The paper examines the place and role of judicial doctrine in the Russian legal order that is evolving toward a new type of legal communication and normativity. The author addresses the dogmatic, systemic, procedural, cultural‑historical, and legal‑ideological dimensions of judicial doctrine as an element of the Russian legal order. The study presents the historical foundations of judicial thought in Russia and traces the roots of the dichotomy between judicial and legislative modes of social regulation. The paper concludes that the judiciary has played a key role in the development of Russian statehood and legal consciousness, and it identifies judicial doctrine as a crucial source of Russia’s legal identity. The study characterizes the evolution of Russian judicial doctrine in the twentieth century and its specific features in the twenty‑first century. It highlights the indicators of he contemporary procedural era, including the new relationship between judicial and non‑judicial mechanisms for the protection of rights; the shift from fragmented procedural tools to a unified complex of law’s social action and the emergence of hybrid models of judicial activity. The author advanced the thesis that judicial doctrine constitutes the central component of Russian judicial practice, and the argument is made that debates over the court’s direct lawmaking function have lost relevance. The paper suggests a change in approaches to the concept of the form of law, which now encompasses a variety of regulators of both technical and complex politico‑legal nature. It elucidates the role of judicial doctrine as an innovative element of the legal order and examines its legal‑ideological aspects, including its relationship to supranational jurisdictional concepts. Finally, it identifies current trends in the development of judicial doctrine in Russia.

The paper addresses underexplored issues in legal theory, including legislative silence, closed legislative lists, and the «opening» of such lists through the application of the contra legem doctrine, as well as supplementing these lists via the extra legem doctrine. For purposes of terminological precision, the author identifies two manifestations of legislative silence (legislative gap): legislative omission and deliberate legislative silence. A legislative gap may result not only from omission but also from deliberate silence on the part of the legislature. The study proposes the concept of a presumption of legislative omission, whereby, in the absence of factual evidence of the legislature’s conscious decision not to regulate certain relations, one should proceed from a rebuttable presumption that such non‑regulation is the result of legislative omission (error). This presumption may be rebutted by factual evidence confirming the legislature’s deliberate silence. Where the presumption of legislative omission applies, the gap may be filled through the extra legem doctrine as a means of legal development. A different approach applies in the case of closed lists. Given the specific legislative drafting technique inherent in closed enumerations (an implicit prohibition on performing legal acts involving elements not included in the list), the author notes that closed lists operate under a presumption of deliberate legislative silence. If, in the case of closed enumerations, this presumption is not rebutted, the list may be «opened» in accordance with fundamental principles of law, incorporating a new element through the contra legem doctrine of legal development.

The paper analyzes the legislative features of defining the concept and mandatory provisions of the employment contract. It substantiates the thesis that current legislation does not incorporate into the definition of an employment contract any mandatory characteristic without which such a contract cannot be concluded, and by which it can be distinguished from civil-law contracts entered into for the purpose of utilizing human labor. It further argues that legislatively granting courts the authority to recognize duly executed civil-law contracts as employment contracts is both impractical and detrimental, including to the economic security of the state. The article demonstrates the negative consequences for the protection of employees’ rights and lawful interests arising from the provision in Article 309.2 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which allows numerous micro‑enterprises and non‑profit organizations to refrain from adopting local normative acts and instead incorporate all terms of employment into the employment contract itself. The authors substantiate the adverse effect on labor dispute statistics (regarding the existence of employment relationships) of the provision in Article 16 of the Labor Code recognizing the emergence of such relationships based on the employee’s actual admission to work with the employer’s awareness or on the employer’s instruction. The paper proposes legislative and practical solutions to the aforementioned issues and provides definitions of an employment contract and employment relationship that should be incorporated into the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It further recommends the removal from the Labor Code of Article 19.1 and certain parts of Articles 11, 15, 16, and 67.

