The paper concludes a series of publications focused on the theoretical and legal analysis of the specific nature of interpretation activity as a form of constitutional law enforcement. The paper presents the author’s conceptual framework regarding the essence of constitutional law application that allows for a clear determination of the role of interpretative activity within this mechanism. The author emphasizes the impact of interpretation on the quality of legal application. Additionally, the paper raises the issue of the term «interpretation» being used in various contexts. The author examines the relationship between interpretation and construction, concluding that the interpretation of constitutional norms is a broader concept than mere construction. It is noted that interpretation can be both normative and semantic. The author concludes that semantic interpretation of constitutional norms aims at a precise understanding of the meaning of the applicable norm, while normative interpretation is conducted as a special authority to interpret constitutional provisions, typically occurring in response to a direct request for the interpretation of constitutional norms.

The author attempts to investigate the dualistic character and contradictory nature of municipal authority within the public power system of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. The possibility for the free exercise of authoritative powers at the municipal level, based on the principles of legality, democracy, and freedom, is limited by institutional factors (insufficient development of the mechanism for forming municipal authorities, inadequacies in the content of regulatory legal acts concerning the competences and powers of local self-government bodies), organizational factors (imperfections in the mechanism for delineating powers between state authorities and local self-government bodies, and contradictions within the territorial organization system of local self-government), as well as resource factors (lack of resources for effective management and the exercise of powers at the local level, and inadequacies in the normative foundation governing the financial bases of local self-government). Additionally, the author emphasizes the significance of analyzing the transformation of legislation following the amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 2020. The paper also examines philosophical and legal contradictions inherent in the nature of municipal authority, as reflected in its dualistic character. The author concludes regarding the necessity for improving legal regulation and seeking a balance between the unity of public power and the autonomy of local self-government.

The article elucidates certain theoretical and legal issues that arise in the implementation of the constitutional right of citizens to petition. Throughout the research, the author presents definitions for the following terms: «right to petition», «petition», «constitutional right to personal appeal», «constitutional right to individual appeal», and «constitutional right to collective appeal». The author determines their distinctive characteristics. Additionally, the paper examines the specific terms established in the specialized law, namely «organizations entrusted with the performance of public significance functions» and «citizens entitled to receive personal reception as a priority». The author provides an interpretation of these terms. Based on an analysis of empirical material that includes examples of personal receptions conducted in public authorities, the author suggests a classification of types of personal reception. The research findings indicate a necessity for amendments to the Federal Law No. 59‑FZ of dated 2 May 2006, «On the Procedure for Considering Appeals from Citizens of the Russian Federation». Furthermore, the paper provides for suggestions for enhancing the specialized law governing the process of addressing petitions.

The paper addresses relevant issues regarding the implementation of digital technologies within the Russian justice system from the perspective of constitutional law. The study presents well-founded conclusions on how the digitization of the judicial system influences the realization of citizens’ constitutional right to access justice, as well as its openness and transparency. The paper examines in detail the role of the right to judicial protection within the system of constitutional rights, including its content and characteristics. Special emphasis is placed on the phased digital transformation of justice in Russia, the analysis of positive outcomes resulting from the digitization of the judiciary, and the prospects for the development of digital justice in Russia, alongside the legal challenges that require immediate attention. The author posits the hypothesis that the application of advanced technologies within the judicial system necessitates legislative regulation that extends beyond procedural legislation, as these technologies have the potential not only to automate a number of tasks but also to perform them independently. The research incorporates findings from the project «Categorization of Legal Positions of Constitutional Judicial Control Bodies» that is being implemented at the Faculty of Law of the National Research University Higher School of Economics from 2024 to 2026.

