The subject of the article is the abuse of law as a phenomenon of legal reality, its definition, the patterns of its arising and developing in legal relations, the consequences of abuse of law established in the prescribed manner.

The purpose of the research is to confirm or refute the theoretical hypothesis about the nature, as well as of the role and the functional load of abuse of law, to obtain the conformation of the theoretical judgment of praxeological nature and the conclusions.

Methodology. In achieving the purpose and the corresponding research tasks the dialectical method's instruments were used, which made it possible to establish the relationships between the formally expressed normative uncertainties and the difficulties of their practical implementation, to find structural and functional conclusions in legal behavior and its consequences. The opportunities provided by comparative legal, formal legal, historical and legal methods of the cognition were widely used.

The main results and the scope. The analysis of the given problems showed that despite of the prevalence in relations regulated by various law branches and the frequent reference to it among scholars, it was not possible to develop the unanimous approach to understanding of the abuse of law. This is partly due to the two main factors: (a) the uncertainty and evaluativeness of this phenomenon; (b) the desire to develop a unique interpretation of the right's abuse by an individual researcher.

Thus, the unique and extraordinary options of understanding of abuse of law have been developed. Often they do not correspond to the practice of its application and not fit the legal science system's categories and its knowledge. The current situation leads to the confusion in the research and ideas blurring of established legal constructions. In addition, theoretical knowledge that has no outlet to practice loses their importance and does not contribute the simplification of practical activities to implementing the law. The main conclusions of the research are expressed in the provisions that the abuse of law plays the role of legal fact, associated with the onset of harmful consequences or the threat of their occurrence. It demonstrates the desire of the abuser to obtain benefits of different nature by leveling legal requirements, in their complex misconduct. The abuse of law either acts as a way of committing an offense and constitutes the objective side of the act, or has an independent meaning, causes the application of legal responsibility, if it acts as a method of committing an offense, and measures of legal protection, if it has an independent meaning, the legal structure of law abuse does not include a duty and looks like this: subjective law – the exercise of subjective right – the limits of the exercise of subjective right – illegal act – the onset of harmful consequences or the threat of their occurrence – measures of responsibility or protection measures.

The subject of the article is the views of prof. P.P. Serkov and other domestic legal scientists on the problems of legal relations and its moral component from the standpoint of a lawyerresearcher. The article considers theoretical and methodological aspects of the doctrine of legal relationships, the content, patterns of the emergence and development of elements of the mechanism of legal relationships, the problems of classification of legal relationships, debatable issues of general regulatory legal relationships. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of approaches and theoretical provisions related to understanding the complex type of complex legal relationship.

The purpose of the study is to confirm the scientific hypothesis of P.P. Serkov about the mechanism of legal relationship from the point of view of its relation with issues of morality, social aspects of subjective and social life, as well as to formulate conceptual ideas and specific proposals for improving the mechanism of complex legal relationship and its part, the mechanism of corporate and ethical legal relationship in the sphere of advocacy.

Methodology and methods. The research methodology is based on the dialectical method, which made it possible to consider the judgments of scientists in development with existing contradictions and relations with new phenomena in law enforcement. The article also uses methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, modeling and extrapolation, formal legal and comparative legal method.

The main results, scope of the application. The scientific and practical validity of the doctrine of the legal relationship mechanism created by P.P. Serkov is shown in the article. The presence of a moral component in each act of legal regulation, as well as the significance of the scholar's ideas and hypotheses in expanding the possibilities of general theoretical and sectoral research in this area and creating conditions for improving law-making and law enforcement practice are brought into light.

Conclusions. The direction of development of the mechanism of complex legal relationship has been substantiated and specific proposals have been formulated to improve its part the mechanism of corporate and ethical legal relationship in the field of the legal profession.

The subject of study. The article examines certain aspects to realize freedom of thought and expression, as well as the acceptable limits. Freedom of thought, speech and expression issues are considered separately in the context of the religious component, its characteristics in the Islamic religion. The provisions of the main sources in the Muslim system of law – the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet and Messenger of Muhammad (May Allah bless him) have been studied in sufficient details. The legal analysis on the issues under consideration was carried out based on doctrinal opinions, the current Russian and international legal acts, judicial practice, including the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. The article describes extremism through the prism of freedom of thought, speech and expression. It is noted that extremist activity is one of the consequences of misinterpretation, true awareness and perception of freedom of thought, speech and expression.

The purpose of the study. The main purpose of the study is to clarify the origins of conflicts in the process of realizing freedom of thought, speech and expression, and substantiate the hypothesis that freedom of thought, speech and expression should have certain boundaries, especially in context of the influence of the religious factor.

The methodology of the study. The study is based on a dialectical approach to the disclosure of legal phenomena and processes using general scientific methods (systemic method, logical method, method of analysis and synthesis) and special scientific methods. Among the latter there are formal legal method, linguistic method, comparative legal method, which have found their application in the legal analysis to realize freedom of thought, speech and expression.

