The fourth volume of the international scientific and practical journal “Law and Digital Economy” was published in 2021.
The first article of the issue is «Possible directions for the transformation of the civil process in the context of digitalization and a pandemic: predictive justice» by K.L. Branovitsky and V.V. Yarkov. The authors analyze the possibilities for the development and use of predictive justice as one of the most likely directions for the development of the civil process. Particular emphasis is placed on digitalization and the pandemic, which stimulate the development of predictive justice. The authors substantiate the limits of using predictive justice based on the current concept of the judiciary.
Article by Sh.U. Breu is devoted to the problems of regulating blockchain projects based on distributed ledger technology. The author notes that the digital economy and distributed ledger technology (DLT) are rapidly penetrating our business and private lives. This technology allows to secure decentralized data sets without the involvement of third parties or intermediaries in a secure, verifiable and independent way. In the future, artificial intelligence may begin to optimize applications and make decisions automatically, which will be a major challenge for competition and antitrust authorities. The article emphasizes that special attention should be paid to capacity building so that the information asymmetry between regulators, industry and consumer is as small as possible.
The topic of the article by M. Vahabava was the problem of legal consequences generated by smart contracts. The author is trying to find an answer to the question of whether all smart contracts can be considered from a legal point of view as full-fledged legal contracts. The comparative method helps to find similarities and differences in approaches in various civil and common law systems. The article also attempts to find an answer to the question: in what cases do smart contracts give rise to legal consequences.
An innovative topic for her research was proposed by S.I. Kodaneva. In her article “The Transformation of Copyright Under the Influence of the Development of Digital Technologies”, it is proposed to increase the requirements for the originality of works created using technical means and in order to fix life situations and communication (through judicial interpretation), as well as to consider the issue of legislative differentiation between two types of works: created by Internet users solely for the purpose of communication (by establishing a supposed open license for such works) and original works, the authors of which are interested in legal protection (by providing mechanisms for legally significant registration for them). The author concludes that self-regulation established by platform operators partly allows solving the problems identified in the article, however, it is necessary to legally limit the possibilities of such self-regulation by general principles and ethical standards aimed at protecting the interests of copyright holders.
The article by A.Yu. Kiryanov considers the main directions of interaction between the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and regional public chambers in the field of public control. Considering that the theory and practice of public control in the system of public chambers is not sufficiently developed, the author pays special attention to the forms and methods of interaction, primarily public control, which is much less formalized. The author also notes the need to use the tools of the digital economy, which will become a stabilizing factor in the transition period, during which relations between man, government and society will be formed within the framework of the new Social Contract.
The topic of the article L.L. Arzumanova – online mediation as one of the alternative forms of settling a public law dispute. The publication deals with the issues of the mediation procedure between public and private legal entities. A striking example of such a procedure was tax mediation, which was introduced into legal circulation as a pilot project. The article discusses the current legal mechanism of mediation as an alternative way to resolve a dispute. On the example of tax mediation, it is analyzed how the current mechanism of pre-trial dispute resolution, established in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, does not correlate with the existing mechanism of the mediation process. The paper presents some conclusions, gives the concept of mediation as a systemic process that allows for constructive negotiations between the parties involved in the dispute in order to resolve the problem and possibly reach an agreement on the settlement of the dispute. The important role of the mediator in legal relations is emphasized, where the participant is the tax authority, which should create a constructive atmosphere for discussing the conflict; adhere to the principles of mediation; assist in the search for solutions without expressing your opinion on the agenda.
Article by A.M. Gubin is devoted to the specifics of the interaction between digitalization and public administration. The purpose of the article is to identify the main trends in the development of public administration in the new realities, to analyze the key changes that have occurred with the advent of modern technologies. The author emphasizes that the state’s contribution to innovative projects will enhance competitiveness at the international level. The country’s economy directly depends on the digital transformation of public administration. It is important to cultivate and educate citizens about digitalization issues. Thanks to this, more and more advanced technologies will appear that will simplify and improve everyday processes.
D.M. Moshkova proposed the transformation of tax legal relations in the context of digitalization of the Russian economy as a research topic. The article discusses the process of transforming tax relations between the state and taxpayers as part of the development of the digital economy in the Russian Federation and the introduction of digital technologies in the tax administration. The author analyzes various digital platforms that have been developed and implemented by the tax authorities and are used in the process of tax administration and taxation of organizations and individuals.
The article by V.V. Komarova is devoted to the research of problematic issues of the implementation of the political rights of citizens in the digital environment. The author’s approach to filling the term “political rights” is proposed and argued, using the normative, essential, goal-setting and guarantee approaches, while fixing subjective capabilities. It is concluded that after the constitutional reform, the political rights of citizens received new goals and objectives, such as, for example, the implementation of mutual trust between the state and society, partnership models – new areas for the use and application of political rights by citizens of modern Russia. The totality of the aforementioned allowed the author to draw a conclusion about the movement towards a new generation of political rights.
Article by M.A. Egorova touches upon the features of determining the legal personality of artificial intelligence in the context of teaching disciplines in the field of intellectual property in the context of digitalization. The article examines the problems of determining the legal personality of artificial intelligence systems in the context of teaching disciplines in the field of intellectual property. The problem of training legal personnel in the field of intellectual property for the digital age, who have the knowledge and competencies of legal regulation of artificial intelligence technologies, is indicated.
Research by N.G. Zhavoronkova and Yu.G. Shpakovsky is devoted to the legal aspects of digitalization of the forest industry. The authors of the article showed that today the forest complex of Russia is in great need of digital management technologies. Digitalization in forestry provides for a radical modernization of all existing information systems, their mutual integration and data exchange both with information systems of state authorities and with systems used by the business community. According to the authors, the digitalization of the forest complex should become a digital basis for the provision of public services and the performance of state functions in the field of forestry and replace (integrate) disparate regional and sectoral information systems that are currently used in forestry.
V.M. Burla in the article “Digitalization as a factor influencing the development of constitutional axiology” explores the influence of the digital environment on constitutional axiology through its subject of study – constitutional values. Demonstrating aspects of the transformation of legal understanding and legal regulation, the author concludes that proper protection of constitutional values can be ensured by supplementing constitutional legal instruments with mechanisms of sectoral legislative and international legal regulation.
The volume ends with an article by L.R. Vardanyan “Legal Aspects of Digital Sampling Regulation in the USA and Germany”. The article draws attention to the rapid introduction of sampling into musical culture in a developed digital environment. It is concluded that, since the results of sampling are not an independent object of legal regulation and protection, the interests of musicians who use this instrument are not fully taken into account. The author considers it necessary to develop more fair, rational and reasonable criteria for establishing a balance between the protection of the intellectual rights of copyright holders and the protection of creative freedom in relation to musical works.