The paper examines the primary legal and extralegal forms of state governance (forms of executive power implementation) in the domain of critical and crosscutting technologies. It delineates the main characteristics of critical and crosscutting technologies from a managerial perspective. The author argues that state governance in the realm of critical technologies is exercised through legal management acts and material-technical actions, whereas state governance in the area of crosscutting technologies is facilitated by administrative contracts and organizational actions. The study analyzes regulatory legal acts pertaining to cross-cutting and critical technologies, as well as drafts of the acts under consideration, from which scientific forecasts are derived regarding certain transformations in state governance forms within this domain that are anticipated to occur in the near future. In conclusion, the authors assert that all aforementioned forms of state governance should not be applied in isolation but rather in a comprehensive manner, maintaining systemic unity.

The paper is devoted to identifying problems in the legal regulation of one of the instruments used by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Russian Federation and the staff of his working apparatus in the course of examining citizens’ complaints — namely, the obtaining of explanations. It proposes various ways to enhance the effectiveness of state human rights oversight, including: amendments to federal legislation (pertaining to the uniformity of terminology employed for «obtaining explanations» and «clarifications» by commissioners for human rights at both the federal and regional levels; the legal obligation to provide explanations; and the possibility for the staff of the working apparatus to obtain such explanations); amendments to the Regulations on the working apparatus of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation (to establish the right of certain staff members to obtain explanations without a power of attorney). In addition, the paper recommends the approval of a procedural statute (or methodological guidelines) for conducting inspections, including procedures for obtaining explanations from officials in the context of complaint handling. This procedural document should be mandatory and define the relevant processes, thereby enabling staff of the Commissioner’s office to refer to it when requesting explanations.

In Russian scholarship on administrative procedural law, there is no consensus regarding the legal nature of activities related to the imposition of disciplinary sanctions on civil servants for breaches of official discipline, corrupt practices, and acts damaging to official integrity. Alongside views that exclude disciplinary proceedings from the structure of the administrative process, certain scholars classify such proceedings as service-delict disciplinary procedures or administrative-disciplinary procedures. These positions fail to consider the legal nature of the relationships that form part of the subject matter of administrative law in the application of disciplinary sanctions to civil servants; the specific method of administrative regulation, which ensures the performance of duties or compliance with prohibitions in areas of external-authority activities or intra-organizational relations; as well as the procedural category of an individually-defined case and the procedural form for its consideration and resolution. From the standpoint of defining the content and structure of administrative-procedural activities of executive authorities, introducing new procedural categories and concepts without sufficient justification risks undermining the substantive unity of the administrative process. This circumstance necessitates a unified approach to the study of administrative-procedural forms employed by executive authorities. As a methodological framework, the propositions of V. D. Sorokin’s concept of the administrative process may be utilized. These involve the elements of a unified method of legal regulation (at the level of the legal system), the types of regulation derived from these elements, and their channels of implementation, represented by corresponding forms of legal process. On this basis, disciplinary proceedings may be characterized as a channel for implementing two types of legal regulation, founded on prescriptions and prohibitions as direct regulators of social relations. Consequently, disciplinary proceedings constitute a procedural form of law-enforcement (jurisdictional) activity exercised by disciplinary authorities in imposing sanctions, analogous in typology to the procedural form of criminal proceedings.

The issue of systematizing the existing body of regulatory legal acts remains highly relevant within the theory of financial law. This is explained by several factors, one of which is the persistent need to construct a coherent and internally consistent system of sources of financial law. Establishing a stable framework of regulatory legal acts ensures durable functional interconnections between them, eliminates inconsistencies and gaps in financial law regulation. However, the systemic foundations of secondary sources of financial law, in the absence of a fundamental federal law on regulatory legal acts in the Russian Federation, remain insufficiently examined. The subject of this study includes theoretical and methodological approaches to the development of a system of subordinate regulatory legal acts in the financial sphere. The analysis focuses on the interrelations among elements of the financial law regulatory system, taking into account its inherent internal patterns. The study concludes that, in order to facilitate use and ensure the effective implementation of legal provisions, the body of secondary regulatory legal acts must be appropriately structured and systematized.

