taking part in this socially useful activity in Russia and Kazakhstan. Materials and methods: the normative basis of the study is formed by the norms of the current Russian and Kazakh legislation governing public relations that are emerging in the field of public assistance to the internal affairs bodies to ensure public order and public safety. The methodological basis of the study was the general dialectical method of scientific knowledge, which is universal in nature, the methods of logical deduction, induction, cognitive methods, comparison, analysis, synthesis and description. The result of the study allowed to formulate generalizations and proposals aimed at consolidating the organizational basis for the assistance of the population to the internal affairs bodies to ensure public order and public safety. Findings and conclusions: analysis of the legal and regulatory framework for the participation of citizens in the maintenance of public order in Russia and Kazakhstan made it possible to formulate the following conclusions: 1) unlike Russia, individual forms of citizen participation in protection of public order in Kazakhstan cover only preventive and educational activities, and collective forms ensure the direct participation of citizens in measures to protect of order; 2) the main directions of interaction of citizens with the internal affairs bodies in Russia and Kazakhstan seem to be quite similar and, in general, are carried out in measures for the protection of public order and preventive measures, as well as in information interaction; 3) there are differences in the legal status of persons taking part in the protection of public order, according to Russian and Kazakh legislation in terms of the use of physical force. It seems expedient to expand the powers of the Russian people’s squads in terms of the grounds for the application of this coercive measure and to make appropriate changes to the current legislation.