The paper examines the perspectives of legal scholars regarding the significance and scope of the scientific application of the term «legal nature». This expression has been actively employed by prominent figures in Russian legal scholarship for over a century; however, a consensus regarding its definition remains elusive. The frequency and scope of its use by Russian academics have escalated to the point where some commentators have suggested that it lacks the requisite characteristics of a scientific term. Over the past decade, numerous specialized studies have revealed that «legal nature» is employed in jurisprudence with more than ten distinct meanings. The authors emphasize that the term «nature» lacks a uniform definition not only in jurisprudence but also in philosophy. Each scholar has endeavored to articulate a definition for the scientific concept encapsulated by this phrase. The authors of the study cogently criticize the validity of these attempts, highlighting the detrimental implications of the scientific use of «legal nature» and proposing strategies to mitigate the prevalent trend of employing polysemous terms broadly and this particular phrase specifically.

The paper aims to provide for the definition, characteristics, types, and prevailing issues related to the activities of specialized institutions responsible for state human rights protection. The author proposes a definition and develops a classification of the attributes and categories of this vital institution within state human rights activities. An analysis of normative legal acts and the practical activities of specialized authorized institutions, as well as the legislation of foreign states regarding specialized ombudspersons, has enabled the author to identify current trends in the development of this human rights protection mechanism and outline perspectives for its enhancement. Specialized institutions for governmental human rights protection play a crucial role among the entities involved in state human rights activities. They serve as supplementary means for the defense of human rights in relation to the fundamental mechanisms of government aimed at protecting rights and fundamental freedoms (such as the judiciary, prosecution, executive authorities, and human rights commissioners). This implies that their competencies are auxiliary in nature, activated when basic mechanisms encounter obstacles. They are also indispensable as a means of pre-trial dispute resolution.

The paper focuses on the constitutional connection between active and passive voting rights, a necessity that objectively arises when analyzing and scientifically characterizing the nature and essence of these rights. The paper demonstrates the complexity of the constitutional relationship between active and passive voting rights, which involves the simultaneous existence and mutual overlap of several types of connections: the unifying connection; the causal connection; the connection of states; correspondence between the consequences of a single cause; and correspondence between the consequences of different causes. The conclusion is substantiated by explanations regarding how doctrinal identification, differentiation, and interpretation of the aforementioned types of constitutional connections between active and passive voting rights can be used to achieve the goals of constitutional-legal regulation of electoral relations, as well as constitutional norm control.

The paper examines the legal mechanism for the forced termination of citizenship of opted citizens. Special attention is devoted to the institution of citizenship termination due to the commission of a crime (preparation for a crime or attempted crime); actions that pose a threat to the national security of the Russian Federation; and failure to comply with the obligation of initial military registration. During the investigation of the regulatory legal framework and law enforcement practices, it was noted that the legislation requires refinement concerning the formalization of grounds for the termination of citizenship of individuals who acquired it during the annexation of new territories to the Russian Federation in 2014 and 2022. The author identifies gaps in legislative regulation regarding the moment and fact of opting citizens (both adults and minors) assuming obligations to comply with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and Russian legislation, the violation of which results in the termination of Russian citizenship. The study concludes with a recommendation for amendments to paragraph 2 of part 1 of Article 2 of the Federal Law No. 138-FZ «On Citizenship of the Russian Federation» dated 28 April 2023.

