In 2022, 100 years have passed since the adoption of the first Soviet Criminal Code — a fundamentally new codified enactment in the history of Russian legislation. The purpose and objectives of this study are 1) to identify and analyze provisions of the 1922 Criminal Code of the RSFSR aimed at combating professional crime, to assess their validity, novelty and consistency in the context of criminal and political objectives set before legislative bodies by the Soviet Russia establishment, as well as their dependence on socio-economic and criminological situation that was developing at that time; 2) to determine to what extent the legislator’s approaches to the criminal law fight against professional crime, used in the creation of the Code under consideration, were embodied and developed in subsequent criminal legislation of our country. To solve these problems, the author used rules and techniques of formal and dialectical logic, abstraction and generalization, historical, comparative and formal legal research methods, methods of interpretation of legal norms, documentary sources examination, ideal experiment, legal forecasting, results of previous criminological studies, etc. The author analysed the main and qualified corpa delicti containing such signs as engaging in crimes of a certain type as a profession and committing a crime in the form of a trade. The paper examines the rules of sentencing professional criminals and application of other social protection measures to them in addition to punishment. The author sets out provisions of the criminal law in combination with characteristics of socio-economic and criminogenic situation of the early 20s of the 20th century. Also, the paper explains the views of Soviet lawyers on problems of criminal professionalism and provides the author’s assessment of the grounds for legislative decisions, their gaps and shortcomings. In conclusion, the author briefly describes implementation of the ideas concerning countering professional crime in subsequent Russian criminal codes and in the currently effective 1996 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The paper discusses the use of artificial intelligence technology in legal activities. The author examines the problem of differentiating between weak and strong artificial intelligence. Attention is focused on the possibility of creating a superintelligence in the future, which already creates the need for scientists to pay close attention to the issues of introducing a system of ethical values into artificial intelligence. The paper highlights the problems of creating datasets necessary for training neural networks intended for the use in legal practice, as well as their quality. The author analyzes specific examples of the use of artificial intelligence systems in domestic and foreign legal practice. The author also justifies the possibility of considering the use of artificial intelligence as a separate type of legal technology. It is concluded that despite the large number of developments successfully used in legal practice based on artificial intelligence systems, they are all examples of weak artificial intelligence and act only as a means of increasing the efficiency of a lawyer, but do not replace it. The future of legal activities will be associated with an effective combination of artificial intelligence functionality and creative expert professional skills of a lawyer.

The paper analyzes the interim results of the 2020 constitutional reform, which affected the foundations of the judiciary in the territory of the Russian Federation. The author assumes and justifies that there is a change in priorities and vectors of legislative work in the field of commercial (arbitrazh) procedural legislation. Based on the analysis of the history of the creation of commercial (arbitrazh) courts, the author makes a conclusion about the formation and development of commercial (arbitrazh) courts as an independent procedural form of the exercise of judicial power in modern Russia. An assessment of the role of Professor V.F. Yakovlev in the creation of commercial (arbitrazh) courts in Russia is given. The author notes the importance of fixing the constitutional and legal status of the system of commercial (arbitrazh) courts. The author shares the opinion, which is of enormous theoretical and practical importance, that the activity of commercial (arbitrazh) courts is a form of exercising judicial power both in the sphere of civil and administrative proceedings. In the context of the problem of a possible «absorption» by the unified Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, including the Commercial (Arbitrazh) Procedure Code, the adoption of amendments to the Constitution reduces such a threat. The author concludes that the rules of commercial (arbitrazh) procedural law, being improved, undergoing different editions, allowing for disputes and discussions at the scientific and practical level, have been preserved as an independent branch of law. At the same time, these rules are, along with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the fundamental basis of the independent legal status of the commercial (arbitrazh) courts system.

Development of public control as an independent institution carried out in municipalities constitutes a part of the ideology according to which democratic states proceed their development. The purpose of the study is to identify problems that hinder the development of subjects of public control in municipalities. The object of this study covers public relations related to public control in municipalities; the subject of the study includes quantitative and qualitative characteristics of subjects of public control, legislation regulating their organization and activities. Methodologically, the paper is based on dialectical and system methods, methods of analysis and synthesis, as well as the formal legal method. The study showed that a) public control development in municipalities of the regions of the Siberian Federal District is carried out inconsistently; b) Federal Law No. 212‑FZ dated 21 July 2014 «On foundations of public control in the Russian Federation» sets forth foundations for the development of public control, but it does not provoke the expected activity in the use of its norms; c) among the reasons hindering the development of the legal institution under consideration, the author names insufficient informing of the population about the possibilities, legal grounds, forms of work, the procedure for creation, the best experience of the subjects of public control, Organizational issues include the lack of systematic posting of the necessary information about the activities of subjects of public control on the websites of municipalities and incorrect application of the norms of Federal Law No. 212‑FZ. Legal problems of the current legal regulation are caused by the lack of necessary legal regulation of the sphere under consideration).