The paper seeks to identify the most promising model for the legal protection of objects produced by artificial intelligence that exhibit characteristics comparable to legally protected results of human intellectual activity. The study concludes that the designation of such works (or rights thereto) as independent objects of civil law — by analogy with digital rights — is not advisable. It is substantiated that AI-generated objects may be afforded legal protection through the application of intellectual property law mechanisms. The research further reveals the existence of conceptual inconsistencies and practical challenges in integrating AI-generated works into the system of objects regulated by the institutions responsible for safeguarding the results of intellectual activity. The author argues that, in order to eliminate such contradictions and reduce contentious issues, it is advisable to develop an autonomous legal regime for the protection of AI-generated results within the sub-branch of intellectual property law.

Various sources have raised concerns about patent holders — drug manufacturers — regarding the identification of abuses of exclusive rights, which lead to restricted availability of these highly socially significant products. This situation has worsened in our country in recent years. The greatest concern is the mass cancellation of clinical trials by many foreign pharmaceutical companies in our country starting in 2022, while maintaining their patent activity. Thus, there is a risk of creating conditions under which innovative drugs will no longer be supplied to our country in the coming years, but legal mechanisms for patent protection will be used to prevent the release of their generic equivalents. This situation cannot be considered acceptable. The legal mechanisms enshrined in Russian legislation (compulsory licensing, etc.) are insufficient to effectively resolve emerging problems. Considering this, comprehensive measures are needed to modernize the legal framework for state policy in terms of achieving accessibility of healthcare products. The aim of the study is to analyze the possibility of introducing a special legal regime for the implementation of intellectual property rights in the field of healthcare, including effective legal mechanisms for achieving a balance between private and public interests that do not contradict the international obligations accepted by the Russian Federation. The paper substantiates the need to introduce a special legal regime for the implementation of intellectual property rights in the field of healthcare. It specifies the main features of legal regimes and proposes a definition for the considered special legal regime. The legal principles and necessary directions for modernizing the legal regulation system in this area are highlighted separately

Amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 2020 supplemented the list of guarantees of citizens’ rights in the area of social security and formed the basis for improving sectoral legislation. The expansion of the list of constitutional guarantees affected the institutions of pensions and benefits regarding their indexation, as well as the system for the adequate upbringing of children and support for families with children, including the targeted provision of social assistance. The norms of social security law implement constitutional guarantees of general legal and sectoral relevance, forming a comprehensive system of social support for various categories of individuals based on their labor contribution or as members of society who find themselves in difficult situations and require social assistance from the state. Changes to social security legislation, based on the implementation of the amended provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, are quite significant, are of a gradual nature, and have currently affected many types of social security. However, certain legal regulations require further improvement.

Modern criminal legislation contains a number of norms that regulate similar social relations and can be in a relationship of competition with each other. This occurs when a criminal act simultaneously falls under the provisions of several articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The paper is devoted to the study of the relationship between abuse of office and bribery for committing illegal actions (omission), taking into account the clarifications of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to resolve the issue of the presence or absence of collision of the specified norms of criminal law. Their conflicting nature can lead to the potential incorrect qualification of an act: the social danger of a specific crime will be either underestimated or overestimated, which in any case will prevent the fulfillment of the requirements of the principle of justice. Proper understanding of the internal content of the criminal law norm, its relationship with other norms of criminal legislation and their joint internal hierarchy allows for a better understanding of the system of prohibitions provided for by criminal law.

