In the article, the author substantiates the conclusion that the reasonableness of behavior of a subject of civil law is expressed in his aspiration, while exercising his rights and performing his duties, to commensurate his behavior with common sense, general perceptions of prudence and economic feasibility, rights and legally protected interests of other participants of relations regulated under civil law.

Based on the analysis of legislation and practice of its application, the author comes to the conclusion that the main objectives of the principle of reasonableness in civil law include: encouragement of participants of relations regulated under civil law to behave responsibly and conscientiously; establishment of the presumption of compensatory nature and equivalence of the scope of considerations provided for under obligations arising in civil law relations; enforcement of the application of adequate measures of civil liability in case of default on or improper performance of obligations, etc. 

The Russian Federation has not adopted any law regulating normative legal acts, whereas in a number of CIS countries such laws have been in force for almost two decades, and the legal regulation of relations in question is being constantly improved. This experience may well be taken into account in domestic research, including the studies aimed at providing scientific support of the law-making activity. The last quarter of the 20th century is characterized by digitalization and informatization of the legal system; laws on normative legal acts of the CIS countries can serve as quite good indicators of these processes. They demonstrate modern trends in the development of legislation with due regard to the information capabilities of the Internet, information and reference systems. Computer technologies are actively used to represent legislation in electronic form (register, data bank, including Internet resource), to promulgate and bring into legal force normative legal acts, to provide access to the current legislation (including publication of adopted normative legal acts in unofficial information and reference systems, on websites of state bodies, non-governmental organizations) in activities aimed at systematizing legislation. Comparative legal characteristics of the legislation of the CIS countries may well be in demand during the development and discussion of the draft Russian Law on normative legal acts.

The article is devoted to the examination of legal liability in the sphere of insolvency (bankruptcy) in Russia during the period from 18th to 19th centuries. Within the framework of the study, the author has analyzed peculiarities of the design of the legal norms of Tsarist Russia regulating liability in the sphere of bankruptcy and considered the categories of debtors. The author examines the current legislation dividing debtor’s liability for insolvency (bankruptcy) into liability under criminal, administrative and civil law, highlights the correlation between the types of liability in question. In addition, the author has carried out a comparative study of legal liability in the sphere of bankruptcy with the help of historical method, identified causes and gaps of the legal regulation of liability issues for debtor’s insolvency (bankruptcy).

The article investigates the process of development of the system of punishments applied without isolation from society in the Russian criminal law during the period from the 9th century till 1917. On the basis of the analysis of the most important written sources of law, the author concludes that deprivation of liberty had not been applied as a type of criminal punishment until the 16th century. The type of punishment under consideration had the features of an ecclesiastical and repentant penalty. The leading role in the system of punishment was assigned to various types of fines, monetary penalties, mutilation (maiming) penalties and death penalty. Sentences alternative to deprivation of liberty were commonly used during the reign of Peter the Great for the purpose of using convicts in state-building facilities. The tendency to punish minor crimes by imposing monetary penalties or public works instead of imprisonment was initiated during the reign of Catherine the Second and was finally outlined by the middle of the 19th century. Until 1917, types of punishment that did not envisaged isolation from society prevailed in the Russian system of criminal penalties.

Professionalization of ethics in the first quarter of the 21st century leads to the fact that it increasingly acts as a regulator of behavior of representatives of all branches of government: legislative, executive and judiciary. To this end, scholars — authors of modern concepts of political ethics — increasingly correlate fundamental ethical values with the features of modern politics, law, democratic organization of the society that put forward as fundamental such ethical qualities as professionalism, discipline, financial integrity, political correctness, prevention of malpractice and power abuse in the activities of members of the Council of Federation and deputies of the State Duma in their interpersonal and intergroup relations.

Since the authority of the Parliament, as the highest legislative (representative) body, largely depends on personal and moral qualities, ethical standards of behavior of holders of state authorities should be enshrined not only in the regulations of the Chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, but also in an independent normative legal act — the code of ethics regulating ethical behavior of the lawmakers and responsibility for its violation. The adoption of such an important codified act will make it possible to control the individual, personal and behavioral characteristics of parliamentarians, their interaction with the public, the mass media, to establish uniform moral guidelines for parliamentarians and voters and directions of the legislative activity. 

