The paper is devoted to the examination of a general theoretical problem concerning understanding of the limits of the legal institution of punishment. The paper defines that from ancient times and the first sources of law to the present, punishments have been improved implementing their potential as means of intimidation, manipulation, elimination of harm, achieving justice and many other functions, striving for systematization. The study describes general patterns of the formation of the system of punishment. The author relies on the fact that the complex of legal norms, containing punishments as sanctions and elements of illicit acts as their hypothesys, constitute an independent intersectoral institution of punishment. The limits of the punishment show the degree of permissible interference of legal norms in the system of public relations, the limits of administrative (judicial) discretion, the limits of official interpretation of legal norms and systematization of legislation and improvement of law enforcement methods. Based on the analysis of doctrinal sources and jurisprudence, the author substantiates that the limits of the institution of punishment can be subjective (directly dependent on the will and actions of people, their associations, as well as on specific social relations associated with the subject of legal regulation) and objective (not related to subjective and implementing the true socio-legal purpose of punishment and related to the sphere of legal regulation). The author classifies and defines socially significant legal circumstances to be taken into account when establishing the objective limits of the institution of punishment. The conclusions are formulated.

Based on the systematic approach, the author shows the key elements of the consistency of legislation on state control (supervision), municipal control and public control and formulates the main integrative properties of the relevant set of legislative acts that allow it to be considered as an integral system in context of constitutional law at the present time. It is noted that in the future, when improving legislation on public control, on the one hand, and on state control (supervision), municipal control, on the other hand, special attention should be paid to further convergence of their basic norms, primarily norms-principles and norms-goals that form value-semantic (axiological) foundations for appropriate regulation. In addition, it is important to think over the vector of strengthening social elements in the sphere of state and municipal control. The author defines several specific proposals to supplement provisions of the Federal Laws «On the Foundations of Public Control in the Russian Federation», «On State Control (Supervision) and Municipal Control in the Russian Federation», «On Parliamentary Control» and other legislative acts. Implementation of the outlined legislative ideas will facilitate revealing of the potential of the partner and service model of control and supervisory activities and it will significantly increase the level of trust on behalf of civil society and business.

The drafts of substantive and procedural codes on administrative offenses prepared by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation and subjected to public discussion in 2020 constitute a step forward in the development of relevant legislation. At the same time, the draft code developers were constrained in many issues by the thinking inertia and legislative practice, as a result of which they transferred a number of shortcomings of the current Administrative Code of the Russian Federation to the drafts. In addition, the drafts contain many serious drawbacks. The refusal of the codes’ drafters to adopt similar constructions from close branches of legislation — criminal and criminal procedure — result in the fundamental failure of the authors of the draft Administrative Code of the Russian Federation and the Procedural Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. As a result, the draft of the substantive Administrative Code lacks categories of administrative offenses, clear and understandable rules for imposing administrative penalties for a combination of offenses; the draft Procedural Administrative Code declares establishing of objective truth (which is not included even in the criminal process!) as its objective; there is no overdue simplified procedure for considering cases. The paper substantiates the suggestion to proceed not to recognize as judicial proceedings consideration of administrative cases by courts. The separate regulation of the procedure for consideration of cases by courts and other bodies of administrative jurisdiction provided for by the draft Procedural Administrative Code of the Russian Federation represents a fundamental mistake and, in addition, it abounds in largely arbitrary differences in the regulation of the same issues and even in the presentation of similar norms. The drafts have a large number of legal and technical shortcomings (unnecessary double numbering of articles, inclusion of an array of procedural norms in the draft of the substantive Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, etc.). There is an obvious need for the most serious revision of the draft laws, and this time revision has to be done as openly as possible and with the involvement of recognized professionals in the field of administrative responsibility and administrative procedure.