The article substantiates the legal status of conjoined twins as two independent subjects of law, based on the legislative approach that defines human life in terms of the life (functioning) of the brain. The separation of minor conjoined twins is permissible with the consent of their parents. However, a medical organization or the prosecutor may petition the court to authorize surgery for saving the children’s lives, disregarding the will or wishes of the legal representatives. Upon reaching the age of eighteen, the decision to undergo separation surgery or to refuse it may be made only jointly by both twins; as such, a decision simultaneously affects the life and health of each. The author argues that, due to the complete or partial loss of the ability to perform self‑care, move independently, or pursue education, the guardianship and trusteeship authority may, upon a joint written application by both adult conjoined twins, establish patronage over them and appoint two assistants. The paper proposes the inclusion in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation of a separate provision specifying the particularities of exercising both non‑property and property rights of conjoined twins. The analysis encompasses family rights and obligations of conjoined twins in relation to guardianship, marriage, and childbirth, taking into account current advances in medicine. The paper also addresses certain elements of the criminal‑law and criminal‑procedural status of conjoined twins. The determination of the consequences of a criminal offense committed by one or both conjoined twins must be based on the type of bodily connection between them and on whether each twin possesses individual consciousness.

The paper examines whether, when a debtor sells (assigns) a claim for the imposition of subsidiary (vicarious) liability against a person controlling the debtor, the purchaser also acquires the creditor’s claim against the debtor, the rights securing the debtor’s performance of the obligation, and other rights related thereto. The study is prompted by the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and concludes, citing the joint and several nature of the relevant claims, that the aforementioned rights transfer jointly and concurrently with the sale of the claim against the person brought to subsidiary (vicarious) liability. This approach is generally justified as necessary to resolve the problem of double liability (double recovery) that, in the Supreme Court’s view, may arise from an isolated assignment of the relevant claim. The paper criticizes the Supreme Court’s reasoning and advances an alternative position, including solutions that eliminate the risk of double liability for both the debtor and the person held subsidiarily (vicarious) liable.

Based on foreign research, domestic judicial practice, statistical data, and survey results, the author concludes that factors not constituting the direct subject of judicial examination nevertheless play a significant role in medical disputes subject to pre-litigation resolution. Patients do not consider their rights to be protected if they have not received an apology in cases of rights violations, and they regard the adoption of measures to prevent similar errors as necessary. Thus, in medical disputes, the protection of public and societal interests is of particular importance, being connected to the objective of eliminating medical errors affecting third parties in the future. In foreign legal systems, similar issues are addressed through the introduction of out‑of‑court dispute resolution mechanisms. The examined systems share the following characteristics: private procedures for resolving medical disputes operate as specialized institutions; arbitrators include both legal professionals and physicians; information regarding the conflict and the outcome of its resolution is communicated to persons authorized to make decisions concerning the professional activities of physicians (such as licensing their practice). The study identifies specific features of mandatory and optional claim procedures in medical disputes in Russia and highlights the challenges of pre‑litigation resolution of claims for compensation for moral damages. At present, patients tend to prefer addressing supervisory authorities. The author proposes the establishment of a unified out‑of‑court procedure for dispute resolution, which would require the creation of specialized regional commissions funded through contributions from insurance and medical organizations, and outlines proposals for the organization and functioning of such commissions.

The constitutional foundations of the institute of insolvency (bankruptcy) have not yet received detailed and substantive attention in Russian science. This is due to objective reasons: the Constitution of the Russian Federation does not mention bankruptcy as it is, and the bankruptcy legislation lacks a chapter or article dedicated to the basic principles of legal regulation of this institution. Nevertheless, the dynamics of the development of social relations in the field of bankruptcy, legal conflicts, and fundamental problems of law enforcement practice bring to the fore the question of the means to achieve the completeness of constitutional and legal regulation. There is an objective need to constitutionalize the procedural order for bankruptcy cases. However, this circumstance raises a number of questions for legal science: concerning the understanding of constitutionalization as a legal phenomenon, its essential features in social relations in the field of bankruptcy, and the role of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and other judicial bodies. The growing relevance of the issue of constitutionalizing the procedural form for adjudicating bankruptcy cases is evidenced by the increasingly frequent reference of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation to the issues of the constitutional foundations of social relations in the field of insolvency. Summarizing the role of the constitutional justice body, the author concludes that the strategic task of constitutional control is to form judicial doctrines of bankruptcy law — a system of methodological approaches that ensure the effectiveness and constitutional validity of law enforcement. The paper also pays attention on trends in judicial arbitration practice in bankruptcy cases, in which the process of constitutionalization is becoming more specific.