The article considers the main achievements in the field of genetic engineering and biomedicine in the context of formation of the concept of legal regulation of relations in question. The article considers the issues of applying the human DNA editing technology considered by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in July 2018. The author substantiates the necessity of determining the legal status of the embryo for its use in clinical trials of gene modifications. The paper considers the risks regarding the use of genetic engineering in relation to the person associated with the possibility of social inequality in the society, application of eugenistic approaches, and the probability of selecting the quality characteristics of embryos by parents resorting to in vitro fertilization. The author concludes that it is necessary to form national and international legislation that will protect the rights and legitimate interests of all subjects and will exclude circumvention of the law and abuse of the right. In addition, it is important to ensure international and public control over the use of the latest advances in genetic engineering and biomedicine prior to conducting clinical trials on humans.

The global experience of giving treatment using human genome diagnostics and editing technologies in different countries shows different results. This sphere of public relations raises many disputes on a number of issues in the context of bad faith of those physicians who participate in carrying out the procedures under consideration. Unfortunately, wrongdoers in this area use modern technologies for their own sinister purposes. For the Russian Federation, the problem under consideration is not as urgent as for many more medically developed States. However, if such precedents take place abroad, with a high probability they should be expected in Russia. On this basis, it is necessary to review the legal regulation in terms of establishing penalties for offences in this area. The author analyzes the current normative legal regulation of domestic genetic engineering and gives some proposals for its reform.

The right of citizens to appeal to State bodies (local self-government bodies) and freedom of speech are important constitutional institutions. However, their unscrupulous implementation may violate other constitutional values, such as the dignity, honour and good reputation of the individual.

The conflict under consideration manifests itself when inadmissible appeals of citizens are submitted, namely, appeals containing unacceptable expressions or threats. At the same time, the current legal regulation of such situations is unsettled and contains in its basis assessment criteria, which leads to ambiguous practice of its application based on discretionary approach.

The article reveals the problems of legal regulation of qualification of inadmissible appeals of citizens and suggests ways of their solution. 

The article analyzes lobbying activities, as well as lobbying as a factor in the development of parliamentary conciliation procedures. The author examines various legal and non-legal factors influencing different institutions of constitutional law including parliamentary conciliation procedures. The article provides the provisions of normative legal acts of the Russian Federation that form the basis for institutionalization of lobbying activity in Russia. Various instruments of institutionalization of lobbying in Russia are considered. The practice of lobbying is subject to research. The auther determines specific institutions of lobbyists’ influence used by them in their activity. The paper represents opinions of scholars and practitioners whose views are directed to parliamentarism in general and lobbyism in particular. The article contains definitions of lobbying and lobbying activities. According to the results of the analysis, the author identifies the main problems of the impact the lobbying activity has on parliamentary conciliation procedures, gives proposals for improvement of the normative and legal regulation and the primary elimination of the negative impact of lobbying on parliamentary conciliation procedures.

The modern socio-economic context of shared consumption (sharing economy) sets new goals and objectives of using joint activities.

The article presents the main theoretical and practical problems of types of the partnership agreement as an organizational agreement, forms of organization and conduct of joint activity.

The article is prepared with due regard to the reform of contract law of the Russian Federation, new trends in the science of civil law and in law enforcement practice. Also, the article takes into account the jurisprudence that contains new approaches to the interpretation of an obligation and agreement under consideration. In this regard, the decisions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (for example, the Decision dated March 24, 2016 No. 7 “On Application by Courts of Certain Provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation Concerning the Breach of the Obligations,» 22 November 2016 No. 54 “On Certain Issues of Application of General Provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on Obligations and Their Performance”) are subjected to thorough examination.

Particular attention is paid to the legal nature, constitutional features of certain types of the partnership agreement, their manifestations in modern civil legislation and practice of application. 

The paper considers the issues of such a phenomenon as arbitrability, as well as its correlation with the categories of jurisdiction and competence. The study of arbitrability is relevant in the light of the resonant practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on issues of arbitrability of certain categories of disputes that has been taking place in recent years. Arbitrability is a relatively new term in domestic science and practice. Although it has received quite a wide resonance, it still not implemented in domestic regulatory legal acts. The author attempts to determine arbitrability, as well as considers existing approaches and views on arbitrability. Foreign and domestic doctrinal views on arbitrability are divided, as well as various understandings of this phenomenon. An important aspect is the differentiation of competence, jurisdiction and arbitrability. The need for diligent work to create and develop “rules of arbitrability” and “elements of arbitrability” at the legislative level is noted. The author notes that arbitrability is also a process of research by the arbitration or court of the elements that make it up.