Conclusions. As a result, it is emphasized that freedom of thought, speech and expression is the achievement of modern mankind, one of the foundations of a democratic system and an element of civil society. The state-guaranteed opportunity for individuals to exercise these freedoms in society is a guarantee of a "healthy" society in the legal sense. However, as practice shows, unlimited freedom leads to its abuse, thereby infringing on the freedoms of other individuals and therefore, freedom of speech and its expression presupposes the existence of boundaries outlined by the state in the interests of society.  The specifics of freedom of thought, speech and expression in the Muslim system of law based on the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (May Allah bless him), is that this freedom ends where the border line begins, designated by the law of the Most High.

The subject. The interaction of modern national legal systems and the international legal system is still the most controversial legal phenomenon. An exclusively national approach to solving issues of the general theory of international law could not and cannot justify expectations and close the need for legal comprehension. The situation is aggravated by the fact that, at the level of universal international law, the solution of issues on the agenda with the help of positive methods of legal regulation, and, consequently, the implementation of the norms of existing international treaties today are criticized, tested and often completely violated. The implementation of the norms of existing international treaties is increasingly faced with attempts to refute their postulates using the "customs" under which those "rules" are veiled. In such conditions, national legal systems may experience an increased "feeling of jealousy" to their sovereignty and try to "close" as much as possible using the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of the state.

Purpose of the study. In such conditions, it is most important to choose the right vector in improving international law, and not order, law based on normative principles. It is important to correctly "choose the key" to harmonizing the will of sovereign states of our time. The article is devoted to the search for a more correct way of developing international law through its interaction, and not counteraction with the national one.

Methodology. The research was carried out using a formal legal interpretation of international legal acts, as well as a comparative analysis of Russian and foreign legal literature. Structural and systemic methods are also the backbone of the study. The conclusions of the work are based on dialectical unity and the struggle of opposites, as well as on interacting deduction and induction in relation to legal systems.

The main results. The growing trend towards fragmentation of international law leads to a reduction in the base of sources in the universal sphere of international law. The intensification of regionalization and the creation of regional unions of sovereign states is becoming a source of polar processes: on the one hand, supranational control over the observance of international law by states within their legal system increases, on the other hand, natural situations of non-execution of decisions of international judicial bodies arise. Such situations, without a proper assessment of the reasons for the issuance of the international acts of law enforcement themselves, can lead to unfounded criticism. There is an impressive amount of work in the field of correlation between international and national law, as well as in the field of enforcement of decisions of international judicial bodies. Despite this, in the field of practical implementation of the norms of international law, there remains a lack of doctrinal developments. Such a situation will inevitably lead to attempts to create a semblance of a norm, an escalation of confrontation, and an inability to reach agreement on issues on the agenda. The situation at the level of the universal international legal system is aggravating, therefore, the verification of the limits of competence of regional education authorities, in particular of supranational judicial control bodies, becomes even more important.

Сonclusions. The author comes to the conclusion that, on the one hand, in the sphere of universal international law, there is a reduction in the base of sources of international law. On the other hand, in the field of regional international integration, on the contrary, the number of sources of international legal regulation is increasing, and the process of their implementation is intensifying. Universal international law based on the principles of the UN Charter is the most qualitative regulator of the field of international public relations. However, at the present stage of development of the international community, regional integration may well come to its aid: through regional interaction, the consolidation of the wills of sovereign states can and should be achieved a legal constructive dialogue on key issues of already universal international law. Using the approaches of national legal regulation exclusively and unilaterally, it is impossible to productively approach issues of international law: neither in the field of creating international organizations of various types, nor in matters of fulfilling obligations under international law. According to the results of the study, it was concluded that only non-confrontational interaction of specialists in the field of international and national (primarily constitutional) law can provide the construction of the most effective model of interaction of these legal systems. This requires a transformation of the basic approaches to the issues of interaction between international and national law. The basic unity of the general theory of law and the specific features of legal systems should be the starting points for doctrinal research of existing legal structures and the practice of their implementation.

The subject. The article analyzes seven stages of the evolution of the constitutional legal status of the first federal territory in history the District of Columbia, USA. In the course of this analysis, the author formulates the constitutional legal risks of the existence of federal territories in the state. From the standpoint of identifying constitutional legal risks, an amendment to Article 67 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation on the possibility of the formation of federal territories on the territory of Russia is also analyzed.

The purpose of the paper is to identify constitutional legal risks in terms of the existence of federal territories using the example of the centuries-old struggle of the District of Columbia for autonomy.

The methodology of the study includes general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, description) and legal methods. In addition to this, historical method was also applicable.

The main results and scope of their application. The author realized, that a certain constitutional risk exists when the federal territory is established as a special public-law entity, because the evolutionary process of the constitutional-legal status of the first federal territory, that was established in constitutional law – the District of Columbia in the United States of America, demonstrated such risk. The author describes seven different stages of the evolutionary process of the DC's constitutional legal status in its pass to autonomy and full political rights: (1) 1800–1870; (2) 1871 – June of 1874; (3) 20 of June 1874 – 1967; (4) 1967–1973; (5) 1973–1983; (6) September of 1983 – 2016; (7) since 2016 until now.

According to these periods, since 1801, DC residents, bound by all obligations of American citizenship, want to be equal to the rest of America's citizens. The United States is the only democratic country in the world today that denies the right to vote for a representative of the capital in the Congress. The Statehood of Washington, DC will correct a long-standing historical injustice that is unique in its nature among all capitals in the world. The author also proposes to consider as a constitutional risk the possibility of negative consequences (legal damage) for the subjects of constitutional law due to the contention of constitutional values.

