Журнал ЗАКОН

The economic foundations, structural alternatives, and limits of public evaluation of scientific results (using the example of economics) are revealed. Approaches to verifying the significance of the results of scientific research by economists are considered. A comparative analysis of the available options for verifying the results of scientific research in the field of economics is presented. Some empirical assessments are proposed as an example, taking into account the available methods for evaluating scientific results and the disciplinary specifics of economics as the chosen example for the study. The article proposes approaches to building a regulatory framework for evaluating the results of economic scientists’ research as a component of public assessment.

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Keywords: science, public assessment, scientometrics, expert assessments, sociological surveys

This article examines the current stage of strategic regulation of scientific and technological development in the Russian Federation through the prism of international scientific cooperation and publication activity. It demonstrates that the deterioration of the international environment, sanctions pressure, and discriminatory practices by foreign academic publishers create challenging conditions for the professional activities of Russian researchers — conditions that are, in fact, not reflected in the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation. A contradiction is identified between the officially declared rejection of Western scientometric systems and the continued de facto dependence of grant support mechanisms and researchers’ career trajectories on indicators from Web of Science and Scopus. The article investigates the negative consequences of the dominance of foreign databases under conditions of restricted access, as well as the transformation of the system for assessing scientific performance associated with the establishment of the Unified State List of Scientific Journals. It substantiates that the emerging model of scientometric sovereignisation has thus far failed to eliminate the dependence of domestic science on metrics controlled by unfriendly jurisdictions. The article concludes that there is a persistent trend towards a decline in the number of publications by Russian researchers in high-ranking foreign journals, and that negative external factors cannot be overcome within the approaches to international cooperation formulated in strategic policy documents. The necessity of revising the approaches enshrined in the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development is emphasised, taking into account the role of publication activity as a significant factor in preserving the contribution of Russian researchers to global science.

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Keywords: science policy, technological sovereignty, legislation on scientific activity, scientific and technological development, Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development, publication activity

Using the example of law, the author reveals the main shortcomings of the existing procedure for awarding academic degrees and academic titles in the field of law, after which he formulates a number of proposals aimed at changing both orders — proposals that are disputable and paradoxical, but at the same time original and well-founded. All of them can be applied not only to law, but also extended to other social sciences. The main among all the measures proposed by the author is the elimination of the State from the process of awarding academic degrees and academic titles (and in the future from the organisation of higher education): both should be the subject of the initiative of those specific educational institutions and specialists, the knowledge and skills of which are in demand in the national economy, i.e. they are the subject of demand from individuals, as well as the state and its structures. According to this principle, the primacy of the content the approach to the organisation of the entire system of higher professional education should also be changed: it should be gradually transferred to strictly targeted training of specialists for the needs (requirements) of specific employers who are willing to finance it, or be carried out at the expense of citizens who want to do so.

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Keywords: legal science; scientific degrees and titles; procedure for awarding scientific degrees and titles; reform of higher education

The falsification of scientific articles and dissertations is a real scourge of Russian science. In addition to simply weak works in scientific terms, an astonishingly large number of articles and dissertations contain direct plagiarism — the literal copying of text from other people’s works. True scientists, of course, are very concerned about this. In 2013–2022, the public project „Dissernet“ and the Commission for Countering the Falsification of Scientific Research at the Russian Academy of Sciences played a significant role in the fight against plagiarism. However, in 2022, the Commission was stripped of its functions, and some of the „Dissernet“ activists faced serious accusations from government authorities, leading to the project’s transition to an „anonymous mode of operation“ in 2024. This article explores the current methods of combating plagiarism.

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Keywords: „Dissernet“, falsification of scientific research, plagiarism in dissertations, revocation of academic degrees, scientific ethics, judicial ethics

The article examines the ethical and normative framework governing the use of generative artificial intelligence systems in scientific research, with particular emphasis on soft law mechanisms emerging within the academic community. It proceeds from an understanding of science as a social practice aimed at producing true and justified knowledge, in which responsibility for the content of research outcomes necessarily rests with the human researcher. The article concludes that a balanced regulatory model should combine the rejection of absolute prohibitions on the use of AI with requirements of transparency, verification, and the preservation of individual authorial responsibility.

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Keywords: artificial intelligence, research ethics, soft law, scientific authorship, academic integrity, editorial policy, researcher responsibility

The article analyses Decree No. 40-P of the Constitutional Court of 23 September 2024, which established a fundamentally new approach to determining the remuneration of teachers. The constitutional and legal meaning of the norms of the Labour Code on remuneration is examined in relation to teachers performing work beyond the established norm of hours and additional types of work. The legal consequences of the adopted decision for the remuneration system in education, mechanisms for its implementation and problems of law enforcement are analysed. Special attention is paid to the principle of inadmissibility of „bringing wages to the minimum wage“ by including allowances for additional work, as well as prospects for restoring a unified tariff scale in the public sector. Conclusions are formulated on the need for systemic transformation of legal regulation of teachers’ remuneration based on the legal positions of the highest body of constitutional control.