The paper examines fundamental doctrinal and legal aspects of organization of the system of public power in the Russian Federation and foreign countries. The authors analize approaches and opinions of Russian scholars in relation to categories of «public administration», «public authorities», «public control». The paper summarizes the experience of functioning of various foreign state bodies that carry out public administration in various fields. The authors emphasize that consolidation of public power in foreign countries provides any individual with the opportunity for closer interaction with the public authority. Special attention is paid to the elements of the system of public power. In the Russian Federation, they include not only state and local government bodies, but also a large number of organizations exercising public powers. The article discusses peculiarities of transformation of modern public administration in conditions of digitalization. Special attention is paid to the use of digital technologies in order to combat corruption in public administration.

The paper is devoted to the study of detention, conditions of medical care, nutrition, visiting rights as well as other rights of persons in places of forced detention under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The author determines the features of the legal status of these persons in relation to their location: 1) in a report room of a police station; 2) in a special reception center for detention of persons under administrative arrest; 3) in a temporary detention facility for suspects and the accused; 4) in a temporary detention center for juvenile offenders; 5) in a temporary detention center for foreign citizens or stateless persons subject to administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation. Results of the analysis of federal laws and administrative and legal acts made it possible to conclude that it is advisable to develop a single standard of detention conditions and ensuring the rights of persons in centers of short-term detention. The author proposes the structure of the Standard which can be prepared on the basis of international standards and that can be of a methodological nature.

The paper is devoted to the study of the legal nature of a non-fungible token — NFT. The paper discusses the concept and types of tokens. The author defines a token as a unit of accounting in a distributed ledger that digitally represents financial instruments or other assets that expresses the economic value of the objects being represented and allows the rights associated with them to be exercised. According to a common point of view, NFT serves as a means of digital expression of a particular object, it has characteristics (signs) inherent exclusively to it, by virtue of which it cannot be exchanged for another token, and the cost of one NFT is not conditioned by the cost of other tokens. The author notes that the listed features are not inherent in NFT in all cases. In addition, using the example of NFT, the author draws attention to the problem of artificial limitations of the mechanism of legal regulation of fundamentally new digital objects. It is determined that, with regard to NFT, today in the Russian Federation, both the legislator and the financial market regulator maintain the status quo: the state intervenes in public relations that develop during the turnover of non-fungible tokens only if transactions involving them violate the law. Meanwhile, it can be expected that eventually the problems of the issue and circulation of NFT in the financial market will receive their regulatory and legal resolution.

The paper analyzes the possibility and expediency of recognizing robots and artificial intelligence systems as subjects or quasi-subjects of law. The author states that there are three approaches to understanding the subject matter: 1) the formal legal (positivist) approach; 2) the anthropocentric approach; and 3) the naturalistic approach Only within the framework of the latter, attempts are made to identify objectively existing features of the subject of law. At the same time, unlike a quasi-subject, the subject of law always has such a feature as freedom of will. The solution to the question of whether a robot (an artificial intelligence system) has its own will depends on understanding the concept of «will» itself, which is also far from unambiguous. The author identifies two main approaches to the concept of will: 1) the will as a manifestation of self-consciousness; 2) the will as the ability to achieve a goal. Modern robots (artificial intelligence systems) do not have self-awareness, therefore, within the framework of this approach, giving them the status of a legal entity is possible only in an indefinite perspective. The second approach to understanding the will can be applied to many already existing systems. Thus, the author states that the potential for subjectivity of robots (artificial intelligence systems) exists. However, the advantages of such a solution are not obvious in comparison with their consideration as quasi-subjects of law. In this regard, it is justified that the introduction into the legal sphere of such a fundamentally new subject of law as a robot (an artificial intelligence system) is premature. However, there is an objective need to recognize a number of them as quasi-legal entities that represent a certain legal value.