The paper discusses the issues of international legal regulation of maternity leave at the universal and regional levels. The study primarily focuses on such conditions of maternity leave as duration and remuneration. It is noted that at the universal level, international legal regulation of such leave in this regard is characterized, on the one hand, by the existence of provisions in UN acts of a more abstract (general) nature, and on the other hand, by the application of ILO acts whose provisions possess a certain degree of specificity and detail. Attention is given to the gradual increase in international labor standards regarding the duration and remuneration of maternity leave (primarily within the framework of the ILO), implemented by including more progressive provisions first in non-binding instruments and then into treaty-based (legally binding) instruments. A comparative legal analysis is conducted between the norms of Russian legislation and specific provisions of ILO Convention No. 183. The conclusion is formulated that, regarding the duration and remuneration of maternity leave, the norms of Russian legislation not only comply with the provisions of ILO Convention No. 183 but establish a higher level of labor rights and guarantees for women.

The paper examines the evolution of the concept of criminal liability through the prism of the interaction between fundamental categories of criminal law: crime; the person who committed the crime; and criminal liability. From this perspective, it analyzes the historical development of criminal law doctrines from the classical school to modern conceptions. Particular attention is given to the concept of the dangerous state of the individual, developed by the anthropological and sociological schools. A comparative analysis is conducted of moderate and radical approaches to defining the grounds for applying criminal law measures. The implementation of these concepts in Soviet criminal legislation of the 1920s is analyzed. The study demonstrates the transformation of views on criminal liability during the Soviet period, including the shift from the radical ideas of the sociological school to the traditional understanding of crime as the basis for criminal liability. It is revealed that radical attempts to justify criminal liability based on the potential danger of an individual were rejected as contrary to the idea of human freedom. The results of the study show that in modern Russian criminal law, the sole ground for liability is a socially dangerous act. Information about the offender’s personality is recognized as significant in determining measures of criminal law impact. The conclusions of the work confirm the need for a differentiated approach to the grounds and measures of criminal law impact, where the act is the determining factor and personal characteristics are an additional criterion.

Modern criminal law science faces the acute problem of finding a new approach to scientific and methodological support for the effectiveness of criminal policy. The urgency of this problem is due to a number of circumstances. On the one hand, there are growing shortcomings in criminal legislation, including excessive and duplicative criminalization, imbalance in sanctions, over-dynamism and haphazard changes, shortcomings in legislative technology, intra- and inter-branch inconsistencies, excessive politicization and the active use of criminal law tools in solving current social problems. On the other hand, scholarly criticism and proposals for improving criminal legislation are often characterized by a speculative and formal-legal approach. Given the prevalence of law-making defects, there is a need to develop and adopt a concept of criminal law policy, but this does not fundamentally solve the problem of the quality of the criminal law itself. In our opinion, its meaningful solution lies in a three-pronged law-conforming approach that is new to science and practice, including a lawconforming legal understanding of criminal law, a law-conforming concept and implementation of criminal law policy, and a law-conforming criminal code that will ensure their consistency, interdependence, and effectiveness. This approach holds significance not only within the criminal law field but also has interdisciplinary and general theoretical value, serving as a foundation for law-conforming legal understanding and law-conforming legal policy (the concept of «law as law-conformity»).