The paper provides the results of the analysis of the acts of the President of the Russian Federation, namely: decrees, orders, annual messages, affecting the budgetary issues. Presidential decrees have been systematized depending on the regulation of relations developing regarding budget expenditures and budget revenues, budget balance, budget structure and budget system, inter-budgetary relations, budgeting process. Depending on the degree of certainty of the addressee (addressees) the author examines decrees-instructions to specific state authorities, as well as decrees addressed to an indefinite circle of persons. The paper classifies Presidential Orders depending on their functional purpose and subject of regulation. In budget law, the Orders of the President of the Russian Federation perform the function of a regulator of material and procedural relations. Firstly, they formalize Instructions of the President of the Russian Federation to the Government of the Russian Federation at the stage of drafting the budget, and, secondly, they establish the spending objectives of the Reserve Fund and other budget allocations intended for financial support of the powers of the Head of State. By means of Orders, the composition of participants of the budgeting process can be specified, and the Orders themselves formalize the participation of the President of the Russian Federation in budget planning, making him a «co-author» of the budget law. The opinion is substantiated concerning inclusion of the annual Message of the President of the Russian Federation, fixing the goals and forecasting the socio-economic development of the state, in the system of sources of budget law. The author opines that adoption of acts by the Head of State in the budgetary sphere makes it possible to promptly regulate relevant public relations and determines the vectors of its development, ensuring stability of the system of public power and State integrity.

The paper is devoted to the study of the legal regulation of the procedure envisaged for providing restricted access information stored in state information systems (SIS). The paper provides an overview of the formation and development of legislation regulating public relations in the field of the SIS operating. Reviewing allowed the authors to follow the process of developing an approach to the procedure of providing the above mentioned information from the moment when the SIS started their operation. The paper examines the procedure for providing restricted access information from individual SIS operating in different spheres of state activities. A comparative legal analysis of normative regulation has been carried out in terms of issues related to the transfer of restricted access information. Based on the study, it was concluded that the legislation provides for the transfer of limited information from SIS exclusively to a closed list of subjects at no charge. The paper argues that the amendments introduced in 2018 and 2022 for the possibility of performing the functions of a SIS operator by commercial organizations under a concession agreement or a public-private partnership agreement have not resulted in a revision of the established approach prohibiting monetization of access to restricted access information stored in the SIS and the transfer of such information to third parties. The paper concludes that such an approach seems optimal, since obtaining restricted access information from the SIS by third parties may lead to violation of the trade secret regime, reasonable expectations and equality of rights of business participants, incur damage to their commercial interests, restriction of competition and violation of human rights and state interests.

Artificial Intelligence technologies have a wide scope of application, in particular, they are used to process large amounts of information; these technologies constitute one of the elements of Big Data. In the information environment, conclusion and execution of a user agreement and confidentiality agreement are of particular importance. These agreements form a reliable means of regulating the information interaction between their parties. There is no solution either in the doctrine or in jurisprudence to a number of problems related to these agreements, in particular the problems of their legal characterization, constitutive features and content, including formulation of a number of conditions. The paper provides recommendations for solving these problems, in particular, it determines constitutive features, legal characterization of the user agreement and confidentiality agreement, suggests the wording of separate conditions for the agreements under consideration. When writing the article, the author relied on the effective legislation, civil doctrine, judicial and business practice.

Issues concerning consolidation of the minimum amount of child support in the RF Family Code and the creation of a child support foundation in the Russian Federation are very relevant at the doctrinal and law enforcement levels, since ensuring the needs of the child is inevitably associated with certain expenses that are not always properly and sufficiently funded by parents. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that the minimum amount of child support and the child support foundation ought to act as complementary legal structures. On the one hand, the State is capable to guarantee children a maintenance payment not lower than the minimum amount of child support only if there is the child support foundation. On the other hand, the amount of child support accrued for the maintenance of children is determined on a case-by-case basis; «extra child support» can also be applied; the resources of the child support foundation are not unlimited. Therefore, from the child support foundation for the maintenance of a child whose parent failed to provide child support in a timely manner, only the minimum amount of child support (or part of it in case of partial payment of child support by the parent) should be paid rather than the entire monthly amount. Thus, the law-maker must simultaneously make additions to the RF Family Code to consolidate the minimum amount of child support (in the amount of the half of the subsistence minimum for children established in the constituent entity of the Russian Federation where the child lives) and to establish the child support foundation. It is implicit that the parent must be legally obliged to reimburse the funds paid by the child support foundation with the interest charged on the specified amount for the period when the parent fails to provide child support. The paper analyzes the Soviet experience of establishing the minimum amount of child support in 1918–1926 and 1986–1994, as well as the design of the Soviet child support foundation that existed from 1984 to 1991.

