Free legal aid is the activity of professionals providing legal services gratuitously to certain categories of citizens in the course of exercising their constitutional right to qualified legal assistance. The significance of this legal institution is demonstrated by the State’s particular attention to its progressive development and by its demand among citizens when exercising and protecting their rights and lawful interests. At the same time, the provision of free legal aid gives rise to a number of problems stemming from deficiencies in its regulation, ambiguous interpretation, and practical difficulties. A study of the legal regulation and of the implementation of the principles governing the provision of free legal aid has made it possible to identify the causes and adverse consequences of these problems, and to formulate a set of measures to resolve them and to advance State policy aimed at improving the institution of free legal aid.

In the context of developing geopolitical processes characterized by a range of challenges and threats, heightened scholarly attention has been directed toward the sphere of international cooperation. States that seek to construct a unified space of dialogue and trust-based partnership ground their relations of confidence in a shared system of values. The paper substantiates the significance of values as sociocultural determinants shaping the functioning of educational systems and informing their strategic approaches to international engagement. The potential of the educational sphere is conceptualized as a novel strategic mechanism for communication and institutionalization of trust within interstate relations. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of maintaining continuous dialogue in the scientific and technological domain, irrespective of external factors.

The author highlights the integrative role of the Russian language as a unifying medium connecting diverse peoples across different religions and cultures. Educational migration is examined as a preferable instrument for sustaining demographic indicators without generating social tension. The study explains the continuation of diplomatic approaches wherein culture, language, and education function as instruments of soft power in an era marked by profound and often rigid transformations. Finally, the paper identifies the development of normative legal mechanisms designed to foster mutual trust among cooperating States in the fields of science and education as a matter of critical importance.

In the 2021 Strategy for the National Security of the Russian Federation (hereinafter — SNS2021), the preservation of the population and the development of human potential are simultaneously categorized as both strategic priorities and national interests of the Russian Federation. This characterization is not entirely accurate with respect to the substantive meaning of these terms as set forth in SNS2021. The paper substantiates a proposal to reformulate the expression of the relevant national interest of the Russian Federation as follows: ensuring stable demographic development of Russia; the realization and development of human capacities; and the improvement of citizens’ quality of life and wellbeing. This national interest and strategic priority are positioned in SNS2021 as the foremost priorities at present. Particular attention is devoted to the examination of the legal nature of the concepts «preservation of the population», «development of human potential», «quality of life», and «wellbeing». The influence of external and internal factors on the determination of strategic priorities for national security and on the sequencing of those priorities in strategic planning documents is analyzed. The principal directions of state activity for implementing population preservation and the development of human potential, the existing problems in this area, and avenues for their resolution are identified. It is concluded that the preservation of the population and the development of human potential can be achieved only through support for the family, the development of social infrastructure, the strengthening of spiritual, cultural, and family values, and the overcoming of the country’s demographic crisis. The implementation of these measures will ensure attainment of the requisite level of national security for the Russian Federation.

In connection with ensuring the country’s food security, there is presently a need to further develop the system of legal regulation governing the quality of food products in the domestic market; specifically, it is necessary to adjust regulatory practice in light of the actual scale and methods of food adulteration. The purpose of this study is to analyze and systematize the principles and directions of legal regulation of food quality in the food market. The situation in the nationwide food market and in the regional food market of the Middle Urals is examined. The necessity of strengthening both external and internal oversight of the quality of food production and distribution, amending and harmonizing existing legislation, is substantiated. A negative trend associated with the growing adulteration of food products, namely, the decline in the quality of products consumed, is identified. The need to enhance consumers’ economic and legal literacy and to develop measures for the protection of their rights is justified. The expediency of the prompt adoption of a federal law «On Environmental Culture» and an Environmental Code of the Russian Federation, with a clear definition of environmental standards applicable to the production and circulation of food products, is advanced. A more systematic study and utilization of accumulated international experience in legally counteracting the production and circulation of adulterated food products is proposed, particularly with respect to combating new technologies of food adulteration, addressing smuggling practices, mitigating the risks arising therefrom, and strengthening public and governmental oversight in the protection of the lawful rights of food consumers.

Stablecoins are digital assets whose significance for the global payments infrastructure is rapidly increasing. As global regulation becomes more transparent, stablecoins are evolving from instruments used primarily for cryptocurrency trading into critical solutions for enhancing the efficiency and programmability of payments, disbursements, and remittances. The paper analyzes emerging applications of stablecoins, including pilot projects of the international payment systems Visa and Mastercard, initiatives of the interbank system SWIFT to integrate blockchain infrastructure, and projects aimed at creating national stablecoins. Particular attention is devoted to a comparative review of regulatory approaches adopted in various jurisdictions (the United States, the People’s Republic of China, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, et al.), including requirements relating to reserves, disclosure, redemption, and compliance. In light of the expanding use of stablecoins in cross-border settlements, the article examines debated issues concerning their legal classification and prospective directions for their regulation under Russian law.

