The relevance of the topic of the balance between the system of law and processes of digitalization of legal regulation is preconditioned by fundamental changes that are taking place in the legal system of Russia due to current technological challenges. The author qualifies changes under consideration as the processes of gradual transformation of law and its system. The article explores the dynamics of evolution of the legal understanding of the world due to technical progress. The author concludes that the new technological lifestyle pattern changes not only the usual lifestyle of people, but also the nature of legal regulation. The problem of consistent legal interpretation of the technological revolution is presented. It is concluded that the preservation of the systemic unity of the legal form is possible on the basis of the step-by-step revision of foundations of macroorganization of law. The paper demonstrates the difference between the current period of development of law and the classical epoch that proves the fact that the legal culture is about to include the virtual world into its subject matter. A sectoral approach based on monodimensional or complex subjects and methods of legal regulation can no longer provide for the comprehensive understanding of the nature of law. The paper depicts the evolution of notions of the norm and institute of law on the basis of symbiosis of deontic and behavioral elements that characterize the concept of legal technology. The conclusion about normativity of technological processes is made. The article substantiates the place and role of digital law in the process of gradual transformation of the legal system. The article justifies the provision that digital law performs the function of restructuring the legal system. The article reveals the subjects and methods of digital law as a source of law having impact on social relations. The author suggests the concepts of digital environment that creates a new type of lawyerism, namely: digital and analog law, and describes the correlation between them. The author puts forward the hypothesis of fundamental and applied law, describes their subject areas. On the basis of the analysis of the structural evolution of the legal system in the context of technological changes, the author provides for the forecast of parameters of the future legal order. It is concluded that conflicts of virtual and classical legal orders can be resolved under norms of digital law that eliminate the contrasting sides of legal permits and prohibitions. The author poses the issues regarding subjects of digital legal culture development, the new legal language, the role of analog law in restructuring the legal system, the balance between digital law and national legal tradition. The hypothesis of national models of digitalization of legal culture is put forward.

The article is devoted to the problem of “technologization” of modern political and legal thinking from its origins in the 16th — 17th centuries up to the era of “digital technologies.” Technocratic tendencies, having been manifested in the political sphere, led to the emergence of the ideal government apparatus, namely: bureaucracy. This new social phenomenon has replaced the old hierarchical and sovereignty-oriented systems of governance. The complexity of social life and political pluralism required changes in the nature of governing technologies. Within the framework of the “disciplinary” society, government techniques form the normative environment of existence. The rule of law replaces the domination of personalities. The power is differentiated on the network principle. There comes a time of domination of biopower regulating public and private life and tending to totalization and rigidity.

The modern era is characterized by a rapid change in social relations, the emergence of new institutions, which has become a consequence of rapid development of technologies, their penetration into everyday life. Nowadays, measures are being taken to develop the digital economy. At the same time, the society is experiencing crisis phenomena, environmental problems, which, consequently, leads to changes in the culture of consumption of available limited resources: in the economy there is a tendency to shift from a society of consumption (consumerism) to the sharing economy. Indeed, the idea of the economy of joint use of goods and services (sharing economy, peering economy) is not a new one in itself, but it has gained new impetus in the context of the development of modern technologies, digitalization of the economy, when the creation of uniform technological platforms and marketplaces facilitates the unification and connection of an unlimited number of strangers. All this determines the relevance of the study of the features of civil law regulation of relations associated with the implementation of settlements in connection with the performance of obligations under the contracts concluded in the context of the sharing economy, determination of the possibility of using blockchain technology in this field and peculiarities of the legal regulation of relations in connection with its application. The article highlights that, at the present stage, different models of contractual relations are formed to mediate relations existing in the sharing economy, within each of these models there are peculiarities of performance of obligations, while the model of the sharing economy gives the possibility of using the blockchain technology, but its use is complicated by the lack of proper legal regulation of the relations under consideration.

The article explores the peculiarities of international legal regulation of the special legal status of the Caspian Sea, legal regimes created by the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea the adoption of which in 2018 marked the establishment of a system of treaties with regard to the Caspian Sea. The Convention aims to avoid fragmentation of international legal regulation and represents the result of the codification of the most important issues of regional cooperation among the Caspian States. It is noted that the water area of the Caspian Sea is divided into internal waters, territorial waters, fishing zones, common maritime space. The delimitation of the bottom and subsoil of the Caspian Sea into national bottom sectors is carried out by the agreement between adjacent and opposite States in compliance with the modified median line. 17 principles of activity on the Caspian Sea have been established, legitimate activities and corresponding legal regimes in the Caspian Sea have been defined: exploration and exploitation of its bottom and subsoil resources; fishing, use and protection of aquatic biological resources; shipping; marine scientific research; laying of cables and pipelines; protection of the ecological system.