As the result of the active development of electronic (digital) technologies and the consequent change in the characteristics of labor as a social phenomenon the so-called atypical forms of employment emerged and spread. This trend is typical for both foreign countries and the Russian Federation. However, the lag in the legal regulation of atypical forms of employment in our country raises various problems of law enforcement. In turn, the need to understand the new properties of labor performed within the framework of atypical forms of employment, the analysis of the modification of classical features of labor relations developed by the domestic science of labor law represent the reason for the lack of the relevant legal regulation. The article attempts to trace such modification on the example of norms regulating distance work and enshrined in Chapter 49.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation with due regard to the emerging practice of their application.

The paper examines the problems arising in connection with relieving from criminal responsibility provided for in Art. 76.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (given its latest changes). The first of them refers to the title of the named article. The second problem concerns acts in the commission of which relief is possible. The third problem is the claim for damages as a condition for relief. The fourth problem is related to the nature of relief. The fifth problem is reflected in the procedural form of relief. In each case, the author suggests ways to resolve the identified problems.

The paper is devoted to determining the moment of criminal responsibility and its content. The positions existing in science and practice are analyzed. The point of view on the occurrence of criminal responsibility at the moment when a person is being charged with a crime is substantiated. This opinion is supported by an analysis of Art. 299 and 305 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The relationship between the characteristics of the subjective side of the crime and the emergence of criminal responsibility is demonstrated. The content of criminal responsibility has been examined both in the criminal law and in the criminal procedure aspect. The emergence and termination of criminal responsibility, as well as its content, are examined, inter alia, through the prism of the grounds for relief from it provided for in Sec. 11 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Other measures of a criminal legal nature have been studied as constituting criminal responsibility. The issue of the possibility or impossibility of including them in the content of criminal responsibility has been resolved. The classification of the components forming the content of criminal responsibility is proposed. The definition of criminal responsibility is formulated, which, according to the author, should be enshrined in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The features of the investigative actions carried out at the initial stage of the investigation of criminal privacy violations are considered. It is noted that in the process of selecting investigative actions and determining their sequence, the investigator builds up an investigation algorithm that takes into account the characteristics of the crime and the investigative situation. When choosing the investigative actions at the initial stage of the investigation, it should be borne in mind that they should be orienting and searching. 

The features of the production of interrogations of the victim and witnesses, a search, seizure and investigative examination of objects and documents are examined. An important source of guidance information is the receipt of information relevant to establishing the circumstances of the crime under investigation from organizations that provide communication services.

It is concluded that the high-quality production of investigative actions of the initial stage of the investigation, taking into account the specifics of criminal violations of privacy and the correct assessment of their results, should contribute to the development of versions of the involvement of specific individuals in the commission of the crime. 

The author proves the appropriateness of the application of the term “anti-culture” rather than “subculture” and for the first time proposes the introduction of the term “outculture”, which denotes the process of adopting values that are contrary to generally accepted ones. Based on the analysis of criminal anti-culture, the author proposes to apply an integrated approach aimed at developing a number of personal resources in minors that create a psychological basis for opposing the imposition and adoption of criminal ideology; toughening responsibility for involving minors in antisocial activities; Clause 5, Article 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation with the aim of the possibility of applying censorship in relation to the propaganda and romanticization of the attributes of the criminal world; propaganda of family values and patriotism; effective implementation of the concept of state family policy in the Russian Federation; improving the educational level of law enforcement officers in the field of developmental psychology, as well as youth groups; ensuring the availability of leisure for minors (the introduction of free circles and sections, involving minors in public life); state support for social projects that contribute to the formation of active citizenship and law-abiding behavior among young people, ensuring a targeted approach to these projects. The conducted scientific research allows us to study in more detail the phenomenon of criminal anti-culture, as well as draw conclusions about the possibility of introducing a number of preventive measures, which will reduce the level of deviant behavior in the youth environment.

