Журнал ЗАКОН

The golden age of the international law scholarship, when the academic works of renowned international lawyers were considered as one of the sources of international law, has irrevocably given way to a time when the scholarship, along with judicial decisions, is viewed solely as an auxiliary means of establishing the content of international law. The emergence and proliferation of international courts, to which states have delegated the function of interpreting applicable international law, and the increasing number of decisions issued by these courts have played a key role in diminishing the role of the doctrine. Nevertheless, the international law scholarship continues to influence the development of international law and has more weight than can be inferred from the number of citations of academic sources in court decisions. However, it is often difficult to detect, let alone measure, the impact of the scholarship on the state practices or on the arguments of the court. This impact is not linear, meaning that it is not obvious, may not manifest itself immediately and unevenly in various branches of international law, and it is difficult to quantify and measure it.

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Keywords: doctrine, international courts, sourcesof international law, citation, International Law Commission

The status of doctrine as a source of international investment law remains a subject of debate. However, it appears that academic publications are an influential factor in arbitral tribunals decisionmaking, despite a decreasing frequency of references to doctrine as the volume of arbitral awards grows. International courts, such as the International Court of Justice, typically avoid direct citations of academic publications. In contrast, practice shows that invesor-State arbitral tribunals often rely heavily on doctrine in their awards. This can be attributed both to the ad hoc nature of investment arbitration, which leads to inconsistent practice, and to the fact that scholars are frequently appointed as arbitrators in investment arbitration, bringing with them a tradition of citing legal literature. At the same time, arbitral awards contain no references to online materials, including legal blogs, indicating that arbitrators — many of whom are university professors — remain committed to traditional forms of doctrinal expression, such as articles and monographs. In practice, a continuous dialogue exists: arbitral awards influence doctrine, and academic publications affect the decisions made by arbitral tribunals. Broad academic support for or criticism of a particular approach taken by arbitrators can influence subsequent practice. Moreover, views expressed by arbitrators in their scholarly works may serve as grounds for their challenge in disputes where the tribunal is required to address the same legal issues. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the influence of doctrine on the development of international investment law is significantly greater than in other fields of international law.

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Keywords: international investment law, investment arbitration, legal doctrine, sources of law, challenge of an arbitrator

The author of this article attempts to answer the question: are hopes justified that BRICS will become the „assembly centre“ of a new global legal system that will gain dominance, displacing the Anglo- American law? What is Russia’s role in this process? In search of an answer, the author analyses the current concept of legal hegemony developed by the renowned Italian legal scholar Ugo Mattei, the experience of legal harmonisation in the post-Soviet space, and the practice of international business. Ultimately, the disappointing conclusion is reached: there are no real preconditions for BRICS law as a whole or any of its jurisdictions to become legal hegemons in the foreseeable future, displacing the United Kingdom and its former dominions and colonies (including the United States). However, through evolutionary processes, English contract law itself, for example, through independent interpretation by international commercial arbitrators, an increasing number of whom come from the Global South, can be imbued with new meanings, internationalised, and removed from the national British context.

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Keywords: competition of legal systems, comparative law, law and economics, international arbitration

This article is devoted to the analysis of the doctrine of the securing causa and its influence on the application of the provisions of the Russian Civil Code concerning independent guarantees. Relying on the fundamental importance of the concept of securing causa (including the accessory nature of performance) in the context of obligation security, the author critically reflects on the Civil Code’s declarations of the independence of guarantees and offers an explanation for the courts’ deviation from the established principle of guarantee independence. According to the author, an independent guarantee, as a form of security, must have a securing causa. Therefore, judicial practice that allows the guarantor to invoke the underlying obligation relationship as a basis for objections against the beneficiary’s claims should be supported. However, such reference may be considered justified only if the guarantor meets the highest standard of proof for the grounds of the relevant objections.

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Keywords: securing causa, independent guarantee, accessory rights

The article addresses the legal protection of freedom of thought in the context of rapid advances in neurotechnology and artificial intelligence. It analyses international and Russian legal norms, revealing the absence of mechanisms to safeguard freedom of thought as higher nervous activity. The study shows that modern technologies can record and interpret human cognitive processes, posing a risk of subtle ideological control. The paper argues for amending the Federal Law „On Information, Information Technologies, and Information Protection“ to establish specific safeguards, including enhanced informed consent and a ban on transmitting data on thoughts and beliefs over the internet. It emphasises that current personal data and biometric regulations do not provide adequate protection, and ignoring the issue may lead to destruction of the whole architecture of political rights.

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Keywords: freedom of thought, neurotechnology, artificial intelligence, neurorights, information law, human rights protection, cognitive security

This article attempts to give a scientific explanation of the essence of legal activity — to describe, at the level of scientific abstractions, what happens (should happen) „in the minds“ of lawyers — scientists and practitioners. The author begins with the concept of legal relationship, which he first transformes into a formula and then into a concept of LEGAL SITUATION©, quite new for legal science — both specific (the background and framework of which are determined by the act of application of positive law) and typical (the background and framework of which are legal doctrine) — the collection of scientific knowledge acquired in the course of scientific knowledge of legal reality. But the very essence of true legal science and its results (theories, teachings, doctrines), their inherent properties and purpose are such that they cannot but arouse serious concern for their modern fate...