The paper analyzes the legal regulation of relations that are developing regarding human biological material, in particular issues concerning property rights. Some examples of foreign judicial practice have been studied in detail, which allow the authors to assess the process of formation of international and national legislation regulating these relations. The author examines aspects of the legal regulation of biobanks’ activities regarding storage, transfer and disposal of human biological material, as well as obtaining informed consent. The question is raised about the need to differentiate legal regulation in connection with the competition between the ownership of human biological materials between the right to privacy and personality. It is concluded that it is necessary to find a balance taking into account the increase in logistical possibility of obtaining and transferring biological material, including international transfer, as well as peculiarities of obtaining genetic and genomic information, exchange and dissemination of research results and internationalization of research.

The author analyzed the practice of general jurisdiction courts and commercial (arbitrazh) procedure courts in cases related to acquiring property rights by way of acquisitive prescription heard in 2020–2021. The aim of the study is to determine the degree of influence of legal positions that have been developed in domestic judicial practice on the project of reforming the institution of acquisitive prescription in Russia. The analysis of the array of court decisions resulted in the determination of the content of the acquisitive prescription criteria in law enforcement practice of Russian courts, identification of the problems related to the procedure for recognizing the right of ownership of real estate in the order of acquisitive prescription in court, and proposals for solving them. The author makes conclusions about the preparation of a draft Russian reform of the institution of acquisitive prescription without taking into account the legal positions developed in the practice of courts of general jurisdiction and commercial (arbitrazh) courts in cases of acquiring property rights by way of acquisitive prescription.

The abuse of subjective civil right is one of the most difficult legal phenomena to understand, the roots of which go back to the time of Ancient Rome. There is more or less consensus in civil law regarding the criteria for a civil tort, but there is no consensus on the identification of abusive actions. Studying a case of abuse of the right by consumers, the author proves that the key role in solving this problem can be in the interest that determines the aim of all the powers provided for by law for this subject: the satisfaction of personal or family needs. In this context, the ratio of objective and subjective interests, as well as the impact of the process of their implementation on the mechanism of law enforcement, is analyzed in detail. At the same time, it is concluded that interest is not a universal basis for recognizing dishonest behavior as an abuse of the right, i.e. depending on the type of legal relationship and the specifics of the legal status of its participants, the criteria for classifying the abuse of the right may vary. This explains the ongoing long-term discussion about the essence of this phenomenon.

The paper studies some peculiarities of establishing by the court of a causal relationship between the unlawful action (inaction) of the tortfeasor and the resulting harm in considering compensation cases for harm caused due to improper provision of medical services. Having analyzed the judicial practice, the author considers the way the court classifies a legally significant causal relationship. The author raises a question about the significance and assessment by the court of a forensic medical expert opinion in establishing a causal relationship between defects in the medical service provided and the resulting harm. The experience of establishing a causal relationship in the litigation of England and Germany has been studied. The use of the doctrines of res ipsa loquitur, сondicio sine qua non, «fully managed risks» in the process of establishing a causal relationship when considering this category of cases, taking into account the specifics of the organization of medical activity, including in complex clinical cases, is considered.

The paper deals with the status of a new author of an audiovisual work: animated film artist. The author analyzes a range of authors of an audiovisual work, considers these legal categories through the prism of foreign experience analysis, doctrinal sources and law enforcement practice. The paper describes the provisions of Art. 1263 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, dedicated to one of the types of complex objects of intellectual property rights, namely an audiovisual work. The author considers the legal status of a film artist and concludes that it is necessary to introduce a new subject into a range of authors of the object in question. The paper analyzes foreign experience of Romano-Germanic and Anglo-American legal systems in terms of determining a range of authors of an audiovisual work, in particular a movie and a cartoon. The author draws a conclusion about the relevance of the changes made to paragraph 2(4) of Art. 1263 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and cites as an example the positive experience of foreign countries that single out a film artist as one of the authors of the works under study.

In the modern world, taking into account scientific and technological progress and the need for innovative development, many states are improving their legislation and approaches to regulating relations in the field of intellectual property by modernizing the justice system. With the use of Internet technologies, it becomes possible to carry out various settlement procedures, both judicial and extrajudicial. Due to the intangible nature of intellectual property objects, online dispute resolution in this area increases the level of protection of rights, expands access to justice, and the effectiveness of resolving disputes. In addition, the use of the blockchain distributed registry system allows you to create a platform for storing information related to the circulation of intellectual property. The experience of Russia, China, Thailand and Canada in the field of online resolution of disputes arising from infringement of intellectual property rights is studied. It is noted that a common understanding of the protection of copyright, as well as objects of industrial property, based on the provisions of fundamental international treaties, as well as modern technologies, including those built on the basis of artificial intelligence, with their correct structured application, will allow resolving such disputes promptly in pre-trial order, thereby unloading the judicial system. At the same time, their clear correlation with the provisions of international agreements is necessary.

