Introduction. The study elucidates the legal features of the process of immigrant communes’ liquidation in Soviet Russia in the 1920s. The scientific problem raised envisages the analysis of legal procedures on liquidation of immigrant communes by the example of the commune “California” that had failed to build an efficient farming enterprise and had come to its dissolution. The significance of the article in the contemporary scholarly context lies in the study of the unpublished archival sources to establish the relationship between the liquidation procedures and the legal acts regulating the activity of Soviet agricultural associations. The problem of juridical establishment of the internal structure of immigrant communes and their legal status in comparison with the local collective farms remains unstudied. The aim of the article is to identify the legal features of the dissolution of immigrant collective farms in Soviet Russia in the 1920s by the example of the commune “California” based on the study of the unpublished archival documents.
Materials and Methods. The research was based on the archival documents stored in the State Archive of the Rostov Region (SARR), as well as various normative legal acts regulating the activity of agricultural communes in the USSR in the 1920s. General scientific and specific scientific methods were used within the research: historical-genetic, historicallegal, formal-legal (dogmatic), and content analysis methods.
Results. The article has conceptualized the Soviet agrarian legislation on the activity of immigrant communes. It has analysed the liquidation of the immigrant commune “California”, which took place in late 1926 — the first half of 1927. The process has been evaluated from perspective of legal and regulatory framework being in effect at that time. It has been ascertained that the commune “California” was liquidated at the initiative of its members due to the inability to pay off debts to the state creditors and former members of the commune except for through commune dissolution. It has been demonstrated that Regional land use authorities had supervised the commune liquidation, as their primary objective was to ensure the observation of the state creditors’ interests, while the interests of the commune members mattered at the second place. As a result, the liquidation committee, which included the representatives of the authorities, managed to sell the major part of the commune assets and settle all the debts.
Discussion and Conclusion. The conducted research is significant for the contemporary Russian juridical science due to the introduction into the scientific discourse of the new precedents that expand our understanding of the legal features of immigrant communes’ liquidation in the 1920s. The study presents a detailed analysis of the procedure of commune “California” liquidation, and can serve a starting point for the research on legal regulation of the activity of agricultural communes in the USSR in the 1920s.

Introduction. According to the RSFSR Constitution adopted in 1918, certain individuals and groups of the population who posed a threat to the Soviet power were deprived of their voting rights. Thus, in Soviet Russia, there appeared a group of people with politicaly and socially impaired rights, the so-called “disenfranchised”, which existed until 1936. Although in the scholarly literature of the Soviet period, the “disenfranchised” remained beyond the scope of scientific interest, in the post-Soviet period, the number of publications addressing this topic became huge. However, in the frame of the historical-legal approach, the following issues remained insufficiently studied: the relationship between the legal provisions regarding the disenfranchised persons enshrined in the Fundamental Law and then detailed in the directives of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, as well as in the by-law regulatory legal acts; the transformation of the disenfranchisement laws in the 1920s and first half of the 1930s; and implementation of the discriminatory norms towards disenfranchised into the sectoral laws. Based on the above, the aim of the article is to study the disenfranchisement as a tool of constitutional legal liability in Soviet Russia in 1918–1936.
Materials and Methods. The empirical basis of the study was formed by a set of legal documents of the 1918–1936 period, as well as by the published and archival documents of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (РГА СПИ /RSA SPH), the State Archive of the Krasnodar Territory (ГА КК/SA KT), the Taganrog branch of the State Archive of the Rostov Region (ТФ ГАРО/TB SARR). The research methodology included the general scientific and specific scientific methods, such as: historical-genetic, comparative-historical, historical-legal, legalistic (dogmatic) methods.
Results. It has been proved that the majority of people deprived of their voting rights under the RSFSR Constitutions of 1918 and 1925 were not those who had violated the Soviet Law or legally incapable (incapacitated) members of the society, but rather those who had the oppositional views and posed potential danger to the Bolshevik regime: the ones exploiting other peoples’ labor, living on unearned income, engaged in commerce, as well as the clergy, former police officers, gendarmes, and the like. Thus, the Soviet state had legitimized discrimination against certain groups of the population for the sake of struggling to build socialism. During the 1920s, new categories of the population (former White Guard officers, White Army officials, family members of the disenfranchised, etc.) were added to the disenfranchised persons, as a result, the number of disenfranchised reached 3.7 million by the end of the 1920s. Disenfranchisement not only prevented citizens from participating in local government elections, but greatly complicated their whole life.
Discussion and Conclusion. Disenfranchisement, as stipulated in the RSFSR Constitutions of 1918 and 1925, can rightfully be characterized as a tool of constitutional legal liability. Within the disenfranchisement laws of the 1920s and first half of the 1930s, the severity of sanctions applied to the disenfranchised could vary significantly depending on the changes in the internal Bolsheviks’ policy. Eventually, targeted pressure of the state on the disenfranchised persons led to a dramatic decline in their numbers, which allowed the legislators to abandon this tool of constitutional legal liability and no longer include it in the Constitution of 1936