Human rights are playing an increasingly important role in the functioning and development of society, and the international legal regulation of the sphere of inter-State cooperation on human rights has acquired a number of specific features that have a significant impact on the development of various institutions of international law, including the law of international responsibility. The purpose of the article is to analyze the features and problems of implementation of the methodology of ensuring the common interest of the international community as a whole that includes protection of human rights under the law of international responsibility. The author considers the category “common interests of the international community as a whole,” and explores its importance in the process of intensification of interstate cooperation in the field of human rights. It is noted that such instruments of ensuring the implementation of the common interests of the international community as a whole as norms of jus cogens and obligations erga omnes predetermine the specifics of the content of the secondary rules of the law of international responsibility. These include rules establishing circumstances precluding the wrongfulness of an act, establishing the consequences of serious breaches of obligations arising from peremptory norms of international law governing the invocation of responsibility by a State other than an injured State. The author emphasizes the significance of the instruments under consideration in the process of establishing the features of the content of individual constructions of the law of international responsibility. Attention is drawn to the fact that implementation of the common interest of the international community as a whole ensuring promotion and protection of human rights in the law of international responsibility entails some difficulties arising due to the lack, inter alia, of consensus concerning methodology for classifying international law as jus cogens norms and the existence of different approaches to understanding the content and structure of human rights per se. It is concluded that, despite the existence of these problems, it is impossible to deny the significant influence of norms of jus cogens and obligations erga omnes on the content of international legal regulation of various areas of international cooperation in the context of the growing trend towards the communitarization of international law and humanization of international relations.

The article is devoted to the criminological study of quantitative and qualitative changes in criminal violence in modern Russia with due regard to the official statistical data collected by the Main Information and Analytical Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the period from 2012 to 2018 and modern processes in the social development. It examines the state and dynamics of crimes against the person including their most dangerous types (murders, intentional inflictions of serious harm to health, and rapes) as the basis of violent crime. The author determines the range of acts that can be committed using information and telecommunications networks, including the Internet, and evaluates the prospects for violent crimes committed by remote means. The paper proves that the related new trends of computerization, youthification, intellectualization and high level of natural latency, which were not previously characteristic of violent crime, can now be revealed. As the methodological basis of the research, the author relies on the fundamental laws of materialistic dialectics and the theory of cognition, general scientific philosophical approach to the study of social phenomena, logical, historical, system-structural and statistical, as well as concrete-sociological methods of research: document analysis and monitoring. In conclusion, the author substantiates the conclusion about inexhaustible relevance of the study of criminal violence caused by the non-ideal and contradictory nature of the man. The author considers as promising the development and application in legal science of the ideas of modern Russian philosophy concerning the need to analyze the results of progress, control over its course and consequences of introduction of high technologies. In order to solve the urgent theoretical and practical issues of combating “new” violent crime an integrative approach to definition of the methodology of criminological research that involves the development of existing problems at the intersection of the already established violensology and the current implications of the philosophy of criminological cyberology.

The article is devoted to the study of legal approaches to the regulation of social relations associated with human interaction with technical devices (physical and virtual entities) capable of making decisions independently of the individual. The authors rely on the fact that technical means acquire the sign of autonomy only when they are under the control of an artificial cognitive system (artificial intelligence). It is shown that autonomous technical devices differ qualitatively from traditional objects of law (of material and intangible nature) due to their ability to perform legally significant actions independently of the will of the human. The thesis is put forward that human interaction with technical means should be considered in the following ways: interconnection (the actions of the object are under human control), coexistence (the actions of the object go beyond the will of the human) and merging (the actions of the object are under human control, but the object is implanted in a human being and is a part of him). It is concluded that at present legal regulation of human interaction with autonomous technical devicess is developing depending on the scope of their application and type of technologies. The authors propose an alternative approach representing the regulation of such social relations through the prism of legal models correlated with the ways of human interaction with technical devices (interconnection, coexistence and merging). This approach has made it possible to put forward and justify the idea that legal regimes for interconnection, coexistence and merging would be desirable in order to create sustainable and balanced regulation that provides for special ways of regulating legal relations and the use of a special set of legal means.