In addition to this, the author concluded, that there is a risk that the Council of the Federal Territory “Sirius” will lose its representative character due to the absence of the established dependence of the number of elected Council members on the number of voters, as happened in the District of Columbia, where a fixed number of Council members (13) is also established, which cannot be changed by the district and which does not depend on the population living in its territory. It is also necessary to take into account the constitutional risk of the federal territory striving for autonomy within the federation, especially in the case of the formation of a local community on its territory.

The subject. The features of the improvement of tax control and tax enforcement in the conditions of digitalization.

The purpose of the article is to identify features and trends of the improvement of tax control and tax enforcement in the conditions of digitalization. The methodology includes systematic approach, comparative method, formal-logical method, formal-legal method, analysis, synthesis.

The main results of the research. The article identifies the main directions of development of law enforcement activities of tax authorities and tax legal relations in the context of digitalization. The specifics of the development of intra-organizational analytical approaches to tax control, as well as trends in the transformation of tax legal relations have been established. Tax legal relations arising from tax control, while improving the intra-organizational analytical approaches of tax authorities, do not have significant changes due to the preservation of classical forms of control. Digitalization involves improving tax administration and increasing the efficiency of law enforcement activities of tax authorities.

Conclusions. Improving the law enforcement activities of tax authorities within legal relations arising in the implementation of tax control is associated, on the one hand, with the creation and development of effective intra-organizational control and analytical approaches, and on the other hand, with the transformation and differentiation of tax legal relations themselves. In the first area, tax legal relations are not subject to significant changes. In the second area, the transformation of tax legal relations entails changes in the system of rights and obligations of tax authorities, implemented in law enforcement.

The article is devoted to the institution of tax incentives, which is currently significant important for the development of the Russian state, that is objectively determined by the essence of tax incentives, which consists in intensifying the legal behavior of subjects of specific relations. Based on the analysis of the theoretical and legal foundations of tax benefits, the author developed a definition of tax incentives, highlighted its stages, analyzed the problems of legal regulation of the institution being considered, as well as legal means to increase the effectiveness of tax benefits.

The purpose of the study. Analysis of legal regulation and practice of applying tax incentives in the Russian Federation, identifying existing problems, as well as formulating proposals of a theoretical and practical nature to improve the current tax legislation governing the institution of tax incentives in the Russian Federation. Research methods. The research was carried out through the use of a complex of general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, logical method, system analysis, etc.) and private scientific (special legal) methods. The main research method was the formal legal method, which made it possible to identify gaps in the legal regulation of the process of tax incentives in Russia and to formulate proposals for supplementing and changing certain regulatory provisions of tax legislation.

Main scientific results. As a result of a comprehensive analysis of the legal regulation of the institution of tax benefits in Russia, theoretical provisions were formulated and substantiated, revealing the specifics of the content and essence of tax incentives, taking into account the current state of development of the national and world economy.

Conclusions. The article draws conclusions about the importance of tax incentives for reforming the Russian system of taxes and fees in the context of developing the economic potential of business entities. The scientific research contains author's proposals for improving the current tax legislation in order to effectively use the institution of tax incentives in Russian practice. The obtained scientific results testify to the achievement of the set research goal.

The subject. The principle of VAT neutrality is actual for Russia as VAT is one of the taxes levied in Russia. The principle of VAT neutrality has been upheld by the Russian Supreme Court. Therefore, the subject of the research is the definition of this principle as well as the problems of its relationship with the Russian tax law.

Purpose of the study. The article considers the principle of value added tax neutrality as an independent principle of tax law, analyzes its content and regulatory role as independent means of legal regulation. Dealing with foreign doctrine regarding to the referred principle, the article shows the problems of its implementation in Russia and includes suggestions re its harmonization with the Russian tax legislation.

Methodology. The author uses the formally legal interpretation of the legal provisions, comparative analysis of Russian and European literature as regards the nature and neutrality principle of VAT as well as the systemic analysis.

The main results. The author has formulated the definition of the principle of VAT neutrality and determined the elements of the referred principle. Each element of the principle has been described. The author divided the content of the referred principle on property, legal, economic and competitive elements. However, all these elements should be considered systemically as VAT is supposed to be neutral for businesses in terms of each sphere of their business activity. The author concluded that VAT is the tax on consumption and the burden of this tax should be transferred on final consumers. Taxable persons are only public agents to collect VAT after taxable transactions with final consumers. Therefore, there should be no obstacles as regards the right to deduct input VAT as well as any rules distinguishing the tax burden for similar taxable transactions. Also, due to the deduction mechanism the burden of VAT in the same price of goods (services, work) should be equal and does not depend on the quantity of transactions to be previous to the sale to any final consumer.  As regards the Russian tax legislation, the author identified the rules infringing the principle of VAT neutrality. Thus, the author has concluded that the Russian tax rules establishing strict documentary requirements to the right to deduct input VAT and limiting this right for foreign businesses contradict the principle of VAT neutrality. Also, the rules of the Russian Tax Code which stipulate the exemptions for the transactions between taxable persons and the different tax rates for the similar transactions as well as exclude the persons of the special tax schemes from VAT regime are not in line with referred principle.