Introduction. In the context of contemporary scientific research, the theory and practice of legal realism encounter criticism, which focuses on the shortcomings of this approach: non-systemic and inconsistent provisions, analytics naivety, lack of well-structured methodology, etc. This causes doubts in the objectivity of this research paradigm that contributes to the development of legal theory and practice from epistemological, socio legal, and cultural perspectives. The relevance of the problem justifies the aim of the present study, i.e. conducting a system analysis of the possibilities to organise and update the paradigm principles of legal realism striving to strengthen the interdisciplinary interaction of legal practices and socio-political environment.
Materials and Methods. A comparative analysis of different variants of legal realism was performed. A paradigm approach made it possible to reveal the methodological principles and dynamics of legal realism development, and identify the poorly studied areas. By means of modeling, it was possible to reconstruct the legal tools used for understanding the socio-political legal realities.
Results. It has been proved that classical legal realism and its modern branches have a number of disputable aspects, that should be overcome to enable modernization of philosophical and legal content of theory and practice. During legal reforms, the most efficient solution is the integration of the classical and modern legal realism principles into a single organizational paradigm that incorporates the methods of digital sociology, legal psychology, and political ideology and meets the requirements of contemporary Russian society.
Discussion and Conclusion. The obtained results have confirmed the practical efficiency, functionality, and consequentialism of the efforts for legal realism modernization. The development of an empirical research program that would coordinate the work of lawyers, sociologists, and politicians using the current digital technologies, could be promising for further research.

Introduction. In the context of global trends for universalism and cosmopolitanism that promote the idea of global identity, the modern states come to the need to reconsider their self-determination models and find themselves in a state of identity crisis, which leads to social destabilization and threatens social security. Therefore, formation of a sustainable framework of legal values non-contradicting transnational cooperation, but, at the same time, strengthening internal state order is the relevant issue to study. The aim of the study is to analyse the contemporary scientific approaches to determining and strengthening legal identity as a mechanism of social order regulation in the context of globalization.
Materials and Methods. The methodological toolkit included the methods of comparative analysis (historical-comparative, comparative-typological, and comparative-axiological), which reflect the territorial, historical-cultural, and valuebased features of the identity classification variants. By means of critical analysis, categorization, and systematization of socio-political forms of legal identity, the replicable characteristics of legal regulation models, social practices, and political objectives that underpin efficient achievement of the social order have been revealed.
Results. It has been established that conceptualization of “legal identity” notion can be traced from emergence of the theory of social identity as a system for forming collective self-consciousness to shaping a concept of civiс self-identification that sets high value benchmarks due to development of the unified legal culture and legal consciousness. Component analysis of “legal identity” concept made it possible to determine the following mechanisms of its strengthening aimed at counteracting such a large-scale challenge of our time as global identity: ensuring socio-political compatibility of the individual self-consciousness with the collective norms; executing the regulatory policy based on the identity principle; institutionalization of narratives; coordination of the activities of public, private, and sector-specific organisations; as well as other principles that jointly stabilize the system of legal regulation, social hierarchy, and public security.
Discussion and Conclusion. Using the proposed recommendations for the development of legal identity makes it possible not only to strengthen the social order in the country, but also to form an image of cultural and historical authenticity of a nation that presents it as an equal participant of the global processes on the international arena

Introduction. Contemporary processes of nation building in Russia are related to rethinking of the fundamental principles of organization and functioning of the national state authority mechanism, primarily in the frame of exercising the constitutional rights citizens. In this context, the problem of legal nature of electoral qualifications, their doctrinal development, place in the system of constitutional law, and role in exercising the right of citizens to participate in the governance of state affairs, to vote and be elected to public bodies has become increasingly relevant. The aim of the article is to study the constitutional and legal nature of electoral qualifications in the frame of exercising the right to active suffrage in the contemporary democratic realities of the Russian Federation and to identify the trends of development of the above phenomena.
Materials and Methods. In the frame of the study, the publications of Russian and foreign authors on the definition of electoral qualifications in constitutional law science have been analysed. The research methodology was formed by a combination of philosophical, general scientific, and specific scientific methods, including description, comparison, classification, analysis, and generalization.
Results. The effect of electoral qualifications on the development of democratic society in the Russian Federation has been revealed, and attention focused on their specific types, such as age qualifications, citizenship qualifications, legal capacity qualifications, and others. The global trend toward democratization of elections has led to the abolition or significant reduction of discriminatory qualifications in most countries. The racial, gender, and property restrictions are being replaced by criteria based on the principles of universality, equality, transparency, and the like.
Discussion and Conclusion. Application of electoral qualifications in the frame of active suffrage in Russia requires a system approach and close attention on the part of the state and society. To ensure the rights and freedoms of citizens, the application of qualifications must be balanced, not excessive, and not become a tool of discrimination. It would be rational to accelerate the process of improving the legal regulation of these social relations taking into account the accumulated experience of the foreign countries. The theoretical provisions formulated in the present article can be used for further scientific research on this issue.