The paper addresses the issue of abolishing the limitation on the number of consecutive terms that an individual may serve as the head of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. It is noted that the Constitution does not impose an obligation on lawmakers to establish such limitations. Moreover, such restrictions are constitutionally defined only for the Head of State. Considering the recent changes in Russian legislation — specifically the repeal of limits on holding the office of the head of a constituent entity for more than two consecutive terms — if the populace is satisfied with the performance of the regional head, they may opt to re-elect this individual for a third term or even longer. The paper highlights potential risks associated with a low level of legal consciousness among the regional population and their desire for stability, which could lead to the consolidation of power for an extended period, not only in the hands of a single individual but also within a group, as the head of a constituent entity plays a role in forming the highest executive body of that constituent entity. The author draws the conclusion that limiting the number of terms for the head of a constituent entity is an essential measure aimed at safeguarding democratic principles and preventing the abuse of power. Hence, this regulation should be reinstated in Russian legislation, despite potential arguments advocating for its abolition. This necessity arises from the fact that the current formulation of this norm does not align with the constitutional principle of the rotation of power, as articulated in Articles 1 and 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Despite mutual sanctions and international controversies, the 2020s have witnessed the establishment of an international consensus regarding measures to combat the erosion of the tax base and tax evasion. To date, in the evolution of the international tax regime and the role of the institutions governing it, a coherent tax policy for transnational taxation has acquired an independent status and has been integrated into the national legislations of not only G20/OECD countries but also the majority of nations with developed tax systems. However, the turbulent economic processes of the past two decades have compelled many countries to seek methods of supporting their national economies, including the provision of economic preferential treatment in investment and tax spheres, thereby undermining previously achieved agreements. The divergent positions of even G20/OECD countries and the United States, coupled with the use of sanctions as a pressure tool, threaten to dismantle the consensus reached by 2017 regarding the BEPS plan. Furthermore, developed economies and highly integrated entities are pursuing competing tax policies and enacting their own global legislation concerning transnational taxation. The scale of changes outlined in the final BEPS reports, along with the adoption of these competing legislative measures, is contributing to an increase in tax administration costs and a heightened economic burden.

The paper is dedicated to examining the characteristics and prospects of the development of Chinese legal regulation of tax obligations influenced by digitalization. The author discusses and analyzes obligations related to tax payments, submission of tax reports, and registration for tax purposes. Particular attention is given to the transformation of the legal regulation mechanism concerning Value Added Tax (VAT). Based on an analysis of the provisions regarding the obligation to submit tax reports in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the author concludes that China possesses advanced experience in the implementation of electronic invoicing. This is characterized by the establishment of a requirement for taxpayers to use electronic invoices known as «fapiao» which are original and unique to the Chinese tax administration practice. The research demonstrates that the obligation to register for tax purposes in the PRC has been completely digitized in terms of its execution process, leading to a loss of its independent significance as a category of tax obligation.

The paper elucidates various approaches to understanding good faith in civil law. It argues against the identification of bad faith with civil wrongdoing or its elements. The use of subjective criteria to define good faith (or bad faith) leads to a conflation of the category with forms of culpability. Good faith, as a complex phenomenon, operates within the framework of «conduct — legal interests and the corresponding moral objectives — good faith — morality». The universal and general nature of the principle of good faith is substantiated. The existence of specific regulations concerning good faith in relation to particular types of relationships precludes the subsidiary application of general measures to protect against bad faith conduct. Transactions that are invalid due to a defect in content are not subject to the legal concept of acting to circumvent the law for unlawful purposes. Abuse of rights in the performance of obligations should be examined in relation to the creditor of the obligation and concerning third parties (society, the state) when the fulfillment of the obligation affects their rights and legitimate interests. The execution of an obligation within the framework of a commitment must conform to the principle of proper performance of obligations, which pertains to the case of specific regulations governing the implementation of the principle of good faith in civil law. Regarding other parties, the behavior of participants in civil legal relationships can be deemed bad faith on the part of both rights holders and obligated persons. An attempt is made to define the characteristics of the principle of good faith.

The paper examines judicial practice regarding the implementation of the adversarial principle in arbitration proceedings. The study identifies stages in the development of adversarial proceedings, driven by the dynamics of socio-economic relations, the convergence of legal systems, the search for approaches and methods to enhance judicial efficiency, and shifts in procedural paradigms. It is established that, as a result of judicial application, rules of adversarial proceedings have been formed based on facilitating justice, the good-faith disclosure of truthful information, and the presentation of evidence relevant to the case. Courts have defined exceptions to the general rule of burden of proof distribution — inequality in procedural opportunities for proving and bad-faith procedural conduct, including the withholding of information, failure to present evidence, or refusal to provide explanations. The burden of proof no longer follows unconditionally the burden of assertion: in conditions of inequality of procedural powers of proof, the burden of proof is placed on the party that has or should have the evidence. Such approaches are justified and align with the objectives of the proceedings. At the same time, the principle of legal certainty requires integrating these developed rules into the civil procedural framework, as well as their further elaboration and specification.