Digitalization, acting as the main driver of societal transformation, contributes to the popularization and demand for information systems in everyday life. This trend significantly influences the formation of a new criminal paradigm — an exponential increase in the number of crimes committed using deepfake technology. In this regard, the search for effective forensic tools for identifying, solving, and investigating crimes committed using content substitution technology is becoming increasingly relevant. Due to its ability to rapidly integrate advanced scientific and technical achievements and quickly adapt to innovative changes in society, modern forensic science holds a leading position in the fight against crime. The development of scientifically grounded recommendations and their application in the practical work of preliminary investigation bodies can significantly affect the quality and effectiveness of investigating crimes committed using deepfake technology. Based on the study and analysis of statistical data, scientific works, regulatory legal acts, and empirical material, the main stages of the crime commission mechanism have been identified, the methodological foundations of a special forensic investigation methodology for this category of crimes have been formulated, and an optimal investigation program has been proposed. The problem of the need to develop IT competencies among preliminary investigation officers requires further scientific consideration.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched by China in 2013, brings together over 65 countries in an infrastructure and trade development project with investments exceeding $1 trillion. The growth of cross-border transactions gives rise to disputes — commercial, investment, environmental — requiring effective settlement mechanisms. This paper analyzes the practice of resolving such conflicts with a focus on arbitration, examining international experience and Russian specifics. Cases from the practice of the SIAC, ICSID, CIETAC and Russian permanent arbitration centers have been studied. Based on the comparative legal method, problems of enforcement of decisions and jurisdictional conflicts are identified. The novelty of the study lies in its proposal of hybrid dispute resolution mechanisms combining arbitration and mediation, adapted for Russia. The recommendations for the creation of unified arbitration platforms are of practical significance for BRI participants. The relevance of the study is driven by the increasing number of disputes within the BRI and the need to analyze their resolution in the context of globalization and the strengthening role of Russia as China’s strategic partner in this project. The growth of cross-border operations has revealed significant gaps in legal mechanisms, especially where different legal traditions collide — from the civil law of Europe and Russia to the common law in Asian and African countries, as well as the Chinese legal system with its unique features. The purpose of this paper is to examine dispute resolution practices within the BRI, with a particular focus on arbitration mechanisms, analyze international experience and Russian specifics, and propose ways to improve these processes in light of modern challenges.

Based on the fundamental principles of investment law science and the provisions of bilateral investment treaties concluded between the BRICS member states, the author analyzes the mechanisms for resolving investment disputes used within this association. The analysis concludes that the BRICS countries have different approaches to this issue and notes the feasibility of establishing a delocalized BRICS investment arbitration center, whose activities would be based on an open treaty. It is indicated that the creation of such an investment arbitration must take into account the problems that led to the crisis of the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system based on the 1965 Washington Convention, as well as the solutions proposed by UNCITRAL Working Group III. In conclusion, recommendations are formulated to prevent the emergence of such problems, including the adoption of a multilateral investment convention that would unify the conceptual framework, define the legal status of the investor and the host state, and ensure a balance of interests for the parties to investment disputes.

Drawing on the experience of German law, the author demonstrates that the statutory conformity guarantee regime is not limited exclusively to the transfer of the goods. The physical transfer of the goods merely indicates that a lack of conformity existed at that moment. It serves as the condition for the termination of the statutory conformity guarantee and shows that the seller is liable for defects that arose prior to that moment. However, the guarantee takes effect from the moment the contract is concluded, because it is at this point that the parties define the essential characteristics of the goods. Any deviation from them is protected automatically. The buyer is not obliged to accept non-conforming goods and to perform their duty to accept the goods if they are already aware of the defects. This knowledge gives them the opportunity to utilize all remedies available under the rules of sale against the seller who has breached their obligation. Thereby, the negative consequences associated with the existence of a time gap between the conclusion of the contract and the actual transfer, during which the statutory conformity guarantee is supposedly inactive, are neutralized

In the context of the digital economy, personal data has become one of the key assets. With the development of big data technologies and artificial intelligence, the volume of collected and processed personal data is growing, which increases the risks of its unlawful use. Data breaches violate fundamental rights to privacy and jeopardize personal safety. According to official statistics, recent years have seen a significant increase in the number of incidents involving unauthorized access to computer and personal information, which has stimulated greater public awareness of the importance of its protection. The results of a comparative legal study of criminal liability for unauthorized access to personal data under Article 272.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and foreign legislation in the field of criminal law protection of personal data demonstrate that the effectiveness of criminal law protection is determined not so much by strict punishments, but by the ability of states to adapt national legislation to the rapidly changing conditions of a globalized digital world, as well as by the integration of legal norms to ensure cross-border protection of their citizens’ interests.