Introduction. Within the existing legal framework of the Russian Federation, there arise numerous challenges with regard to regulation of mediation procedure, setting formal requirements to the details of amicable dispute settlement, and standardization and certification of mediation experts’ qualification level, which indicates the need to improve the legislative rules. Therefore, the aim of the article is to study the legislative gaps in legal regulation of mediation in the Russian Federation to overcome the inconsistencies between the theoretical provisions and practical results of mediation dispute resolution.
Materials and Methods. The research methodology included the analysis, structuring, and systematization of national and international legal principles stipulating relevant regulatory requirements to mediation procedure. The regulatory theory offers the tools for studying and developing the regulatory approaches to mediation; it reflects the ability of different levels of regulation to resolve the conflict between the freedom and normative-legal restraints. Implementation of a multi-level approach to regulation of mediation procedure combines formal and nonformal regulatory mechanisms that include the efficient methods of operational and reflective analysis.
Results. The following gaps in legal regulation of mediation procedure in the Russian Federation have been identified: vaguely formulated requirements to compiling an agreement on implementation of the procedure; a lack of normativelegal procedural guidelines for the implementation of mediation; insufficiently clear legislative requirements to the qualification of mediation experts; unreliable protection of data privacy, etc. The need to study successful foreign practices in this field has been substantiated; however, the first step to improve the legal policy in the field of mediation should be the adoption of amendments to the laws of the Russian Federation. The opportunity for the mediators’ associations or authorised organisations to determine conditions for self-regulation is considered a necessary prerequisite. The next step is the standardization and certification of mediators’ qualification, and assessment of their sector-specific training and professional experience. The final step is formation of the mediation culture and promotion of mediation dispute resolution among the population of the country.
Discussion and Conclusion. Under the rigid regulatory restraints, achievement of positive results in development of mediation in Russia is impossible. To be efficient, the regulatory processes must remain flexible and adaptable, have economic support, and enough freedom for mediators to self-regulate their activity

Introduction. The institute of pre-trial cooperation agreement is a subject of much debate in the contemporary Criminal Law of the Russian Federation. Having been implemented to improve the crime clearance and combat organised crime, this institute unfortunately creates certain problems in the application of law at the preliminary stage of investigation. Unclear legal regulation of the agreement conclusion procedure, weak protection of the rights of the parties to the proceedings, and hidden nature of violations require a thorough study. The aim of the article is to identify the main problems arising in the frame of conclusion of the pre-trial cooperation agreement at the preliminary investigation stage and its pursuance, as well as to propose the ways to improve the criminal procedural law in the Russian Federation.
Materials and Methods. The study was based on the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (CPC) and Resolutions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, statistical data of the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, as well as investigative and judicial practice materials. Within the study, general scientific methods (dialectical method, analysis, synthesis) and specific legal methods (dogmatic, comparative-legal, and statistical) were used.
Results. The analysis of statistical data on the application of Chapter 40.1 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation revealed a downward trend in the number of agreements concluded. The following main problems arising in the frame of conclusion of the pre-trial cooperation agreements at the preliminary investigation stage and its pursuance were identified: unclear moment-definition of agreement conclusion, unresolved procedural status of the suspect, the risk of false testimony against the innocent persons on the part of the accused, and the lack of mechanisms for verifying the information provided by the investigator. General description of a typical participant of a pre-trial agreement was provided, and options for improving the legal regulation of this institution were proposed.
Discussion and Conclusion. The conclusions, proposals and recommendations presented in the article have theoretical and practical significance for optimizing the procedure of the pre-trial cooperation agreement conclusion and for increasing the efficiency of the preliminary investigation