One of the consequences of the emergence and development of the information society has been the increased capacity to exert negative informational and psychological influence on the individual psyche and public consciousness of Internet users. In circumstances where information intermediaries fail to comply with the requirements of Russian legislation restricting access to unlawful content, administrative-law restrictions in the communications sector — specifically, the «modification of telecommunications message routing» — have been imposed upon them. The purpose of this article is to determine the legal grounds, procedure, and appropriateness of applying this type of restriction. The principal finding is that communications-sector restrictions applied to information intermediaries result in limiting users’ access not only to destructive informational resources but also to beneficial information, thereby affecting the extent to which the right to freely seek, receive, and access information, the dissemination of which is not prohibited by law, is realized.

The paper is devoted to an examination of the legal nature of self-help within the framework of civil law. The study provides a critical analysis of approaches in civil-law doctrine to defining this category, with particular emphasis on the debated issue of whether self-help should be characterized as a method of exercising a particular civil-law entitlement. The discussion centers on the conformity of methods of self-help with the nature of subjective civil rights, secondary rights, and other legal forms. The paper substantiates the thesis that the implementation of self-help measures is mediated predominantly by factual rather than juridical acts, which renders self-help incompatible with the conventional mechanism for exercising subjective rights. The conditions for the lawfulness of self-help measures are examined in detail, including their connection with substantive, legally significant facts and the principle of proportionality. Particular attention is devoted to defining the object of civil-law protection in the context of self-help. The traditional approach, which reduces protection to the protection of a subjective right, is challenged, and the necessity of recognizing a legally protected interest as the sole object of protection is argued. The influence of a tendency in judicial practice toward the eclectic amalgamation of self-help measures with various legal institutions (juridical acts, secondary rights, and others) on the theoretical consolidation of this legal phenomenon is analyzed. In light of the foregoing arguments, the paper advances the hypothesis that self-help may be most adequately interpreted as an element of the dynamic legal capacity of a civil-law subject, requiring further theoretical elaboration and empirical verification.

The paper examines the criteria of originality and creative character of outputs generated by neural networks as necessary and sufficient conditions for their recognition as copyrightable objects. The study substantiates the conclusion that a prompt possesses legal significance as a special form of expression of the author’s intent and as evidence of the author’s creative contribution. The methods of recording and preserving prompts are analyzed in detail. By way of illustration, the paper reviews selected judicial decisions from Russia, China, the United States, and Italy where the possibility of copyright protection for AI-generated outputs was at issue. Two models of contractual regulation governing the use of generative platforms are identified: the «neural network as tool» model, under which exclusive rights initially vest in and subsequently belong to the user; and the «neural network as service» model, which предусматривает the transfer of proprietary rights to the holder of exclusive rights in the software complex (the generative platform), followed by the grant to the user of a limited license. The author concludes that, where a generative model is installed locally, the relationship should be characterized as a license agreement, whereas in the case of a cloud-based architecture it should be classified as a mixed contract incorporating elements of both a license agreement and a contract for compensated services.

The rapid spread of artificial intelligence (AI) in all spheres of society has also affected the area of corporate governance. While foreign scholars are actively exploring the prospects and challenges of using algorithms in corporate management, this topic has not received sufficient attention in Russian-language legal literature. The aim of this study is to fill this gap. The author identifies and examines a number of problematic aspects arising from the implementation of AI systems in corporate governance, stemming both from the general characteristics of artificial intelligence (lack of transparency and explainability, possible algorithmic bias) and from traditional corporate governance issues (the agency problem, duties and responsibilities of governing bodies, the impact of corporate activities on stakeholders). Solutions to the main problems associated with the use of AI in corporate management are proposed.

The paper provides a historical and legal analysis of the institution of setoff in Russian legal science, covering three key periods: pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern. It demonstrates the formation of three competing theoretical models: the automatic setoff theory, the theory of unilateral declaration of will, and the contractual theory of setoff. The existence of procedural and substantive approaches to the nature of offset, which developed in pre-revolutionary civil law and have survived to the present day, has been established. It has been revealed that the legal nature of setoff cannot be unambiguously reduced to either the method of terminating obligations or the form of their fulfillment. The paper substantiates the essential contradiction between the basic legal structure of setoff and the principles of bankruptcy proceedings, which has been transformed into the modern principle of equality of creditors. It is argued that the current stage of development of the institute is characterized by the increasing role of judicial interpretation and the formation of the concept of setoff as a specific form of due execution. The results of the study demonstrate the continuity of doctrinal developments under minimalist legislative regulation, as well as the need for further theoretical understanding of the dualistic nature of setoff.