The paper examines the legal aspects of SMART standardization in industrial production. SMART standardization is considered as a new advanced digital technology in the field of standardization. The study reveals the underdeveloped conceptual framework in legislation concerning the use of advanced technologies in general. This deficiency reduces the effectiveness of legal norms and, to some extent, limits the capabilities of economic entities. It is shown that SMART standardization involves the development of a special class of standards — machinereadable (SMART) standards. Conclusions are drawn regarding the legal nature of such standards. It is noted that machine-readable (SMART) standards mark the transition from document-oriented content to machine-processable data. Consequently, the emergence of such standards determines a fundamental shift in their application, and implies a significant reduction in the risk of human error in production. Attention is given to legal issues related to the use of machine-readable (SMART) standards. It is shown that machine-readable (SMART) standards should be classified as elements of machine-readable law. A conclusion is made about the need to clarify the patent legal policy in the field of standardization, where machine-readable (SMART) standards could become one of its components.

The paper examines the legal aspects of the rapidly developing field of remote medical care (telemedicine). The development of this institution, despite significant public demand for such medical services, faces numerous challenges, including legal ones. These challenges are viewed as consequences of technical or administrative contradictions that are being consistently resolved at the stages of the emergence of telemedicine, its development, the formation of the necessary regulatory framework, as well as the practical implementation of existing legal norms. The idea that contradictions in the process of legal regulation can serve both as a catalyst for the development of law and as an obstacle to achieving its goals is illustrated by examples from Russian and foreign experience in developing telemedicine services. One of the most significant contradictions is the need for the simultaneous orientation of adopted legal norms towards two competing priorities: the availability of medical services and their high quality. The prospects for the development of telemedicine in Russia and in the world directly depend on the ability to find tools, including legal ones, that ensure a balance between the two named priorities.

Based on the analysis of contemporary scholarly approaches to defining the functional purpose of first-instance courts in ensuring judicial protection of citizens’ rights during pre-trial criminal proceedings (also referred to as judicial oversight), this paper substantiates the classification of judicial review as an independent function of the court. An integral part of judicial review is the consideration of complaints in accordance with Articles 125 and 125.1 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. The results of the study of judicial statistics revealed low efficiency of judicial review of complaints, due to the lack of correlation between the legal regulation of this institution and law enforcement. Given the expanding role of courts in pre-trial proceedings while judicial resources remain limited and judges must balance case adjudication with review functions, the paper proposes establishing priorities for the judicial review of complaints to ensure the proper functioning of the judicial protection mechanism. To prevent judicial review from developing along an extensive path and duplicating/replacing the powers of investigative supervisors and prosecutors before the appearance of investigative judges in criminal proceedings, it is necessary to first narrow the scope of judicial discretion and focus on the rightsprotective aspect of judicial review of complaints. When considering complaints, the court must act as a kind of compensatory mechanism, pointing out the shortcomings of departmental control and prosecutorial supervision, through which the protection/restoration of the rights of citizens violated by a crime/criminal prosecution must be ensured. Addressing these challenges will require improving the quality of regulatory frameworks, limiting judicial review to complaints about actual violations that have already been examined by investigative supervisors and prosecutors, reducing the scope of judicial interference in the procedural actions of investigators and prosecutors, and developing new evaluation criteria for judicial complaint review that reflect the actual state of citizens’ legal protection during criminal case initiation and investigation.

This study builds upon the author’s earlier publication «The Use of the Theory of Catastrophes in Forensics» (Aktual’nye problemy rossijskogo prava. 2022;12:204-212), which briefly outlined the general principles of catastrophe theory and attempted to apply this theory to the investigation of crimes related to professional activities involving technogenic sources of increased danger. However, according to the author, from a methodological position, the study of two dynamic systems (criminal activity and the activity of its investigation) should be approached through the principles of dualism and isomorphism. This approach enables a comprehensive understanding of the integrative model of these dynamic systems, including their deterministic and stochastic connections. Such understanding facilitates constructive applications in both theoretical and methodological domains, as well as in practical crime investigation aimed at establishing a robust body of evidence in criminal cases. The paper focuses on the most important elements of this model: the subject (examining destructive behavior of witnesses and victims, along with their motivations for obstructing investigations); the tools for solving the problems of disclosing and investigating criminal acts, including the use of advanced equipment and the latest technologies that allow for a fundamentally new, constructive solution to identification and diagnostic issues, which significantly reduces the imbalance between the means of anti-criminal and criminal activity.

