Kindiuk K. M.M. Gernet's Legal Heritage as the Development of Sociological Approach to Legal Studies.

The thesis focuses on the biography, creative career, and academic and legal heritage of Dr. Michael M. Gernet (1874-1953), a renowned representative of pre-revolutionary and Soviet school of criminal law. The thesis divides scientist's biography into major periods and discovers the reasons, which influence the problem resolution in the sociology of criminal law. It also determines the directions of M.M. Gernet's theoretical insights into history of crime, death penalty, socialism ideas, and contribution into development of the Soviet school of sociology of criminal law. The research addresses fundamentals of sociological theory of crime, based on determining the correlation between the crime rate and such factors as gender, age, living conditions, level of education, employment, and bread price. It reveals new methodological approaches to the study of crime sociology through application of statistical methods.