The paper analyzes the academic career of Igor Isaev, an authoritative scholar in history of the State and law, philosophy of law, and theory of the State and law. The author endeavored to trace the stages of Igor Isaev’s development as a researcher, the formation and transformation of his scientific interests, and analyze the main ideas and conclusions that guided the honoree. The author analyzes the major works of the researcher, highlighting the key concepts that influenced the development of the corresponding areas of scientific knowledge. The author focuses on Professor’s ideas that have become the foundation for many contemporary theories and scientific schools. Despite challenging teaching and professional career undertaken by Igor Isaev, his creative and inquisitive mind has always been busy with complex and important questions in both the theory of law and the theory of the State, as well as the history of law and philosophy. The issues related to the interaction of power and the State were of particular scientific interest. Igor Isaev’s contribution to science and its development is invaluable, and this work has been prepared as a way to pay tribute to the creativity of this great master.

On December 12, 2024, the remarkable theorist of law, the author of the post-classical communicative theory of law, and professor of the Department of Theory and History of Law and the State of St. Petersburg State University, Andrey V. Polyakov celebrated his 70th birthday. This article outlines the key milestones of his creative journey. A. V. Polyakov began his career as a historian of political and legal doctrines and is rightfully regarded as one of the foremost experts on the works by L. I. Petrazhitsky, V. S. Solovyov, P. I. Novgorodtsev, and other pre-revolutionary domestic classics. Their ideas largely led A. V. Polyakov to interpret legal communication as the foundation of legal reality and the principle of mutual legal recognition of rights and duties as an essential characteristic of law. Several years ago, a «naturalistic turn» took place in Polyakov’s work, which is intended to give greater scientificity to his post-classical communicative theory of law. Based on the data of neurosciences and evolutionary biology, Andrey Polyakov demonstrates that legal communication and the principle of mutual legal recognition have biological prerequisites that are found today in the brain neural processes. This does not reduce behavior and law to biology, but gives grounds for the convergence of jurisprudence with natural science. This naturalistic research program in the study of law is today, according to A. V. Polyakov, supplemented by the communicative anthropology of law. Although explicating the nature of law within such a naturalistic framework presents considerable challenges — particularly the need to resolve the problem of the complementarity between physical processes occurring in the human brain and the mental phenomena that constitute the self — its prospects cannot be dismissed. In congratulating A. V. Polyakov on his anniversary, I am confident that his inquiries into the nature of law will continue to enrich the scholarly community.

The paper examines the history of the formation of a special legal regime governing the activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), identifies promising directions for its development in the context of facilitating structural changes in the Russian economy, The author focuses on the issues related to the SMEs development and the establishment of priorities for their state support. The author proposes adjustments to the goals of state policy in the field of SME development. The study analyzes trends in the differentiation of the aforementioned special legal regime and the extension of its elements to the activities of other economic entities, distinguished both by sectoral characteristics (horizontal transfer) and by the size of a business (vertical transfer). The author gives a critical assessment regarding the regulation of creative industries beyond the scope of the specialized legislation on SME development. The paper provides recommendations for establishing a legal framework to support economic entities that exceed the maximum income size and/or the maximum number of employees set for SMEs, including a legislative proposal to formalize the term «super-medium enterprises». The paper concludes on the necessity of further personalizing the legal regime for SMEs and related business segments based on sectoral criteria and growth potential. This personalization should be implemented through data analysis employing artificial intelligence algorithms, utilizing information on available support measures, preferential operating conditions (including tax benefits), financial performance, development dynamics, and business longevity.