The paper examines the mechanism for federal civil servants to report instances of incitement to commit corruption offenses as a tool for preventing corruption among federal civil servants, assessing its effectiveness in contemporary practice. Through an analysis of the regulatory framework governing this mechanism in federal executive bodies, the author identifies several regulatory shortcomings. Addressing these deficiencies could enhance the application of this anti-corruption instrument. A criminological analysis of the mechanism’s conceptual framework reveals the inappropriateness of involving the employer’s representative (or employer) in procedures related to reviewing notifications, verifying the information contained therein, and making managerial decisions based on such verification. The author argues that excluding the employer’s representative (or employer) from these procedures would significantly reduce the risks of internal interference by individuals associated with the alleged corrupt practices. Such interference may manifest in concealing identified corruption cases and creating adverse consequences for the whistleblower.

The relevance of studying the legal framework for cross-border insolvency is significantly increasing amid contemporary transformations and global trends. In particular, the recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the possibility of bankrupting foreign legal entities within Russian jurisdiction has revived the debate on the need for specialized legal regulation of such cross-border disputes. This necessitates identifying the optimal approach to harmonizing key aspects of cross-border insolvency regulation in Russia, taking into account modern challenges and international developments. The core scientific issue addressed in this research is whether it is more appropriate to develop a specialized multilateral international treaty or to revise the current approach of creating a separate national legislative framework. The author conducts a comparative analysis of regulatory frameworks and practices concerning the recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings, drawing on the experiences of foreign jurisdictions and the Russian Federation. This analysis identifies both commonalities and divergences in cross-border insolvency regulation across different countries, comparing these findings with the prerequisites for establishing a comprehensive legal model for cross-border insolvency in Russia. Based on the comparative analysis, the study concludes that developing a specialized multilateral international agreement governing the recognition and enforcement of foreign insolvency judgments would be the most effective solution.

The analysis of the scientific legacy of the Austrian-American international lawyer Joseph Lawrence Kunz (1890–1970) holds particular relevance for studying the history of modern and contemporary foreign science of international law. This research adapts methodological tools from intellectual history, legal hermeneutics, and formal logic to examine Kunz’s conceptual framework regarding systemic transformations in international law and its doctrine during the 20th century. The study reveals that Kunz critically assessed the conflation of public and private international law scholarship, considering such approaches theoretically flawed and detrimental to the development of what he viewed as the only genuine legal science — that of public international law. While acknowledging unprecedented changes in international law since 1914, Kunz observed that emerging new branches of international law, the shift from private to public legal instruments, the proliferation of international organizations, and other novel trends in international relations had sparked intense debates among various schools of thought: legal positivism, sociological approaches to international law, natural law theory, and other doctrinal movements. The paper demonstrates that Kunz partially shared the optimistic vision of international law evolving toward a «global society», emphasizing that the science of international law must respond promptly and adequately to these transformations. However, contemporary trends toward a multipolar world order reaffirm the centrality of pluralism among sovereign states rather than the formation of a monistic «global society». The research findings hold pedagogical value for theoretical and historical studies of international law.

The improvement of the organization of court proceedings is an urgent task for the development of the judicial system of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the study is to identify problems that impede the progressive development of court proceedings in the Russian Federation. The paper discloses the main regulatory, administrative, managerial and organizational reasons and circumstances that adversely affect the effectiveness of Russian legal proceedings. Against the background of these problems, the official burden on the judge’s office continues to grow. Many judges’ offices are not capable to fulfill official duties in a timely manner and in accordance with established internal regulations. Problematic issues of the powers of judges and excessive responsibility of court staff also negatively affect the development of legal proceedings in the Russian Federation, create conditions for high staff turnover in the judicial system. The paper justifies the need to eliminate the identified organizational problems of court proceedings. In conditions of decentralized office work, the powers of the judge’s office should be clearly regulated. In order to develop and improve the efficiency of the centralized records management system, it is proposed to establish a new position — a junior clerk of the court session.