Review of the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Third Baskin Readings. Law and State of the Information Era: New Challenges and Prospects” (St. Petersburg, April 28, 2021)

In the review of the conference “The Third Baskin Readings. Law and State of the Information Era: New Challenges and Prospects” presents a summary of the main theses of the speakers on the problems of digitalization, the concept and protection of human rights and freedoms in a digital society, the role of artificial intelligence, transformation of law as such and other issues. The speakers generally concluded that there was no special change in the legal system for the needs of digitalization, concluded that law as a social phenomenon has a high degree of adaptability to changing conditions, and the use of new technologies should not affect the content of legal regulation as a whole. However, during the discussion, it is proposed to consider new signs of law, for example, “seriousness of law” in relation to the theory of the game. The participants come to the conclusion that the world is multipolar and at the same time there can be various structures of law and state, characteristic of different stages of socio-economic development of societies.

Dualism of Public Relations Regulation (Legal and Regulatory Regulation)

The article examines the issues of differentiation of the regulation of public relations, defined primarily by the differentiation of public relations, and then inherent in their legal forms (based on self-regulation) and external regulatory forms (based on power regulations). The need to renounce the traditional differentiation of the right to industry, including its division into so-called private and public law, is justified because it reflects external forms of expression of law, i.e. differentiation of legislation governing a variety of public relations, divided into private and public relations. The notion of dualism (pluralism) of the law must be replaced (or at least interpreted) with the notion of dualism of the regulation of public relations, meaning legal and regulatory regulation, with all the ensuing consequences. Such an approach implies the need to clarify the entire terminology range of jurisprudence. This article discusses issues such as the legal and regulatory regime (mechanism) of public relations regulation, legal and regulatory principles for regulating public relations, legal and regulatory legal facts, as circumstances that are the basis for the emergence, change and termination of legal relations and power relations.

The Specter of Digital Rights

In the article, the author examines the problem of the impact of technological changes on the legal regulation of public relations, namely the development of digital technologies, how significant such an impact turned out to be and whether, in this regard, significant changes in the principles and mechanisms of legal regulation are required. It is asserted in the article that the problem how to adapt existing legal forms in order to address inevitable changes in public relationships (does not matter what the cause of these changes is: the so called “digitalization” or something else) may be relatively easily resolved. What we need to do is to segregate those aspects of the factual side of relationships in question that should have legal consequences from the rest, that is from those aspects that may be ignored by law. In order to illustrate this thesis the author considers two examples: the semiconductor chip protection and the electronic signature as a way to identify an entity who expressed a will. The author comes to the conclusion that the existing legal instruments for regulating the emerging new factual relations are sufficient, but they must be used correctly. The author gives examples of such law enforcement within the framework of the article.

Reinforcement of the Papuan Traditional Communal Rights for the Control of Land and Natural Resources

The ulayat rights of Papuan customary law communities over control of land and natural resources are rights granted by laws and regulations with a number of special powers. This study aims to analyze and provide a conception of strengthening the customary rights of the Papuan customary law community to control over land and natural resources. This research method uses a normative-juridical legal research type, which refers to the legal norms of legislation (statute approach), as well as legal theories and principles as supporters. This research is descriptiveanalytical, using qualitative analysis methods. The results of this study indicate that although the regulation of the customary rights of the Papuan customary law community has been in place for a long time, there are some basic things that need to be considered. Several regulations in the Perdasus do not represent the Papua Special Autonomy Law and tend to be contradictory. These provisions raise a number of problems for the Papuan indigenous peoples with regard to land ownership and the use of natural resources.

Trust as a Factor in the Legitimization of the Law in the Digital State

The article deals with a complex of issues related to trust in the legal system. The problem of understanding trust from the perspective of various types of understanding of law is revealed. The analysis of trust as a factor of legitimation of law is carried out. The author comes to the conclusion that trust in law allows us to reveal the issues of the effectiveness of the law. Trust in the modern digital state is connected with the principle of deliberation in the process of making public legal decisions.

On the Issue of Distinguishing Individual and Group Training Activities in the Context of the Spread of the New Coronavirus Infection COVID-19

The subject of the article is the issue of distinguishing individual and group training activities, the importance of which has increased in the context of the spread of the new coronavirus infection COVID-19. The authors consider the existing legal regulation in the field of organizing and conducting training events, as well as issues that arise in practice. Proposals are put forward to eliminate the existing “gaps” in the legislation.