The Institute of Financial Commissioner aims at effective pre-trial settlement of disputes between financial organizations and financial services consumers. At the same time, disputes not resolved in this manner are referred to the courts of general jurisdiction. The specifics of the legal status of the financial commissioner, peculiarities of the legal nature of the relations arising when considering a dispute between a financial institution and a consumer of financial services at a pre-trial stage, gaps in legal regulation result in the emergence of a number of important procedural problems: determination of the procedural status of persons involved in the dispute, application of the rules of generic and territorial jurisdiction, establishment of the procedure for consideration of the relevant categories of cases by courts of general jurisdiction, etc. The lack of legal regulation of procedural legislation in such cases, as well as full-fledged explanations of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on these issues, lead to the multidirectional and unsettled development of judicial practice, violation of the principle of legal certainty, emergence of barriers in the exercise of the right to court protection. The paper analyzes the above problems, the causes of their occurrence and suggests the ways to resolve them.

The paper deals with the content and presents the main characteristics of the special legal regime for the activities of small and medium-sized business, defines its goals, identifies legal problems in determining the circle of entities to which it applies, and studies the issues of acceleration of small businesses. There is a tendency to expand the scope of the positively proven provisions of the legal regime under consideration, for example, to large businesses or fast-growing technology companies. The use of a special legal regime for the activities of small and medium-sized business as an experimental regulatory platform allows us to assess the risks associated with the measures taken, as well as evaluate the effectiveness of their action. The authors draw a conclusion about the formation of extraordinary legal regimes intended for business, including small and medium-sized business. These regimes are characterized by special grounds for the introduction of measures, an urgent nature, as well as a focus on preserving the business and ensuring its performance in the current situation.

The knowledge economy is a new stage in the Russian economy, characterized by social focus, careful attitude to human potential, and a focus on creating conditions for the spiritual, moral and professional development of citizens. Intellectual capital in post-industrial relations is the main economic source and object of investment and intellectual property law is a key element in the diffusion of innovations. In the knowledge economy, special attention should be given to non-material factors of social development, such as culture, science, and education. The author of the paper explores the role of these social institutions in the process of the citizens’ entrepreneurial activity enhancement, substantiates the need to ensure their interconnection and integration into economic circulation. The analysis of the regulatory legal framework made it clear that the legislator pays little attention to the motivational and regulatory functions of culture. It is also important to note the problems associated with the science management and the lack of effective legislation on innovation and scientific and technical activities, and to establish the need to develop and implement a system of continuous entrepreneurial education.

The modern Russian society is transforming largely in the context of the implementation of the idea of a strong state. The uncertainty and ambivalence of this idea, which in various interpretations focuses on expanding the sphere of state participation in public space or on the effectiveness of state administration, allows the state to independently determine the vector of state building. In Russia, as follows from the public statements of the political leadership and current practice, the specifics of a strong state involve an increase in the sphere of influence of the state, an increase in its power, and the protection of conservative values and sovereignty. Each of these components requires adequate criminal and legal support, including the criminalization of socially dangerous attacks. An analysis of legislative practice shows that in the total array of new offenses introduced into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation since 2000 more than 40% provided support for the construction of a strong state. It is fair to consider this practice as a reflection of a very specific and poorly studied concept of the criminal policy of a strong state in science. Such a policy focuses on the expansion of the sphere of state presence in the social space, the use of criminal law means primarily protect state interests, which consist in ensuring the stable (unchanged) functioning of a strong vertical of power in a consolidated society, including through the norms of criminal law, based on conservative patriarchal values. At the same time, it carries the potential risks of total state control and a reduction in the scale of freedom, which requires mandatory consideration and reflection in the criminal and political science discourse.

The paper deals with the peculiarities of investigative proceedings against lawyers that are regulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation. The author proposed to consider all actions that restrict the rights of a lawyer directly in the course of an investigative action, and not as a result of an investigative action, as investigative actions carried out «in relation to lawyers». At the same time, these actions can be carried out with the direct participation of a lawyer, as well as without him. The main purpose of the legislative establishment of the peculiarities of the production of investigative actions is to create a system of guarantees against attorney-client privilege violation, to prevent the use of information provided by the defendant to the lawyer in the framework of special trust relationships that develop in the provision of legal assistance in proving. The peculiarities provided for by law do not apply to investigative actions performed in connection with the commission of a criminal act by a lawyer. The paper scrutinizes the content of the features of conducting investigative actions: the range of actions, the production of which requires judicial permission, is determined; the rights of such a participant in an investigative action as an authorized representative of the bar association are disclosed; the concept of a lawyer’s dossier (lawyer’s proceedings) is detailed; the procedure for seizing the documents included in it is investigated.