The consistent development of unification and harmonization processes within the regulatory framework of cross-border private-law relations driven by transactional needs and intertwined with technological, sanction-related, migration, epidemiological, and other factors of contemporary legal (and more broadly, civilizational) transformations, as well as the shift in the globalization paradigm of international relations toward a model of global regionalism, necessitates a profound understanding of emerging meanings of the uniform or aspiring-to-uniform legal regulation thus created. The paper examines the factors, patterns, historical specificities, current trends, and prospects for the convergence of legal systems through the instruments of private law unification and harmonization from the perspective of memetics — a developing interdisciplinary field employed across various branches of scientific knowledge to explain various aspects of human cultural evolution. The analysis reveals that unification and harmonization of private law serve as key mechanisms for the cross-border selection of memes, facilitating the rapprochement of legal systems and achieving regulatory uniformity in private-law relations involving a foreign element at interstate and non-state, universal and regional levels. The author draws conclusions regarding the evolution of the forms, nature, and actors involved in the unification and harmonization of private law alongside the development of social relations.

In the context of the imperative to intensify import substitution of innovative products, particularly in socially significant sectors, lawful utilization by Russian organizations of unused or insufficiently exploited within the Russian Federation foreign inventions, utility models, and industrial designs without the consent of patent holders, provided that they are notified and compensated in accordance with the procedures established by law, plays a crucial role. However, existing Russian legislation lacks sufficiently precise legal mechanisms to facilitate this process. Of particular importance is the urgent need for substantial modernization of the legal framework governing the use of patent-protected objects without the consent of patent holders in the interest of national security, as stipulated in Article 1360 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Based on a comprehensive analysis of both domestic and international practices in the legal regulation of patent relations, and taking into account Russia’s international obligations, the author makes proposals to reform this legal provision in order to accelerate import substitution processes. Specifically, it is proposed to introduce a model whereby lists of inventions, utility models, and industrial designs that are unused or underutilized within the Russian Federation would be compiled and published. Following such publication, any interested Russian organization meeting the general threshold would be able to submit applications for the use of the intellectual property results included in these lists. This model appears to be a more effective and optimal solution to the challenges Russia faces in achieving comprehensive and large-scale import substitution aimed at securing national technological sovereignty.

The paper examines the challenges associated with the organization and execution of prosecutorial inspections, based on the results of the author’s research focused on the fundamentals of prosecutorial supervisory tactics. The tactics under consideration are developed to achieve the objectives and fulfill the tasks of each supervision stage when issues related to prosecutorial supervision are identified. An analysis of doctrinal and practical sources demonstrated deficiencies in the regulatory legal framework governing prosecutorial supervision and review, characteristic of both Soviet-era and contemporary prosecutorial bodies. This situation adversely affects the development of supervisory activities carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation, the rule of law in the country, and the professional skill development of prosecutorial personnel. Given that tactics represent a key factor in enhancing effectiveness, the author proposes an algorithm for the development and implementation of prosecutorial oversight tactics for practical use by prosecutors. The proposed algorithm comprises specific elements that form a universal structure adaptable to any oversight stage depending on the conditions of the supervisory situation. The research findings demonstrate that this algorithm operates based on fundamental algorithmic constructs used in computer science. Considering the labor-intensive nature of tactical development, the author recommends employing digital technologies to rationalize work time allocation and to process and store large databases of information obtained during supervisory activities of prosecutorial bodies.

The events that prompted changes in federal legislation regulating public relations during mobilization or wartime have also highlighted the need to reassess the foundations of citizen’s law enforcement activities as part of the citizen patrol (people’s druzhina). In the Russian Federation, the key legal framework in this area is Federal Law No. 44-FZ of April 2, 2014 «On the Participation of Citizens in the Protection of Public Order».

To improve the effectiveness of citizen patrols, empirical research methods were used to study actual practices. The paper presents the results of surveys involving 818 citizens and 545 patrol members. The sociological survey aimed to gather data on how the public is informed about the activities of citizen patrols. Therefore, questionnaires and interviews were primarily conducted not in major cities but in Russian regions geographically distant from the central areas. The survey was conducted in the Altai Territory, Arkhangelsk, Kostroma, Lipetsk, Tambov, Ryazan, Samara regions, the Republic of Karelia, and the Udmurt Republic. The research yielded new ideas for improving the functioning of citizen patrols.