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Keywords: remuneration of teachers, minimum wage, teacher’s salary rate, additional work of a teacher, classroom leadership, labour rights, constitutional guarantees

In the Legal Chronicle, experts comment on the Constitutional Court’s Decree on residence and stay registration, including in apartments; changes to criminal and criminal and procedure legislation regarding the seizure and confiscation of cryptocurrency; changes to the consumer protection law limiting sellers’ liability; and a bill to combat digital fraud, which affects a wide range of issues, from combating the illegal laundering of criminally obtained income to effectively restricting the use of SIM cards in phones that have not been registered with mobile operators.

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Keywords: residence registration, residence registration, apartments, seizure of cryptocurrency, confiscation of cryptocurrency, consumer protection, cyber fraud

This article is discussing the principal’s obligation to release the commission agent from third-party obligations which arise during the execution of the commission assignment. The author describes the German approach to constructing the mechanics of this obligation and compares it with Russian regulations. Based on this research, possible models of release under Russian law are proposed. The author also identifies several exceptions to the release obligation and highlights mechanisms for achieving a fair distribution of risks in the commission obligation.

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Keywords: demand for release from third-party obligations, debt transfer, fulfillment of the release obligation in kind, direct debt repayment by the principal on behalf of the commission agent, claim against the principal for recovery of the cost of goods

The article examines the concept of an information owner in Russian and foreign law. Authors criticise the approach established in Russian legislation to determining the owner of information which mixes legal and factual criteria. The information owner is proposed to be understood as a person who has actual access to information and the possibility of restricting access to it. Along with the information owner authors identify interested parties (persons of interest) as persons who have legitimate interests in gaining access to, using, and/or restricting access to information. It is the person of interest who is considered as the key subject of legal relations in the field of data turnover. On the basis of model „information owner — person of interest“ recommendations are formulated for the development of Russian legislation and doctrine. Objective of these recommendations is to clarify the legal status of the information owner and consolidate the role of the interested party. The proposed ideas are particularly relevant in the context of the digital economy and the spread of new data processing technologies. Today the boundaries between existing legal statuses of subjects of information relations are blurring and the need for effective protection of the rights and legitimate interests of actors is increasing.

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Keywords: information owner, person of interest, data turnover, data economy, personal data, GDPR, depersonalised data

The author contemplates the question of objective claim joinder and consolidation which is provided in § 2.1 Art. 130 of Arbitrazh Procedure Code. The Author analyses foreign legislative and court experience and Russian court practice, which use mentioned procedural mechanisms. The author concludes that despite the fact that consolidation is a construction of common law countries, in Russia it reproduces its specific traits. Further development of consolidation has a good perspective, since it is able to become a real alternative to the joinder and the class action. This means the necessity to introduce norms about consolidation into Civil Procedure Code, therefore the author gives some recommendations and proposals.

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Keywords: joinder, consolidation, Arbitrazh Procedure Code, Civil Procedure Code, multi-party procedure, powers of court

The publication provides a brief overview of Decree No. 738 of the President of the Russian Federation of 15 October 2025 and the Concept of State Migration Policy for 2026–2030 approved by him. The author draws attention to the key innovations of the document, which represents a new paradigm for regulating migration processes in Russia. Particular importance is given to the description of a new model of migration policy based on strict control, digitalisation and biometric identification, as well as its ideological component linking migration policy with the protection of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values and national security. The article outlines such new directions as a course towards targeted organised recruitment of foreign labour, systemic opposition to the formation of ethnic enclaves, as well as the imposition of expanded responsibility on employers. At the same time, the author gives an assessment of the stated goals, objectives and mechanisms for their implementation, offers his own forecast regarding the systemic risks and challenges associated with the application of the new concept in practice. The work is intended for experts, political scientists, lawyers and anyone interested in issues of public administration, migration and national security of the Russian Federation.

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Keywords: migration policy, Concept 2026–2030, Presidential Decree, biometric control, digitalisation, traditional values, organised recruitment, ethnic enclaves, national security and migrant integration

This article examines the interaction and mutual influence of Confucian doctrine, positive law, and law enforcement in imperial China. A distinctive feature of the Chinese legal system was the possession of its own source of normativeness, independent of that of positive law. Moreover, while positive law’s normativeness was purely formal, doctrine’s was social. As a result, despite the existence of carefully crafted laws, law enforcement often ignored them, with decisions being made by reference to socially normative doctrine. Within the context of the social history of the Celestial Empire’s legal system, this article demonstrates how this situation arose and examines the processes that contributed to it.

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Keywords: Chinese law, Confucianism, Legalism, normativeness, „Confucianisation“ of law, „Tang Lü Shu Yi” code

This article explores the concept of an agent’s liability for breach of warranty of authority under English law. It examines the legal nature of such a warranty, the conditions under which it arises, and the consequences of its breach. It is argued that in English law, the warranty of authority constitutes a contractual undertaking by the agent, arising within the framework of a collateral agreement with the third party. Particular attention is paid to the criteria applied by courts in identifying the existence of such a warranty, as well as to the distinction between liability for breach of warranty of authority and liability for misrepresentation. The article reviews key judicial decisions that have shaped the modern understanding of the warranty of authority doctrine. In addition, it analyses the agent’s liability under instruments of international private law harmonisation, including the Principles of European Contract Law and the UNIDROIT Principles. The article concludes by comparing the English approach with continental legal models and argues in favour of a contractual qualification of the agent’s liability under Article 183 of the Russian Civil Code.

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Keywords: agent, liability, warranty of authority, contract, principal, tort, misrepresentation, consideration, collateral contract, damages