Considering transactions in the authorized capital of a joint-stock company, it is necessary to differentiate them according to the degree of influence on the corporate legal status of the participant. We believe that transactions that give rise to a conflict of interest at its highest stage have a complex structure and are associated with the acquisition of corporate control. The presence of a large number of initially and subsequently interested parties in the process of transactions with shares, especially those affecting control in society, is in itself characterized by a certain universality, which, in turn, predetermines the need to consider the issue raised in a comprehensive and multifaceted way. The category of conflict of interest in the plane of joint-stock relations traditionally manifests itself in disagreements between majority and minority participants, which take various legal forms. Equity transactions, whatever forms they may take, certainly fulfill the most important task of optimizing and regulating the modern economic system. The paper defines legal approaches to conflicts of interest between subjects of corporate legal relations when conducting transactions with shares, identifies the most essential and urgent problems, and suggests ways to solve them.

In 2003, the legislator decided to exclude the seizure of property from the realm of criminal law, which scientists assessed rather critically. Almost two decades later, despite the problems in the field of combating acquisitive crime, there have been no adjustments to this decision in essence. The paper determines the preventive potential of property seizure as a measure of punishment (in the form in which it existed before the exclusion) based on the analysis of data from the Judicial Department under the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation for the period from 2004 to 2020. This data includes the number of those convicted of crimes subject to seizure until 2003, as well as the proportion of convicts on these offenses in comparison with the bodies of crimes without classifying elements. The study resulted in that the hypothesis that property seizure, as an independent type of punishment, was effective, its abolition led to a significant loss of the preventive potential of the sanction, and imposition of a punishment that did not correspond to the nature and degree of social danger did not find its confirmation. Consequently, the argument that property seizure had a significant preventive potential that was lost after the 2003 legislative adjustment, at least in relation to crimes against property and banditry, is quite debatable. The effectiveness of this measure of punishment was significantly reduced by its additional and optional nature. It seems justified to correct the criminal law in terms of the introduction of imprisonment as the main punishment for bribery.

The paper is devoted to the legal status of persons who have suffered from crimes at the stage of a criminal case initiation. The declared goals and objectives of this stage of the criminal procedure are considered in conjunction with the procedural guarantees that are provided to persons participating in it. The author concludes that the injured person does not actually have the opportunity to influence the course and results of the check, which leads to the impossibility of exercising the right to compensation for the harm caused. The existing formal judicial control over the preliminary investigation only exacerbates this problem. To solve this problem, it is necessary to provide persons participating in the verification of a crime report with the right to file petitions. At the same time, the procedure for considering and resolving such petitions should be similar to the procedure provided for in Chapter 15 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. It should also regulate the conduct of urgent investigative actions and verification activities in accordance with the rules established by Chapters 24–27 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.

The modern theory of catastrophes contributes to the understanding of dynamic situations that govern the evolutionary development of natural phenomena, society, and man, as well as the prediction of the instability of various dynamic systems that can have catastrophic consequences. The results of the development of this theory are widely used in various fields of knowledge: in physics, biology, economics, medicine, psychology, linguistics, ecology and other sciences. The paper attempts to use the theory of catastrophes in forensic science, in particular, in the investigation of criminally relevant incidents of a man-made nature related to professional activities, which are inherently a destructive product of the functioning of various dynamic systems. First, the theoretical aspects of the theory of catastrophes are briefly outlined, the main concepts and their classifications are considered (catastrophe, man-made disaster, man-made emergency, emergencies, man-made sources of increased danger, etc.), which are important for developing a methodology for investigating man-made crimes related to professional activities. In order to improve the efficiency of the investigator’s recognition activity in establishing the cause of the crime under investigation (man-made disaster), the author proposes to use schemes (probabilistic models) obtained using the techniques for constructing the so-called fault and event trees, addressed primarily to specialists associated with the operation of technical systems and supervision behind them. According to the author, this will contribute to the effectiveness of putting forward investigative leads in a criminal case and their verification.