Conclusions. According to the results of the study, the author has formulated the suggestions regarding to the amendments to the tax legislation in order to correct the revealed mismatches between the provisions of the chapter 21 of the Russian Tax Code and the principle of VAT neutrality. It is proposed to reduce the requirements to the right to deduct as well as exclude the current limitation of this right for foreign businesses, the different tax rates for the similar transactions and the exemptions for the transactions between taxable persons. In addition, the author has suggested to entitle the persons of the special tax schemes to refuse their excluding from VAT regime.

The subject of the research is a corporate income tax regime of tax accounting of intangible assets and R&D spending. The working hypothesis is that realization of the regulative potential of tax policy in relation to stimulating R&D activity and creation of intangibles assets shall be streamlined and adapted to increase the effectiveness of innovations. Authors suggest that the key tax policy goal of the mechanism is the widening of the volumes of commercialized R&D results and intangibles, lowering the tax risks, and increasing the legal certainty. The aim of this research is formulation of tax policy proposals for subsequent reforming this mechanism of direct taxation of transactions related with R&D.

To achieve the aim of the research the following research approach was employed by the authors. As a first step authors present a literature review on the issue. As a second step authors are performing the analysis of current rules related to tax accounting of R&D costs and intangibles in accordance with Tax Code of Russian Federation. As a third step authors delineate the barriers and legal obstacles in the performance of tax incentives for R&D by reviewing the judicial cases and analytical reports on the issue. Finally, authors formulate their tax policy proposals for the subsequent tax reforms in relation to tax accounting of R&D.

The results and the scope of the study. Author’s working hypothesis is based on the idea that the effective application of tax policy instruments can contribute to success of the jurisdiction in winning in global tax competition game. This is particularly important in context of digitalization and for attracting investments and parts of activities of multinational enterprises to the territory of the state. Intangible assets and key people which coordinate the processes of the creation of intangibles can be regarded as the crucial value-added factors in the modern economy where technological MNEs are increasingly dominating. Countries compete internationally for these talented people and favorable and certain tax regime can positively impact on MNE decisions to make a profit center in any jurisdiction, while tax uncertainty can negatively impact this decision.

Conclusions. One of the key results of this research is that R&D tax incentives in Russia remain rather unpopular instrument in corporate practice. Authors explain this with the existing legal barriers and legal uncertainty. This uncertainty leads to tax risks for taxpayers which impacts their decisions for using the incentives. Review of judicial cases related to tax accounting of R&D costs when calculating corporate income tax base showed that there are many different areas of disputes between taxpayers and tax authorities. It is important to note that some of this uncertainty is already addressed in recent amendments to Article 262 of Tax Code. Authors propose to reduce uncertainty by extending the scope of R&D tax incentives to all types of R&D activity. The goal of the research is therefore can be considered as achieved.

The subject-matter of the research is the constitutional test of necessity. This element of proportionality could be found in doctrine and case-law in the form of metaphors. The necessity as a prong of proportionality consists in testing the available alternatives in comparison with the measures that the legislator has chosen to achieve public aims. The notion of a least restrictive means can be used as a synonym for this element of proportionality. Although this term is cumbersome, it more precisely defines the nature of constitutional litigation, where the admissibility of interference with fundamental rights is assessed.

The purpose of the research is to argue that this element of proportionality implies the assessment of the least restrictive alternatives for the rights-holder in order to achieve the goal chosen by the legislator.

The methodology of research includes the method of analogy. Accordingly, the analogical reasoning is used in constitutional adjudication when testing necessity of legislative measures, but not the methods of logical subsumtion or judicial balancing. The sources of such analogy can be the rules of international law, ordinary legislation and comparative legal materials.

The main results of the research and the scope of their application. The expression necessity is widely used in international law and ordinary legislation. Such approaches are relevant to constitutional adjudication. Thus, the ultima ratio principle, which initially appears in criminal and administrative law, acquires universal application in constitutional justice. This criterion, which requires the use of the most severe legal measures only as a last resort, with the ineffectiveness of softer alternatives, can be extended to the constitutionalization of other branches of legislation.

The test of necessity, which is often expressed in metaphors, in the case-law of constitutional justice is based on the method of analogy. In the decisions of the constitutional justice bodies, the least restrictive means are often mentioned in comparison with those which were originally chosen by the legislator. At the same time, the discovered alternatives should be equally or at least minimally suitable in comparison with the existing legislative solutions. Comparative law, international law, or ordinary legislation are often an auxiliary source for constitutional judges to identify and formulate least restrictive alternatives.

Conclusions. The value of the analogical reasoning, including the appeal of constitutional justice to comparative law materials, lies in the possibility of identifying some experimental legal regimes. Moreover, the perception of specific alternatives, their clarification or modification remains within the discretionary powers of the legislature. Thus, avoiding the well-known counter-majoritarian difficulty, constitutional justice conducts a dialogue with the parliament, and in the end, contributes to the optimal implementation of fundamental rights.