The paper is devoted to the legal regulation of smart contracts in French law. The question of the admissibility of the use of smart contracts in economic relations is considered. Particular attention is given to the French legal doctrine in the issue of formulating the definition of “smart contract” and identifying its characteristic features, the various points of view of French legal scholars are compared. Examples of the most effective use of a smart contract in economic relations are given. The problems of applying contractual legal obligations and obligations of French law to smart contracts are considered. The importance of the oracle for the implementation of the smart contract and the features of its legal status under French law are disclosed.

The paper is devoted to a comparative analysis of payment systems using electronic technologies in the implementation of money transfer services in Russia and abroad. A comparative analysis of payment systems in the UK, USA, France, Switzerland with Russian payment systems is carried out, electronic information exchange systems used in national payment systems of states are considered. The importance of the mentioned system for wholesale payment systems in any country of the world is noted. The author makes conclusions on progressive electronic payment management systems in the Russian Federation.

The legal uncertainty of the right to a favorable environment revealed by science is noted, which impedes its implementation. Two positions of scientists are analyzed — recognizing the right to a favorable environment as a subjective right and as a legitimate interest. As the right to a favorable environment is proclaimed in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and enshrined in environmental legislation, the author comes to the conclusion about the double legal nature of law. As a subjective right, it is directly enshrined in the Law “On Environmental Protection” and extends to a narrow circle of environmental relations to ensure environmental quality, and as a constitutional one, it expresses public, public interests enshrined in the preambles and principles of laws, in political and legal acts.

The paper discusses the mechanisms for terminating the right to use subsoil in order to protect the environment.

From the point of view of environmental protection, the problem of leaving a subsurface user with unreserved and (or) illiquid unclaimed and unsuitable wells for development is analyzed.

The cases of suspension, termination of the right of subsoil use are investigated, including those in the absence of formalized rights to land, forest plots, water bodies. Taking into account the experience of judicial practice, the means of protecting public interest aimed at preserving environmental components are evaluated. The author makes conclusions about establishing, among essential conditions, a license for the use of subsoil resources to conclude a lease contract for land and forest plots, and to obtain a decision on the provision of a water body before starting work and about the termination of the title right to use the corresponding land, forest plot, water body upon termination of the right to use subsoil. 

The paper examines the approaches to environmental zoning of territories presented in legal acts and legal doctrine, the relationship with the zones with special conditions for the use of territories used in urban planning legislation. The general approaches to determining the types of territories and zones, in relation to which a special regime of nature management and protection is established, are analyzed.

The following main ecological zones with a special regime of conservation and environmental management are identified: specially protected natural territories, health-improving places and resorts, nature protection zones around water bodies, sanitary protection and security zones, zones around a source of ionizing radiation, zones of ecological disaster, emergency situations, flooding, underflood, etc. In addition, the land use regime is affected by land categories and the established type of permitted use.

A brief outline of the requirements for ensuring the openness and accessibility of information about each of these territories and their legal regulation is given.

The authors conclude that the legal acts regulating this sphere are fragmented and that there is no integrated approach to their establishment. General recommendations are given on optimizing legal regulation in this area. 

The predominant interest of S.A. Muromtsev in Roman law and jurisprudence (legal thinking) in the 1870-1880s is due to their special role in the history of law and in the legal system of modern Europe, as well as the science of civil law. His research in this area was not so much historical as theoretical. It was works on Roman law that formed the S.A. Muromtsev’s scientific concept. Based on the analysis of the problem of the conservatism of Roman jurisprudence, S.A. Muromtsev, following R. Iering and contrary to the historical school, comes to the conclusion that the content of law is causally dependent on the needs of civil life and the activity of legal thinking (jurisprudence in the broad sense), formulating new standards in the struggle of ideas and goals. With this approach, along with economic and other factors of the development of society and its needs, to understand the development of law, it is important to study the properties of legal thinking in its historical development. The combination of historical and theoretical approaches to the study of law and legal thinking seems fruitful, but little realized in scientific practice.

The paper is a conversation between the scientific adviser of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Abdusalam Abdulkerimovich Guseynov and the activists of the philosophical and legal club “Moral Dimension of Law” headed by its scientific adviser — Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Artemov (Department of Philosophy and Sociology of the Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL)).