The paper examines the issue of determining the limits of the courts’ jurisdiction in the course of consideration of criminal cases related to smuggling, and the presence of procedural factors influencing the determination of territorial jurisdiction established by articles 32, 35 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. The paper considers the practice of the Trans-Baikal Territory courts, reveals the need for legislative resolution of controversial issues to determine the jurisdiction of cases of smuggling. The author makes proposals and gives judgments on the need for additional clarifications by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the rules for applying Art. 32 and 35 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. It is criminal cases related to smuggling that cause a certain difficulty in establishing territorial jurisdiction. It is due to the totality of the conditions established by these criminal procedural norms, given the various territorial places for crimes committed, establishing the completion of criminal acts by their severity. Difficulties in the correct definition of such circumstances affect the «wandering» of criminal cases of this category between the courts, along with the exercise of their rights by the participants in the process to appeal against the actions of the courts in connection with the resolution of disputed subjects to determine the proper jurisdiction. The presence of contentious issues in determining jurisdiction to one degree or another may affect the delay in the reasonable timeframes provided for in Article 6.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation when considering criminal cases even before the start of their trial by the court on the merits. In some cases, the impact on the expiration of the procedural deadlines for bringing the perpetrators is not ruled out to criminal liability and terms of detention of smugglers. The foregoing also applies to the issues of criminal law improvement in the field of combating smuggling.

A decade of discussion on the need to determine the legal status of cryptocurrencies and the lack of such regulation has eventually resulted in the formation of conflicting judicial practice and the impossibility of the full functioning of the mechanisms of criminal law protection of the rights of citizens when committing crimes against their property. It is also impossible to apply measures of criminal procedural coercion upon corruption crimes commission. The expectation of the adoption or rejection of all kinds of legislative initiatives directly affects the criminal policy of the state, while the criminal and criminal procedural legislation no longer meets modern realities. The Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation plays not the last role in observing the rights and legitimate interests of society and the state. The study formulates the tasks and powers of the prosecutor in the criminal procedure, which will allow the most complete exercise of the available powers when considering criminal cases on crimes related to the circulation of cryptocurrency, as well as a number of legislative initiatives that will optimize the norms of the law and improve the mechanisms for its application.

The paper defines the concept of counteraction to the investigation of high-tech crimes employing the author’s definition of high-tech crimes. A forensic classification of the subjects of this counteraction is proposed, in which the procedural status of these subjects is used as a formal classification criterion. A hierarchical classification scheme is described, which includes groups and subgroups of counteraction subjects of varying degrees of similarity. The subjects of «internal» opposition include participants in criminal proceedings, divided into four main groups: on the part of the defense; by the prosecution; administering justice; other subjects. For the subjects of «external» opposition, the following groups are identified: law enforcement officers who are not subjects of criminal proceedings in a specific criminal case; persons associated with the accused (defendants); heads of government bodies; media workers. For each group of subjects, forensically significant features of counteraction to the investigation of high-tech crimes are analyzed, typical motives and methods of counteraction are given. It is noted that the proposed classification scheme can be used not only for high-tech crimes, but also for other types of criminal acts.

The publication of a book containing statistics on the victims of terrorism is essential for not only the study and analysis of terrorism and strategies to respond to it, but also for the support of victims of terrorism. One of the goals of initiating such a publication in the West («White and Black Book of Terrorism in Europe») is precisely to propel forward the adoption of a special European law on assistance to victims of terrorism. The paper supports the publication of a similar book in Russia, which itself has been a target for transnational terrorist organizations for many years, primarily the so-called Islamic State (hereinafter referred to as IS, ISIS), banned on the territory of the Russian Federation. The paper contains a description of the victims of the ISIS crimes, and the victims of not only its terrorist attacks, but also other crimes, among which the crime of genocide should be especially noted. The adoption and implementation of programs of psychological and other assistance to victims of terrorism in the states of Western Europe makes it relevant to take support measures in relation to these persons also in Russia. Among such measures is the development and adoption of a federal law on support for victims of terrorism.