On Bringing the Controlling Debtor to Subsidiary Liability (Clause in the Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in the Case of Checking the Constitutionality of Clause 3.1 of Article 3 of the Federal Law “On Limited Liability Companies” Dated May 21, 2021 No. 20-P)

The article touches upon the problem of attracting persons controlling the debtor in the light of the clause on the interpretation of paragraph 3.1 of Art. 3 of the Federal Law “On Limited Liability Companies”, which was made by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in the Resolution of May 21, 2021 No. 20-P. In particular, the Constitutional Court indicated that the conclusion made in the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation related to the subject matter of this case cannot in itself be considered as excluding the application of the same approach to the distribution of the burden of proof in cases where another subject acts as a creditor, rather than an individual, the obligation of the company to which arose not in connection with the implementation of entrepreneurial activities by the creditor. Illustrating the grounds for ambiguous interpretation laid down in such a phrase, the author concludes that a narrow approach is still preferable, when the clause is interpreted in favor of only such a creditor who is “another subject, the obligation of the entity to which arose not in connection with carrying out entrepreneurial activity”. According to the author, such a conclusion is not only consistent with the idea of fairness in the distribution of the burden of proof in terms of the status of creditors, but is generally consistent with the general prohibition on taking advantage of unfair behavior.

On the Issue of Pre-Contractual Liability Qualification

The article is devoted to the study of the problem of the protectability of literary works and their components, expressed in the application of the doctrine of the protected form and unprotected content of a literary work as the main concept in domestic legislation and judicial practice. Within the framework of this article, the distinguished legally significant elements under Russian law, the criteria for their protection are analyzed. The author analyzes the influence of the teachings of I. G. Fichte on the protected form and unprotected content on the provisions of legislative acts regulating copyright protection, as well as cases of granting legal protection based on the criterion of the author’s creative work, for example, in relation to such elements of a literary work as the name and character.

Exercise of Civil-Law Rights: Categories in the Context of Their Digitalization

With digital rights designated to the objects of civil rights in Art. 128 of the Civil Code, Art. 141.1 amended to include their legal definition, and a new wording of Art. 309 introducing ‘smart contracts’, the digital reform recently enacted in the Russian civil law has seen some major novelties. Needless to say, these accomplishments have challenged Russian civil law theorists. Discussions are underway to resolve both doctrinal and applied issues that had been more than obvious well before the legislative move which, according to one of the opinions, was an ‘admissible’ experiment. What remains now is to assess its viability. The author of this work set the goal to explore the way digital rights, primarily those that arise from ‘smart-contracts’, are (or can be) ‘exercised’. This is a perspective where a fundamental gap between ‘smart-contract’ and civil contract emerges. In the author’s view, efforts to overcome it by expanding the concept of subjective rights and the principles of contract law will not succeed. Since no proper verification of the interests of the parties to ‘smart contracts’, which are essentially a computer code, is available, and as the same refers to linguistic verification of their will, there is no way for ‘smart contracts’ to enter the domain of law. Digital ‘contracts’ are unapt to honour the principle of contractual equilibrium. The ‘self-execution’ of these contracts, as well as their inherent inability to be violated, are, if put in the civilistic context, their fatal flaw, and by no means a virtue. The article also shows that though instruments to ensure a relative irreversibility of rights are not unfamiliar to private law, they cannot serve as an excuse for such regime in contract obligations. That fixation of rights and transactions in digital form has become fully enshrined in the civil law is arguably the only compatible with its principles as well as much anticipated impact the digital reform has brought about.

The Image of Law Enforcement Agencies: Current Status and Practices to Improve It

In the current context of heightened economic and socio-political conflicts around the world, there is a crisis of confidence in the state institutions that provide public security. The authors of the article consider the problem of forming the image of law enforcement agencies in the Russian Federation and abroad as a way to increase confidence in the state system. An analysis of the current state of the Russian law enforcement system’s image is presented as well as the analysis of some reasons for the negative attitude of the population towards employees of penitentiary institutions and the role of mass media in shaping the image of law enforcement agencies. The analysis of the current state of the law enforcement system’s image is supplemented by a review of the results of studies of the reputation of law enforcement bodies in the US and European countries. Successful domestic and foreign practices of reputation enhancement and improvement of interaction with the population are analyzed, such as: informing on the activity and employees of law enforcement agencies in social networks, interaction with the population through specialized electronic portals and social networks, popularization of thematic books, films and TV series etc. The authors of the article proposed a set of measures to form a positive image of the law enforcement system, increase public confidence in the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation in the framework of the Center for Public Security and Law Enforcement Research at the North-West Institute of Management of the RANEPA.