The subject and the aim of the study. The article analyzes the approach to smart contract technology, which is reflected in the scientific literature and legislation of Russia and foreign countries, formulates the advantages and disadvantages of a smart contract that affect the implementation and protection of certain constitutional rights, including freedom of contract, the right to protect, the right to manage personal data.

Methodology. Guided by formal dogmatic and comparative law methods in research, the author formulates approaches to the concept of a smart contract that has been developed in the practice of foreign countries and deduces how each of the approaches affects the implementation of constitutional human rights. The paper notes that the use of a smart contract based on the federal blockchain does not allow the full implementation of such rights as freedom of contract, the right to self-defense, and the right to manage personal data. In addition, the transnational nature of smart contracts usage, their pseudonymity and failure to unified concept of legal regulation create obstacles to the effective implementation of the right to judicial protection.

The main results. The practice of legal regulation of smart contracts in foreign countries, aimed at minimizing the negative consequences of the use of technology is considered. Some countries follow to the concept of recognizing a smart contract as a form of contract (Italy, United States, Republic of Belarus) and a way of guaranteeing fulfilment of obligations (China, Italy, Republic of Belarus, Russian Federation). The second concept is considered as being the most restrictive for digital progress from one side but being able to guarantee protection of human rights such as right to judicial protection or freedom of contract. The first concept which shows smart contract being a type of contract carries additional risks associated with conclusion of a treaty - inconsistency of the smart contract with the actual will of the parties. The third concept considered smart contract as a type of contract is accepted in the Republic of Malta. The Republic of Malta regulated procedure of voluntary certification for smart contracts that allow to eliminate such threats as violation of human rights and the use of smart contracts for criminal purposes. The experience of legal regulation of smart contracts in the Republic of Malta is recognized as reasonable and effective, however, it is concluded that certification will achieve its goals only if it will be implemented in the legal system of wide range of the countries.

Conclusions. It is concluded that despite the fact that the smart contract technology has high potential for its implementation in various fields of social and economic life, the effective implementation of smart contract technology in various spheres of society requires the formation of general legal principles for their application, the definition of areas in which the use of smart contracts is prohibited, as well as the development of international standards for their safe execution.

The subject of research is the dynamic change in the regulatory and legal framework of the EU and its Member States in the field of energy, in particular, concerning the regulation of hydrogen projects.

The purpose of the study is to propose a response from the Russian side to the measures taken by Europe.

Methodology. The research methods include both theoretical (analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, analogy) and special legal methods of cognition (formal legal and comparative legal).

The main results and the scope of the study. The European Union initiated a comprehensive development of the energy sector within the framework of the European Green Deal: the emphasis on certain sectors is no longer placed. At the same time, there is a growing interest in hydrogen projects, which are facing the problem of absence of large-scale regulation and the difficulty of resolving financing issues. In contrast to neighboring countries, the German experience in hydrogen regulation has proved to be successful and closest to Russian interests. New energy (primarily hydrogen) markets in the EU are awaiting supranational regulation. Germany’s technical readiness has allowed it to quickly form the rules of the game in the emerging hydrogen network market, which should suit the Russian side in terms of tariffs and access. The EU is effectively adopting new documents and acts aimed at greater integration of various energy sectors within the Union and “discarding” traditional energy and its actors. The rapid development of the law reduces the chances of successful implementation of projects with the participation of non-EU member states.

Conclusions. In the near future, in particular, on the eve of the emergence of hydrogen regulation at the EU level, Russia should reconsider the approaches to organizing the national energy policy and pay more attention to integration development. The opposite will entail economic losses and deprive the Russian side of competitive advantages and leverage. The study of the material can affect the improvement of energy legislation and business processes with the participation of third countries (for example, Russia), as well as their companies, interacting with the EU: for example, “Gazprom” Group is already considering various options for realizing hydrogen projects in Europe. Moreover, the EU experience can be useful for unlocking the energy potential of the Eurasian Economic Union. Separately, countries should consider the quantitative criterion and the phenomenon of 27 EU “heads” (by the number of member states), comprehensively improving energy orders at various levels, despite sometimes arising internal contradictions.

The subject of the article is the problem of compliance of general and special types of exemption from criminal liability with the legal nature of criminal law, as well as the logical consistency of criminal law matter.

The purpose of the article is to establish the key factors influencing the construction of the content of general and special types of exemption from criminal liability by studying the goals, purpose and legal nature of the latter.

The methodology includes dialectical, comparative legal methods, systematic analysis of legal academic literature, as well as interpretation of Russian criminal law.

The main results, scope of application. The establishment of norms providing for the release of persons who have committed crimes from criminal liability in the law is justified by the disappearance (reduction) of the public danger of the committed act and (or) the personality of the person who committed it. Modern trends of criminal policy require the presence of such an instrument in the legislation, which allows avoiding unnecessary criminal repression, restoring the rights of victims. At the same time, the consolidation of special types of exemption from criminal liability in the text of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation pursued two main goals: (1) To avoid the onset of more serious consequences (causing death or harm to the health of hostages); (2) Revealing and disclosure of latent (hidden) crimes. However, despite the indicated feature, special types of exemption from criminal liability should be built taking into account the tasks facing the criminal law of Russia and the goals of criminal liability.

