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The events, which were highly important for Latvian higher education development, were happened in the 1st part of 2011, incl. discussions about higher education establishment (university) autonomy frames and content. According to the national legislation and higher education establishment statuses, autonomy is mostly centred to the "inside" of the higher education establishment, bringing in "outside" duties to respect and comply with state regulation and standards etc. The analysis of current situation in Latvian higher education shows, that there are four models of autonomy, which have differences in legal regulation, management and daily practise. Also the targets of the founders, the priorities of educational activities are different and exactly influence educational relations, content of studies, study requirements, students, staff and administration duties and rights. In this context, discussions about the founder's rights to supervise higher education establishment work and harmonization of society-statehigher education establishment still are opened for adjustment.

The aim of the research – to define the content, functions, manifestations, forms of the concept of legal culture and to investigate the specific character of the legal culture of Latvian senior-grade elementary school pupils, developing proposals for improvement of acquisition of the legal culture by elementary school pupils. Thus, no research studies of legal culture are actually being made in Latvia, and also attention is insufficiently paid to it in the studies of law, and in political and sociological studies. The scientific novelty of the Doctoral Dissertation is characterised by the fact that the Doctoral Dissertation is dedicated to the legal culture, its updating and consolidating in the scientific and research environment in Latvia. Moreover, such an original research study of the legal culture of Latvian elementary school pupils has been made for the first time in Latvia.

The aim of the research – to define the content, functions, manifestations, forms of the concept of legal culture and to investigate the specific character of the legal culture of Latvian senior-grade elementary school pupils, developing proposals for improvement of acquisition of the legal culture by elementary school pupils. Thus, no research studies of legal culture are actually being made in Latvia, and also attention is insufficiently paid to it in the studies of law, and in political and sociological studies. The scientific novelty of the Doctoral Dissertation is characterised by the fact that the Doctoral Dissertation is dedicated to the legal culture, its updating and consolidating in the scientific and research environment in Latvia. Moreover, such an original research study of the legal culture of Latvian elementary school pupils has been made for the first time in Latvia.

Religion is one of the most important social regulators influencing the relations in the society and the choice (action) of an individual in the concrete situation, sacralize definite behaviour and standards, or quite vice versa – disavow them (sin), regulate the relations among people and the relations between human and the highest power (God), in separate cases allowing to overcome legal and ethical dilemmas, to act or refrain from action. Each religion exists in a definite community (society), therefore, the religious norms affect the life of community members and thus also the state, culture, and rights. Nowadays the impact of rights on religion, religious organizations as communities of believing persons, their organization, administration and activity is impossible to deny. This study is an attempt to offer a review on the regulation of the relations betweens state and religious organizations in international and European legal acts. Analysis of the legal aspects of the relations between state and religious organizations allow the conclusion that the freedom of religion has a fundamental basis which today determines the relations/attitude of the state with/to religion and religious organizations. The principle of freedom of religion as an integral part of human rights is respected and implemented in states where the church is fully or partly separated (segregated) from the state as well as in states where there is state church. This principle has been acknowledged also by the European Union and the European Council leaving the implementation details to the Member States themselves. The principle of freedom of religion comprises two principal aspects: person's individual choice to not/belong to some religion and to not/participate in religious activities, and state's responsibility is to respect, within the framework of the law, the freedom of activities of religious organizations. Implementation of the principle of freedom of religion is burdened by manifold interpretation of the notions "religion" and "belief"; by the necessity to consider this principle commensurate with other human rights and freedoms; by the vagueness of the limits of this principle. In this context, the practice of the European Court of Human Rights is essential, in interpreting correspondingly the principle of freedom of religion provided for in Article 9 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, particularizing the understanding of this principle in the relations between the state and religious organizations. Present-day practice, at least in the public sphere, facilitate a tolerant attitude and observance of the specific character of religious belonging in various social relations (work, contacts with state administration, military service) etc. Nevertheless, disregarding several implementation problems of the principle of freedom of religion, equality should be observed in the relations between the state and religious organizations, establishing precise limits of cooperation and supervision, which is a precondition for the existence of a legal secular state.

The general education program designing and licensing trends in Latvia in the period from 2010 to 2014 are analyzed in the article. Based on the general education program licensing data, it found that there isn't a trend to license author's program in primary education, while the secondary level of education author's programs are designed and licensed more often. The fact that primary education is more licensed programs in mathematics, science and technology, but in general secondary education – the humanitarian and social direction of the program suggest a possible gap in primary and secondary education. At the same time it found that a quarter of all licensed educational programs is not implemented, which could be result of socio-economic and political change in society.

It is beyond argument that education is a cornerstone of the sustainable development of any society and state. The more educated society and its individual members are, the more capable the state and its economy and security and technology systems are of giving a targeted response to challenges of today's world. However, education should not be seen as an end in itself. Certain quality requirements and standards should be respected in the educational process, one of them being academic integrity. Academic misconduct is firmly condemned both at educational institutions and in society, and occasionally the lawfulness of acquired education may be questioned. This kind of misconduct represents a phenomenon leading to several threats, and it can be interpreted as an intellectual property theft, which compromises the quality of education, thereby reducing a state's capacity for development, and undermines confidence in educational institutions and persons who have committed misconduct, adversely affecting society in general. It should be emphasised that, if ignored, academic misconduct facilitates legal nihilism in the long term. Therefore, one of priorities in education should be associated with solidifying academic integrity as a component of sustainable development. In the light of the above, this article analyses the understanding of academic integrity and how students can be punished for academic misconduct in the context of sustainable development, for which purpose internal regulations of major higher education institutions of the Republic of Latvia have been examined.
Keywords: academic integrity, liability for academic misconduct, right to education, sustainable development of the state

Technologies are becoming an integral component of study process. Opportunities brought by digitalisation in the field of education are not at variance with the right to education and conform to the right to exploit the achieved scientific and technical progress for enhancing human life and welfare; moreover, there no grounds for asserting that knowledge and skills acquired remotely are at a lower level than the results of face-to-face learning. However, to develop a uniform understanding and create a stable legal basis for the evolution of remote studying, legislative amendments that would define remote studying and set forth related requirements are needed.The aim of the research is the analysis of remote studies as a form and practice of education, evaluating the provisions of regulatory enactments in order to find out its admissibility and compliance with the right to education.The research uses document analysis, as well as methods of interpretation of legal norms and induction-deduction method, drawing conclusions and making proposals for improving regulatory enactments and practice of higher education establishments.However, there exist various interpretations of the content of remote studies. The management of higher education establishments are also discussing the construction of the term 'contact hour' provided in the Law on Higher Education Institutions, including remote studying that at least partially duplicates distance and open learning and additional requirements concerning the organisation of the remote study process.