The paper is devoted to the study of theoretical problems of legal provision of ecological, biosphere and genetic security in the system of national security of the Russian Federation. It is noted that from the legal point of view the process of «legitimization» of the term (concept) of environmental safety has been successfully completed. This term is widely used in legislation and law enforcement practice, however, the term «environmental safety» still does not have a pronounced context, distinguishable, for example, from the terms «environmental protection», «environmental risk», «sustainable development». If there is a legitimate (conservative) understanding of environmental safety, there is still no modern legal and clear, unambiguous and essential content of the concept of «safety» (including genetic, biological, biosphere, evolutionary and other currently relevant types of safety). Attempts to define safety (along with vulnerability) through threats, damages, stability, losses, have the right to exist, but do not give adequate and substantial sense. Based on the analysis of the current legislation and strategic planning documents, it is concluded that new theoretical and methodological approaches to the understanding of both the basic concept of «safety» and the concept of «environmental safety» are required. According to the authors, due to the emergence of new global challenges and threats (genetic, biosphere, biological, climatic, etc.) in a specific law it is advisable to revise the underlying definition of environmental safety, stressing its specificity. It is important to form the conceptual framework, including the definition and assessment of threats, risks; to select standards and methods of evaluation, classification of threats, their records; to provide for the variability of action of state authorities and local self-government in case of security threats and also the mechanism of participation of citizens and public associations in environmental decision-making on issues of environmental safety. 

Transplantation of human organs and (or) tissues is an effective means of saving lives and restoring health of citizens. The achievements of modern medical science contribute to a significant reduction in the potential adverse effects of such operations, which largely determines their prevalence and effectiveness. At the same time, the availability of such high-tech medical care raises certain concerns due to the insufficiency of human organs and (or) tissues suitable for transplantation. In this regard, the most promising is the introduction of modern additive technologies (3D bioprinting) into medical practice. However, the rapid development of new medical methods determines the need to address the most complex bioethical and legal problems associated with the need to ensure respect for human dignity and prevent violations of the integrity of the individual. As a result, the legal principles of creation and use of bioprinted human organs in this paper are the following: the principle of inadmissibility of obtaining donor cell material to create a bioprinted human organ in the absence of explicit and specific consent, the principle of permissible use of the resulting cell material. The principles of exclusivity and noncommercialization of the human body should retain limited effect: the first principle — in terms of allowing the production of cellular material to create a bioprinted human organ to be transplanted, only for the treatment of the recipient, and the second — in terms of determining the legal regime of cellular material and bioprinted human organs. The paper emphasizes the importance of extending the principle of priority of human interests over the interests of society and science to the analyzed sphere. In turn, models of legal regulation of social relations arising from the removal and transplantation of human organs and tissues, on the one hand, and about the creation and use of bioprinted human organs, on the other hand, should be based on the principles of unity and differentiation.

The paper is devoted to the study of the key factors underlying the building of a balanced system of legal norms aimed at preventing gene doping and countering the spread of genetic modifications of athletes. The paper explores the goals of countering doping as such and focuses on the dangers and potential harm to the sports of such a relatively new threat as gene doping. The authors discuss approaches to understanding gene therapy, as well as the prospects of embedding resistance to gene doping in existing legal mechanisms, including the possibility of using the mechanism of therapeutic exceptions (TUE). The current approaches to the definition of the essence of doping are studied and it is determined why gene therapy has a significant risk of being recognized as such. The risks and threats to the sphere of sport caused by the ongoing development of genetic technologies and the spread of their application are outlined. The possible consequences of the use of the results of genetic research, as well as the use of gene therapy, which may affect the field of sports, are discussed. The authors study issues of responsibility for the use of gene doping, subjects against which appropriate sanctions can be imposed, as well as the issue of the application of state coercion to individual subjects, without which the use of gene doping would be impossible. At the same time, the paper formulates the problems that need to be solved in the short term to ensure the preventive nature of the fight against gene doping in sport, and identifies the questions that society must answer to form a system of countering gene doping.