Conclusion. The content of the types of exemption from criminal liability is directly influenced by the purpose and goals of this criminal legal institution. The further improvement of this legal institution should be carried out exclusively taking into account the tasks facing the domestic criminal law.

The subject of the study is the criminal policy in the context of contradictions in the functioning of the courts.

The purpose of the study is to investigate, which contradictions of criminal policy are generated by a multi-level system of courts, and which mechanisms for overcoming them in order to optimize criminal policy could be found out.

The methodology. In modern conditions of diversification of methodological approaches to organizing and conducting political-legal research, it is important not to discard, but to rethink and rediscover the epistemological possibilities of the methods of classical science, especially the method of dialectical analysis.

The main results and scope of the study. The use of the category "dialectical contradiction" for the purpose of studying the problems of the functioning of the courts in terms of the interpretation and application of criminal law provisions opens up new possibilities in the study of criminal and judicial policy, as well as determining the prospects for its development. In the study, the law enforcement contradictions of criminal policy refer to the relations between courts of various types and levels that develop in the course of their functioning and reflect the opposite approaches of law enforcement bodies to the interpretation and application of criminal legislation. Considering the level and type of legal proceedings, these contradictions can be summarized in the following groups: (a) between national and international courts; (b) between superior courts of the national legal system; (c) between the courts of various instances of the system of courts of general jurisdiction.

The contradictions between national and international courts, emerging in the field of protection of human rights and freedoms, are an objective source of development of judicial practice and policy. The resolution of these contradictions is based on the consensus of various courts and compromise. If the position of the European Court of Human Rights does not contradict the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the state adjusts its legal practice in the direction set by the authoritative international instance by means of: (a) direct application of national legislation with due regard for the ECHR’s legal positions; (b) the application of national legislation in its constitutional interpretation by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which does not differ from the decisions and positions of the ECHR; (c) amending national legal acts in pursuance of ECHR judgments. In exceptional cases, when the position of the European Court touches upon issues of the country's constitutional identity, the contradiction between the international and national legal order is resolved by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the basis of the priority of constitutional norms.

At the level of the superior national courts the contradictions are represented by the differing positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the assessment and interpretation of criminal law provisions. Such contradictions can be thought of as latent until they are not revealed in constitutional proceedings. The identification and resolution of these contradictions is the most important direction of legal policy in the country; it reflects the consistent solution of the aim of constitutionalization of the criminal law.

At the level of the system of courts of general jurisdiction, the concept of "contradiction" can only be applied to those differing approaches of the courts to solving criminal cases that do not go beyond the rule of law. Contradictions arise only when, having correctly established the factual circumstances of the case, the courts disagree in the choice of the legal provision to be applied, although any such choice can be explained and motivated. These contradictions may or may not be related to the quality of criminal legislation. Therefore, the mechanism for their resolution includes not only law revision. It is important to use the capabilities of the judicial system itself to develop a consensual understanding of the textual content of the criminal law and the rules for its application.

Conclusions. Overcoming the contradictions of the judicial criminal policy is possible only in the process of communication and dialogue between the courts of different levels on the basis of differentiation of jurisdiction, respect for authority and independence.

The subject. The article reflects the progress and results of the study of the practice of applying the norms on responsibility for crimes against sexual inviolability and sexual freedom of the individual (Chapter 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). There are a large number of general and specific law enforcement problems that do not allow us to effectively counteract such crimes.

Purpose of the study. The purpose of the study is to confirm the scientific hypothesis about the presence of systemic problems in the practice of applying the norms of Chapter 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as to develop proposals for improving law enforcement.

Methodology. The identification of law enforcement problems was carried out by analyzing published and unpublished materials of judicial practice and comparing them with the main categories and principles of criminal law. Access to the published materials was carried out through the legal reference systems and the State Automated System "Justice". Unpublished materials were obtained in the course of their own professional activities, as well as when studying the scientific works of other authors. The use of previously obtained results of their own scientific activities, the results of scientific research of modern criminologists and criminologists, as well as the study of the experience of foreign countries allowed us to formulate proposals for solving the identified problems.

The main results. In the course of the study, the following systemic problems of law enforcement were identified. (1) The uncertainty of the content of other sexual actions. (2) The ambiguity of the legal assessment of the multiplicity of crimes against sexual inviolability and sexual freedom of the individual. (3) The blurring of the content and methods of committing depraved actions.

These problems characterize the current state of the practice of applying the norms of Chapter 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

To solve these problems and improve law enforcement, the following proposals are justified and formulated.

1. At the level of the resolution of the Plenum, it should be clarified that other actions of a sexual nature are contact forms of the perpetrator's influence on the victim's body that can satisfy sexual needs, with the exception of sexual intercourse, sodomy and lesbianism (for example, masturbation, fellatio, forced kisses, manual influence on the mammary glands or genitals and other ways of stimulating sexual arousal).
2. On the issue of the qualification of continuing crimes, the Plenum of the Supreme Court should indicate that repeated sexual acts that form the objective side of one corpus delicti should be considered as a single continuing crime, if their commission was covered by a single intent. At the same time, such intent may be evidenced by the behavior of the perpetrator, in which he does not stop the violation of sexual freedom or sexual inviolability of a particular victim.
3. The provisions of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court concerning the qualification of depraved acts should be changed, indicating that depraved acts are other sexual acts that are not covered by the dispositions of Article 134 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and actually depraved acts committed without direct physical contact in order to satisfy sexual needs or arouse the victim's interest in sexual acts. It is also important to emphasize that the acts provided for in the note to Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation should include only other actions of a sexual nature.