The paper is devoted to the protection of classified information in criminal proceedings in Russia. The authors analyze the state of the institution of witness immunity in relation to official, professional and other types of secrets. A number of aspects of the investigator’s interrogation of persons possessing official secrets without a court order have been identified as unsettled. In addition, it was concluded that there are contradictions between the duty of persons possessing classified information to maintain secrecy and the duty to give testimony during criminal proceedings. The paper examines the theoretical component of the possibilities and methods of overcoming witness immunity in criminal proceedings. The Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation does not sufficiently regulate the protection of official, professional, business and personal secrets. The paper substantiates the need to increase the effectiveness of ensuring official secrets in domestic criminal proceedings and the inadmissibility of arbitrary declassification of information related to classified information, at the discretion of the investigator (inquiry officer). The authors insist on the introduction of judicial control over the activities of the investigator (inquiry officer) in the event of the interrogation of a person possessing information classified as classified information, in the absence of permission for interrogation from the body or official responsible for maintaining official secrets.

The paper examines the specifics of legal regulation regarding the disclosure by an advocate of information received from a client without the client’s consent, including information constituting attorney-client privilege. The author demonstrates that in law enforcement practice the parties to the legal relations in question are guided by paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Code of Professional Ethics of Lawyers, which permits the lawyer to perform the specified actions when considering a civil dispute between him and the client or for his own defense in disciplinary proceedings or a criminal case initiated against him. However, this provision contradicts subparagraph 5 of paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Federal Law of 31.05.2002 No. 63-FZ «On Attorney Activities and Advocacy in the Russian Federation», which contains a prohibition on the disclosure of information received from the client without their consent. To eliminate this legal conflict, it is proposed to amend the Federal Law «On Attorney Activities and Advocacy in the Russian Federation» by establishing a provision identical in content to Part 4 of Article 6 of the Code of Professional Ethics of Advocates.

The practice of states deploying military formations on the territories of foreign states, being an instrument of their foreign policy, can become a factor of tension in interstate relations. In this regard, the study of legal grounds for the termination of foreign military presence takes on particular relevance. Having analyzed interstate practice, the author identifies the following international legal grounds for the liquidation of foreign military bases: the conclusion of an agreement between the state controlling the military base and the state on whose territory the base is located; a unilateral decision of the state controlling the military base; a unilateral decision of the state that has leased the territory for the establishment of a military base. At the same time, unilateral decisions must not contradict the norms of international law that establish grounds for unilateral withdrawal from an international treaty, which is predetermined by the contractual nature of relations related to the deployment of military bases on the territories of foreign states. Particular attention is given to the analysis of the situation with the US leasing of areas for coal and naval bases in Cuba based on bilateral agreements. Since the issues of establishing and liquidating foreign military bases are politically charged, the only realistic way to prevent complications in interstate relations on this basis, in the author’s opinion, is a high-quality forecast of all possible consequences associated with the presence of foreign military bases on the territory of a state, which should precede the conclusion of international agreements on bases.

The issue of security in space activities is becoming increasingly acute due to scientific and technological advancements. Cybersecurity plays a crucial role in maintaining the smooth operation of satellite systems, and its legal framework is one of the most controversial issues in the global community. Space infrastructure is vulnerable to cyber threats of both technical and social engineering nature. This paper examines initiatives to address the issue of ensuring cybersecurity of space systems at the national, regional, and international legal levels. It also analyzes the key issues to be addressed at the initial stage of developing the relevant legal framework. It also assesses the impact of cybersecurity of space infrastructure on space traffic management. In conclusion, the need to resolve issues of ensuring cybersecurity in space activities primarily at the level of multilateral negotiations is emphasized, and options for solving this problem are proposed.

The study analyzes the legal framework for countering cyber threats to digital equipment of election commissions in the United States of America. The author concludes that, despite the lack of established and unified norms at the federal legislative level, the legal basis for the work of election commissions in terms of ensuring the security of digital equipment can generally be characterized as satisfactory. The presence of significant legal gaps is largely compensated by the influence of two mutually influencing factors. On the one hand, the US Election Assistance Commission and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency provide US election officials with high-quality methodological support to counter cyber threats. On the other hand, the system of informal bipartisan control over the organization of elections ensures that election organizers comply with most of the recommendations of federal bodies, since ignoring them by any of the political forces implies giving the competing party a possible advantage.

The issue of protecting labor rights in the BRICS countries remains relevant due to differences in legal systems and approaches to resolving labor disputes. A comparison of national systems for protecting workers’ rights in Russia, Brazil, India, China, and South Africa reveals both common trends and unique features due to historical, economic, and legal differences. The BRICS member states in question acknowledge the existence of two main forms of protection, judicial and extra-judicial, but their organizational models and the relationship between them differ significantly. Brazil, India and South Africa have specialized labor courts, while Russia and China have not established such courts. Non-judicial mechanisms include the activities of labor inspectorates, trade unions, and alternative dispute resolution procedures, including conciliation, mediation and arbitration. Based on an analysis of the legislation and judicial practice of the BRICS countries under consideration, the strengths and weaknesses of national models were identified. Particular attention is given to the Russian system, with proposed areas for improvement taking into account international experience and modern trends in the development of labor law.