First, an attempt to describe the models of international scientific and technical cooperation caused the need to refer to the concept of a “legal model.” As a result of the conducted research, it is established that the unifying aspect in the understanding of the essence of the legal model is that it functions in a certain way reflecting (describing) objects, processes or phenomena of legal life. Taking into account the forms of international cooperation, it is proposed to separate the conventional and institutional models of international scientific and technical cooperation. The institutional model to greater extent characterizes the status and activities of the actors. The conventional model primarily reflects a set of legal regulators of interaction between the subjects. However, it is not limited to international treaties and customs, but also includes acts containing rules of soft law. In order to describe the conventional model of international scientific and technical cooperation in the field of marine research, the concept of “marine scientific research” has been analyzed, as well as the analysis of the development of the institution under consideration within the framework of the international law of the sea regulating the interaction between subjects of international law and other actors in the field of marine scientific research and the exchange of technology has been carried out. As a result, it is established that the conventional model of international scientific and technical cooperation in the field of marine scientific research is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 and includes, as appropriate, bilateral and multilateral international treaties and agreements, decisions and resolutions of competent international organizations, as well as numerous instruments containing rules of soft law aimed at focusing on the various aspects of interaction.

The paper deals with theoretical, legal and institutional issues of international scientific and technological cooperation (STC). The analysis of the current state of international scientific and technological cooperation is preceded by several statements characterizing the conditions in which such cooperation is developing. The author considers the features of international agreements on STC and prospects for cooperation in terms of international legal forms of scientific and trechnological cooperation. At present, the importance of legal norms regulating international scientific and technological cooperation in the system of international law is the subject of debate. It seems that STC issues are not limited to the sphere of economic cooperation, but also cover the issues of security, development of scientific research, role in solving global problems, for example, environmental or food, the protection of human rights. The objective need for the development of scientific cooperation determines the interest in its organizational forms. Since most of STC is carried out on the basis of bilateral agreements, the paper presents a more detailed description thereof. They have similar features in terms of defining principles, priorities, economic and organizational conditions, forms of cooperation, mechanisms of implementation. The conclusion of agreements on STC is aimed at implementing science policy through the development of research capacity and creation of the environment for cooperation in scientific and technological sphere. In general, international scientific and technological cooperation, taking into account the Russian experience, can develop in several directions. First, the coordination direction, as it happened within the CIS and led to the active development of bilateral relations. Secondly, the development of integration cooperation within the EAEU. Thirdly, a special format of cooperation within the BRICS.

The paper analyzes the legal institution of administrative quasi-judicial bodies in the Anglo-Saxon and continental European legal families. In general, administrative quasi-judicial bodies refer to bodies created by the state (the legislature or, as in the US, the president) for the purpose of regulating certain critical areas of activity (the economy and human rights), as well as for settling disputes out of court, when the state does not consider itself legitimate to intervene directly. For ideological reasons, this institution is more developed in the AngloSaxon countries, in which the mechanisms of deregulation, or the phenomenon of deetatization, are the norm of government. In the countries of the European-continental model, the state played a decisive role for a long time, which is why the spread of this institution began later and was carried out more slowly, mainly after the Second World War, when the state was discredited ideologically in favor of civil society. The relevance of these bodies to the state continues to give rise to many doctrinal disputes, especially in the context of their independence. The independence of quasi-judicial administrative bodies does not mean that they are irresponsible and that the state that creates them has no obligations. Moreover, all legal principles and guarantees of the independence and impartiality of justice are applied in the performance of judicial functions by these bodies. Here there is an ideological impasse: attempts to alienate justice from the state through the establishment of para-state judicial bodies will result either in their politicization or in their return to the public sphere.

Russia’s integration into the global information space largely depends on how effectively fundamental human rights and freedoms will be protected by the current national legislation and the emerging integration law. Harmonization of Russian law with European standards of freedom of speech and protection of intangible rights of individuals and legal entities in terms of liability for defamation statements is a fundamentally important task to maintain the authority of the Russian Federation in the European political arena. The work of international human rights organizations, such as the International Press Institute, demonstrates the problems with ensuring real freedom of speech in the vast majority of European Union countries. The use of criminal sanctions for defamation offences, as well as the use of extremely large administrative fines and civil compensation, in fact, is a pan-European practice of countering not only defamation, but also any abuse of freedom of speech by the media community. Such practices could hypothetically threaten free speech, and they raise understandable concerns among the democratic public about the prospects of state institutions controlling private media. Calls for social and legal experiments in the form of regular attempts to decriminalize libel do not seem constructive. Based on the analysis of the Russian practice of bringing to responsibility for torts in the information space, it is proposed to understand defamation as any illegal dissemination of information with the aim of harming legally protected interests and to make wider use of civil liability measures in punishing such offenses. The authors propose to harmonize the European and Russian legislation on defamation through the development of uniform rules for the production of the forensic linguistic examination of the defamatory materials to substantiate evidence of the unlawful intent of delinquent.