Conclusions. In conclusion, it should be noted that the proposals formulated to solve the identified problems of law enforcement cannot completely eliminate them. The solution to these problems should be found through legislative changes. In this activity, it seems correct to focus on the positive experience of European legislators, which provides for a more detailed differentiation of responsibility depending on the features that objectively affect the nature and degree of public danger of the act.

The subject of the article is the application of the concept of the range of permissible restrictions on rights and freedoms that not enshrined in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights.

The purpose of the research is to identify the basic position of the Court on the question of determining the degree of proportionate balance between public and private interests in establishing restrictions on the rights and freedoms of a person in the sphere of business activity.

The methodology. In the process of the research, both general scientific and special methods of knowing socio-legal phenomena (formal legal method, circular causality method) were used. The multivariance of achieving common standards for assessing the range of permissible restrictions on the freedom to conduct a business is determined by analyzing the balanced influence of internal and external factors, the interaction of many dichotomies and adichotomies.

Results, scope of application. The provisions of the Convention define the range of rights and freedoms protected. However, the Court in its practice broadly interprets the list of rights and freedoms protected by the Convention. The Court considers the Convention as a "living instrument" in order to adapt it to changing conditions of public life. The Court’s current practice does not imply that the Court has exceeded its powers. The court implements the idea of circular causality of legal phenomena, perceived including in European space. European tradition recognizes the possibility of changing the legal space in different ways. The main way of transforming the legal system is to change quantitative parameters. It is possible to accumulate the qualities of practical implementation of the principles enshrined in the Convention by ensuring the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Investigators of the Court's practice mainly analyse the characteristics of the protection of human rights and freedoms explicitly mentioned in the Convention. The complexity of the study of the Court's practice for the protection of unrecognized human rights and freedoms stems from its heterogeneity. However, an analysis of the practice of protecting such rights and freedoms reveals the internal mechanisms of the Court to ensure the equilibrium of legal space. The article defines the basic position of the Court on the question of determining the degree of proportionate balance between public and private interests in establishing restrictions on the rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen not expressly enshrined in the Convention. The realization of economic rights and freedoms requires the greatest flexibility of the mechanism for the protection of rights and freedoms. Intensive economic development requires a rapid change in the legal space. The interpretation of human rights and freedoms has an impact on the level of protection of the economic rights and freedoms. The text of the Convention has been modified without adopting its new edition.

Conclusions. Law enforcers are particularly interested in analyzing the Court's practice in cases related indirectly to the protection of freedom to conduct a business. The Court determines the main vectors of interpretation of the freedom to conduct a business. Law enforcers can use the Court's approach in interpreting the provisions of the Convention without risking being accused of human rights and freedoms violations. The generalizations make it possible to establish the ideological and substantive component of the basic axiological imperative of the Court in the protection of the economic rights and freedoms through the protection of the right to property. It was concluded that the Court's decisions justified the need to protect the freedom to conduct a business by its inherent connection with the right to property, as well as the universality of the criteria for determining the legality of restricting the rights and freedoms.

The subject of the research. The research focuses on the legal prohibitions and obligations for convicts to imprisonment fixed in the norms of legislation and in subordinate regulatory legal acts adopted in accordance with it.

The purpose of the research is to confirm or refute the hypothesis that there is a current discrepancy between the content of the legal responsibilities of convicts and the goals of the penal enforcement such as rehabilitation and preventing of the commission of new crimes, their social essence and legal nature.

Methods of the research. The research uses retrospective analysis of legislation in the field of execution of criminal punishment in the form of imprisonment, as well as analysis and synthesis of legal literature and empirical research data. To confirm the conclusions of the research authors use sociological survey of 364 citizens and 221 employees of penal institutions located in the Siberian Federal District (the cities of Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Omsk) aged from 18 to 73 years.

The main results of the research and the scope of their application. On the basis of retrospective analysis of the norms of penal enforcement (formerly correctional labor) law, which establish the penitentiary duties of convicts, the goals and objectives of penal enforcement legal regulation, the results of an empirical study, it is concluded that some of the responsibilities (including prohibitions) of convicts in criminal enforcement law do not have a strict scientific explanation. Their establishment is dictated not only by the need to achieve the purposes of convicts rehabilitation and preventing the commission of new crimes, but also to solve a number of other tasks that do not fit into the existing concept of the execution of punishment in the form of imprisonment and violate the balance between the "punitive" and "correctional-preventive" content of punishment. These include responsibilities that: are a relic of the Soviet socialist society; provide administrative, economic, managerial and other activities of penal institutions; unreasonably "seem" to be an effective way to rehabilitate convicts and prevent the commission of new crimes by both convicts and other persons.