Introduction. In the context of global digitalization, cybercrimes are considered to be the most rapidly developing category in the criminal law. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation includes a separate chapter with the articles stipulating criminal liability for encroachments upon computer information. The relevance of the study is underpinned by the challenges encountered during law enforcement, as well as by the divergence of scientific attitudes towards the qualification of the criminal acts under study, and the existing gaps in the criminal law of the Russian Federation. The aim of the article is to define the essence of cybercrimes, to analyse the scientific attitudes and law enforcement practices in order to identify the most problematic aspects in qualifying the cybercrimes.
Materials and Methods. The research was based on the study of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, legal acts regulating social relations on handling the information protected by law, judicial practice materials, and scientific publications. The research was carried out using the dogmatic, system-structural and law enforcement methods.
Results. It has been revealed that the existing difficulties in qualifying the cybercrimes stem from their latent, highly technological, and cross-border nature. The terminological ambiguity of the criminal-law definitions of the acts enshrined in Chapter 28 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the blanket disposition of certain articles lead to a significant number of difficulties for a law-enforcer to qualify these acts. The analysis has revealed that, in the context of rapid sophistication of crimes committed using artificial intelligence and neural networks, the majority of scholars tend to believe in the need to specify the subject of the criminal encroachment and expand the list of objects susceptible for committing the crimes under study. The adoption of the Resolution No. 37 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 15, 2022, has to great extent ensured a uniform approach of the courts to consideration of such criminal cases; however, the existing problems have not been fully resolved.
Discussion and Conclusion. The findings obtained during the research indicate that the difficulties in qualifying unlawful access to computer information and crimes involving the use of malware stem from the technical complexity of the crimes under study and constant evolution of the methods of committing thereof, the imperfection of certain legal constructs of criminal law, and the lack of a uniform interpretation of the certain signs of corpus delicti. For solving the revealed problems, it is required to improve the criminal law and judicial practices, as well as enhance the quality of expert support of cybercrime investigations.

Introduction. Nowadays, rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has contributed to synthetic reality (deepfake technology) becoming a tool for committing dangerous cybercrimes. Currently, the legal system is facing challenges that were difficult to imagine 20 years ago. Despite a great attention paid to technological progress, the review of scientific works has revealed a legal vacuum and fragmented data on judicial practices with regard to this subject in the Russian Federation. Therefore, there arises the need to analyse the transformation of the objective side of the crimes. The aim of the article is to analyse the criminal-legal evaluation of crimes committed using deepfake technology and to develop a comprehensive approach to qualification of these acts for improving the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Materials and Methods. The article analyses the scientific publications referring to the cybersecurity and legal norms of the acting criminal law of the Russian Federation. The study was carried out using the system analysis, dogmatic, and comparative legal approaches. The methodological tools included the concepts of multi-level liability and analysis of the legislative initiatives in the Russian Federation.
Results. It was established that traditional signs of corpus delicti (of such crimes as slander, theft, etc.) do not fully cover the specifics of automated deception. The features of “virtual theft” have been demonstrated, and the difficulties of proving the deliberate fakeness of content have been revealed. The need to implement mandatory digital labeling has been justified, and measures to improve Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation by introducing a new aggravating circumstance have been proposed.
Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the study can serve a basis for reforming the cyber law of the Russian Federation. It is proposed to emphasize the need of transiting to a model of distributed liability of AI subjects. The present study can be deemed significant for the Russian juridical science, as it provides an opportunity to ensure a balance between the technological progress and personal security

Introduction. In recent years, cyberterrorism has become one of the main challenges to the national security of the Russian Federation, as it allows promotion of terrorist ideology, preparation of terrorist attacks, and recruitment of terrorists without much effort and financial investment, i.e. makes it possible to commit terrorist crimes in cyberspace without fear to be discovered. Amid the backdrop of computerization rate acceleration, internationalization of information networks, and digital economy turnover growth, the problem of ensuring cybersecurity has become particularly relevant. The aim of the present study is to investigate the legal nature of cyberterrorism as a specific form of terrorist activity and to identify its relationship with the corpora delicti of overlapping offences in the criminal law of the Russian Federation.
Materials and Methods. The study was conducted based on the acting norms of the criminal law of the Russian Federation, reports of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, data on the judicial cases, and scientific publications. The dialectical method of cognition was used as the primary one, and was supplemented by the comparative, dogmatic, and system analysis methods, as well as by the general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, and induction.
Results. Legal regulation of terrorist crimes committed in cyberspace has been analysed. Cyberterrorism was studied from perspective of it being an objective consequence of the processes of information globalisation and emergence of computer networks. The statement about cyberterrorism posing a threat to the national security of the Russian Federation has been substantiated, which is confirmed by the rapid growth of the terrorist crimes committed using the information technology and significant damage caused by them to the critical infrastructure of the state.
Discussion and Conclusion. The conducted research supplements and expands the scientific understanding of the nature of cyberterrorism as a potential threat to the national security of the Russian Federation. The findings obtained may serve a basis for further scientific research in this field