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Keywords: jurisprudence, legal science, legal doctrine, legal relationship, LEGAL SITUATION©

The article explores controversial issues concerning the formation of key attitudes in judicial practice regarding the liability of a corporation’s manager for infringement of losses under the influence of the conflict-of-interest doctrine as interpreted in modern Russian corporate law. The study is based on trends that have developed both before and after the adoption of Resolution No. 62 by the Supreme Arbitrazh Court of Russia on directors’ liability up to recent attempts to systematise main attitudes in the Review of Judicial Practice of the Supreme Court of Russia dated 30 July 2025. The gaps and contradictions in applying the legal category of „conflict of interest“ when resolving disputes about managers’ liability are analysed, with special attention given to existing presumptions as an essential tool for distributing the burden of proof. Shortcomings in implementing theoretical models into law enforcement practices due to their incomplete perception are identified. The research findings allow for retrospective evaluation of emerging tendencies in the development of judicial practice from the perspective of reliance on the content of the basic duty of a manager to act in the interests of society, thus providing guidelines for reconsideration of the legal significance of conflicts of interest and its implications for qualifying the behavior of individuals managing corporations.

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Keywords: conflict of interest, bad faith, duty to act in the company’s interest, liability of a chief executive manager, personal interest in the transaction, presumption of causation of losses

This article addresses a problem which, although long recognised in doctrine, remains unresolved in law and poorly implemented in practice: the use of legal opinions. The author examines the procedure for their use in civil proceedings to determine the functional purpose of judicial requests for such opinions aimed at clarification of legal issues. The author determines the limits of the use of these opinions in civil proceedings and concludes that the arguments of those who advocate enshrining such a procedural tool in criminal proceedings are technically and conceptually untenable, given the strict delineation of procedural functions and the specific nature of the use of specialised knowledge. As an alternative to legal opinions, the author proposes the implementation of the principle of specialisation, known abroad and addressing the issue of gaps in competence.

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Keywords: legal opinion, iura novit curia, assessment of evidence, principle of specialisation

The lack of state regulation and control in the sphere of paid legal services, as well as the low level of legal literacy of the majority of the population, create favourable conditions for criminalisation of this sphere and increase the number of fraudulent acts committed under the pretext of providing legal services. The emergence of criminal business in the field of legal services poses a serious threat to the ability of citizens to protect their rights and also undermines their confidence in the Russian judicial system as a whole. The purpose of this article is to create an optimal model of counteraction to criminal activities in the sphere of legal services. As a result of the study, the typical organisational structure of the criminal business is defined; specific features of the model of criminal activity at all stages of its implementation are identified; an approach to assessing the quality of legal services within the framework of pre-investigation verification of statements and reports of citizens is proposed. On the basis of the research some proposals are made to improve the legal literacy of citizens, to block the channels of negative psychological influence on them, to adopt uniform quality standards for the provision of various types of legal services. In addition, a set of measures aimed at reducing the risk of citizens turning to unscrupulous market participants, proactive gathering of information on illegal activities by law enforcement agencies, and development of common approaches to the assessment of complex legal situations in the provision of legal services were proposed. The implementation of the submitted proposals will contribute to increasing the efficiency of the activities of law enforcement and control bodies, minimising the risks of citizens turning to members of the criminal market of legal services and thereby undermining the economic basis of the criminal business in the field of providing legal services.

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Keywords: criminal business, criminal activity, fraud, consumer deception, legal services, justice, advertising, contract, pseudo-lawyer, regulatory regulation, legal literacy

In the December Chronicle, the contributors comment on changes to the Russian Government decrees regulating the collection of biometric data and management of the public communications network, the latter purportedly granting Roskomnadzor the power to disconnect the RuNet from the Internet, as well as significant precedents: the high-profile case of Larisa Dolina, a new development in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation’s practice regarding the status of tax liens in bankruptcy proceedings, and the impact of unmotivated decisions by Child Protection Services on court decisions.

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Keywords: biometric data, personal data collection, RuNet disconnection, Roskomnadzor, “Dolina case,” tax lien, bankruptcy, inheritance, allocation of a share in kind, consent of the Child Protection Services

This article is devoted to the study of the specific aspects of the procedure for passing a sentence within proceedings in trial court and appellate court. The author identifies the existing models of drafting a sentence, analyses the causes of their generation and evolution in domestic criminal proceedings, and also addresses similar legal provisions in other branches of procedural law. The author considers the issues of partial pronouncement of a sentence, the procedure for serving a copy of a sentence, and the calculation of the limitations for appeal, which are united to and directly affect the procedure for drafting a sentence. As a result, the author comes to a conclusion that the model of suspended drafting of a sentence, which is currently adopted within appellate proceedings, does not provide for an adequate level of guarantees of rights and cannot be extended to proceedings in the trial court, following the example of civil proceedings.

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Keywords: full sentence, appellate sentence, reasoning, resolution, drafting of sentence

The author on the examples of his personal court practice considers some cases, in which doctrinal developments provided serious help in the work of a court. In particular, in bankruptcy cases proved to be useful such categories as standards of proof, administrative transactions, the provision causa and others.

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Keywords: legal doctrine, standards of proof, negative facts, subordination of creditors’ claims

The article is devoted to the analysis of amendments and additions made in October-November 1993 to the draft Constitution of the Russian Federation, approved by the Constitutional Conference. Russian President Boris Yeltsin proposed to combine this project with the draft of the Constitutional Commission of the Congress of People’s Deputies of the RSFSR (RF). But after the events of early October 1993, the President recognised only one draft as the basis of the future Constitution, which was approved by the Constitutional Conference, but he instructed it to be finalised. Quite a lot of amendments were made to the draft (according to the author’s calculations, in more than 70% of articles), including stylistic, terminological, structural, etc., only the most significant changes are analysed. Some of them improved on the previous version. But amendments were also made, further deepening the imbalance in the system of public power. The author concludes that this was largely the result of the absence of political opponents during the last revision of the constitutional draft.

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Keywords: Constitution of the Russian Federation 1993, Constitutional Conference, Constitutional Commission, presidential draft Constitution of the Russian Federation, mixed model