Conclusions. The solution of the mentioned problems in the light of the development of penal enforcement policy in general and of its legislative form in particular is possible in several ways. The first one is that the legal responsibilities of the convicts to imprisonment should be reviewed (excluded, or the content should be changed), taking into account their real impact on the achievement of the goals established by law (or change the latter) and the constantly changing rules and traditions of the human society. The second one is to change the goals of the penal enforcement legislation to its current (and possibly future) norms. The third "middle ground" way consists in simultaneous changing of the goals of the penal enforcement legislation and of the legal responsibilities of convicts in the direction of expanding the dispositive principles of criminal enforcement legal regulation, excluding certain of their responsibilities and prohibitions and expanding their rights.

The subject. Digital technologies have been integrated into all aspects of public life, including politics, law, finance, business, education, science, and society. Yet, digitalization exerts an even greater impact on the economy, which should prompt the State, represented by its legislative and executive bodies, to take timely action to ensure the legal regulation of diverse aspects of the digital economy. Digital transformation of the economy has redefined the approaches to the issues of legal capacity, corporate governance and management of business processes. Traditional management mechanisms are no longer competitive, unless used in conjunction with dynamically developing digital technologies.

This article explores the issues related to digital legal personality of a corporation (online registration (e-residency) of corporations and the digital footprint that companies leave in public registers), digital corporate governance, and discuss the operation of digital corporations, including networked and decentralized autonomous organizations. The authors distinguish three types of digital corporate governance: remote management (exercised by human individuals), smart management (based on algorithms designed by human engineers), and artificial intelligence (AI) management (that does not require human involvement). Some tools of digital corporation management are illustrated, replacing traditional forms of management of the human cognitive system. Finally, we provide an overview of the operational characteristics of decentralized autonomous organizations.

Purpose of the research. This article is devoted to the transformation of management tools for modern corporations in the digital economy. In order to comply with the Russian corporate legislation of the existing digital reality, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive scientific and legal concept of corporate governance, ensuring the balance and protection of the rights and legitimate interests of all participants in corporate relations and others related to corporate relations, as well as increasing the transparency and efficiency of corporations.

Methodology. The methodology of this study was based on the following methods of scientific knowledge: general scientific empirical methods (observation (over the course of development of the use of digital technologies in corporate law), comparison (of the effectiveness of the use of digital technologies in corporate law of different countries)); methods of theoretical knowledge (analysis (of advantages and disadvantages of digitalization of individual institutions of corporate law), formal legal method (in the formulation and research of various concepts, determination of their characteristics and classification), theoretical modeling (of the prospects and areas of possible application of digital technologies in corporate law).

The main results. Digitalization of corporate management is bound to increase business profitability and improve competitiveness on the market. We believe that in the coming years science will have to tackle the issues of assessing the implications of the introduction of digital technologies, determining technical, economic and legal prerequisites for their implementation, and identifying their limits. In addition, issues related to professional training / retraining of personnel capable of working with modern technologies are of importance.

Conclusions. The authors came to the conclusion that the main direction of improving corporate legislation in the context of digitalization is currently the creation and provision of conditions for effective interaction between corporate actors and persons directly associated with them in the digital environment.

The subject of the study is the institution of digital rights, which has recently been enshrined in Russian legislation. This topic is relevant since the definition of digital rights causes numerous discussions and disputes. Practice on this issue has not yet developed, and there are conflicts in the current legislation. The purpose of the article is to consider the scope of digital rights and define the category "digital rights", given that there is a deep difference between its broad and narrow definitions. The following tasks have been solved to achieve this goal: (1) to consider the regulatory framework governing digital rights; (2) to analyze the main approaches to the definition of digital rights; (3) to study various definitions of digital objects; (4) to highlight the main characteristics of digital objects; (5) to propose original definitions of "digital rights" and "digital objects".

Methodology. The authors use the general scientific dialectical method, as well as formallegal, system-structural, formal-logical methods and methods of cognition. The synergetic method is used to clarify the main features of digital rights. It allows isolating new rules and reality from the creative potential of chaos.

The main results and the scope of the study. Considering law as a variable phenomenon, it has been proved that it is constantly changing. Analysis allows the authors to conclude that digital rights are an independent special type of rights that arise only in relation to digital objects created in digital form. The features of digital rights include: digital format, occurrence only in the cyber-physical space, consolidation in the form of software algorithms, the accounting system is carried out without an intermediary, the owner’s digital rights are realized with access to the Internet and a key in the form of login.

The main qualitative characteristics of digital objects include the following: digital objects are not material; in some cases, they cannot be materialized and there is no need for that; digital objects are created using modern high-tech systems; it is possible to make transactions with digital objects only in the cyber-physical space; the right of inheritance for some digital objects is limited to inheritance by will due to the peculiarities of ownership of these objects; digital objects can be disposed of without the participation of third parties and intermediaries; transactions with digital assets are confidential.

Conclusions. Based on the study results, original definitions of "digital rights" and "digital objects" have been proposed. Digital right is a digital algorithm that enshrines the powers of individuals and legal entities to own, use, and alienate digital objects of civil rights in hightech systems, given that technical means provide the owner with the opportunity to exercise their powers. Digital objects represent an independent legal category, which is a cryptographic code that gives the owner the right to perform any actions with it - to own, dispose of, alienate, make transactions, and other actions not prohibited by law. Legislative amendments to the current Russian legislation are developed.