The article analyzes the effects of the 2022–2024 sanctions on international settlements practices, countermeasures and stabilization efforts, and proposes improvements to domestic legislation and EAEU law to ensure the economic security of the country and the Union, as well as to protect the interests of foreign trade participants. While sharing scholars’ view on the necessity of establishing a special currency regime in economic emergencies within currency legislation, the author emphasizes the mutual influence of currency regulations on state-controlled foreign trade and EAEU law, which should be reflected in the provisions of such a special regime. The boundaries of the new regional supranational financial market are being shaped under the influence of restrictions, while domestic legislation — including mutual trade payment regulations — is evolving in response to digitalization challenges. The following measures will contribute to economic security and the protection of foreign trade participants engaged in international settlements: Elimination of any influence of unfriendly actors on strategically critical financial market infrastructure; Cooperation between EAEU states and other regional financial market participants in the circulation of digital financial assets (DFAs) and the use of national digital currencies in mutual settlements, which should be reflected in EAEU law, as well as in agreements within the SCO and BRICS frameworks and in federal legislation; Establishment of a supranational payment system and a financial messaging system (SPFS), with potential integration of new financial market players.

This paper examines China’s system of constitutional supervision, which operates to review the constitutionality of legal norms. This system ensures strict compliance of all laws and regulations, including international treaties, with the Constitution, serving as a key instrument for safeguarding the unity of the legal framework. The study presents various concepts of constitutional review within Chinese legal doctrine and explores the relationship between the constitutional review system and the registration and review system. In conclusion, the paper reveals the role and shortcomings of China’s constitutional review mechanism and proposes innovative solutions for its improvement. Particular attention is given to the fact that China’s constitutional review system represents a unique mechanism of constitutional supervision, shaped by the specific features of the country’s political system and power structure after 2017. It fundamentally differs from the judicial constitutional review model practiced in continental Europe. Potential improvements include refining review criteria, enhancing public participation in oversight processes, and adopting specialized legislation on constitutional supervision. Furthermore, as China’s constitutional review system is still in its early stages of development, several critical issues remain to be addressed.

The article examines the key prospects and risks of using artificial intelligence (AI) in legislative activities and legal analytics in Russia and abroad. The relevance of the topic is driven by the growing application of AI in various areas of legal practice, including lawmaking, coupled with the insufficient level of its scholarly exploration. It is noted that AI in legal analytics enables rapid identification of laws regulating similar social relations, compilation of relevant legal materials, detection of legal conflicts, and identification of gaps in legal regulation. AI also facilitates prompt analysis of legal norms or enforcement mechanisms. However, adequate algorithms must be developed for automated processing and classification of regulatory acts, as even within a single legal system, they vary in form and structure. The analytical system must be capable of adapting to diverse data sources. The use of AI in lawmaking offers several advantages: a significant acceleration of data processing; identification of trends, errors, and contradictions in large volumes of information; rapid comparison of documents and drafting (or proposing) new texts based on existing templates. The following drawbacks have been identified: the risk of AI making incorrect decisions or exhibiting bias in drafting legislation; automated drafting of bills may reduce human influence on the legislative process, potentially undermining fundamental democratic principles and leading to catastrophic consequences.

The paper provides an overview of the panel discussion «Marine Insurance: How to Avoid Crashing against the Rocks?» held on March 26, 2025. The discussion was moderated by Mikhail Krotov, Head of the Maritime Law Department at Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL).. The panel addressed crucial and pressing issues in marine insurance and maritime law in general. Participants included representatives from the professional legal community interested in advancing maritime legal relations. The speakers examined the specifics of national regulations, international legal instruments, methods for overcoming the identified shortcomings, and optimal models for legal regulation. The event created a vital platform for constructive and productive dialogue, with outcomes that may serve as foundation for a roadmap to reform specialized regulations.