The article discusses the basis of forensic techniques to identify crimes committed using cryptocurrency and subsequent investigation of such criminal cases. Based on the analysis of the functional principles of cryptocurrencies, the author proposes the basis of the appropriate forensic methodology based on the study of the functional principles of cryptocurrencies and the system of the laws that have developed in the process of their use.
Significant changes in the world connected with the introduction of digital technologies, which have led to the development of the economy with new financial instruments, raised the issue of thesubject under consideration. The author analyses the new forms of economic development that allow to expand the range of criminal law effect on persons committing economic crimes in the field of crediting. The mechanism for restoring violated rights, which are considered possible within the framework of the current legislation, is strategically important. The legislative initiatives related to proposals of cryptocurrency legalising have increased in recent years, being a current trend of the existing society development. At the state level, a search for the new ways to maintain business activity and to prevent illegal acts committed in this sphere is being made. Due to the fact that a lot of norms of criminal legislation intended to protect objects of economic activity are of a blanket nature, clarifying the meaning of their features is impossible without referring to civil legislation. Civil regulation is the basis of the economic sector. A new conceptual system is pointed out; it improves the possibility of cryptocurrency turnover, but does not fully regulate it. By analysing the current legislation, the author tries to assess the value of cryptocurrency, digital rights and other property in order to determine the maliciousness of evading accounts payable. Subsequently, the author gives his opinion on the prospect of providing the officers of the enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation with the opportunity to expand the interpretation of the norms of criminal legislation including liability for maliciousness of evading accounts payable (Article 177 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Digital transformation of the world economy and the rapid growth of information flows have led to the implementation of innovative technologies in the processes of business management. Data analysis, risk assessment technologies and decision support systems enable companies to adapt to modern challenges.In the process of globalization, a consumer has the priority due to which quality of service and timely delivery of the required products determine the competition among the companies. All participants of the supply process, including logistics service providers, have traditionally focused on optimizing process management and minimizing supply chain costs [1]. The determining factor of supply efficiency from the perspective of procurement and logistics is the uninterrupted supply of raw materials and semi-finished goods that depends on the selection of a reliable supplier, as well as the continuous improvement of the quality of materials and the reliability of the customer-supplier relationship. The purpose of this article is to analyze use of blockchain technology to improve reliability of supply chains, whereas the rationale behind the management of business processes and the contractual obligation between the parties are verified cryptographically, using a smart contract.
The rise of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, along with the underlying blockchain technology, is fundamentally transforming the global financial system. This technological advancement offers significant opportunities for innovation but also presents complex legal challenges. The primary issue is the absence of a uniform global regulatory framework, leading to diverse and sometimes conflicting regulatory approaches among different countries. This regulatory inconsistency creates uncertainty for investors and users. Key concerns include the anonymity provided by cryptocurrencies, which raises issues related to money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as consumer protection and the enforceability of smart contracts. Regulatory authorities have begun implementing measures such as "Know Your Customer" (KYC) policies and transaction monitoring to address these issues, yet the effectiveness of these measures is debated, particularly in jurisdictions with lenient regulations. Blockchain’s decentralized nature poses additional challenges for consumer protection, as there is no central authority to reverse fraudulent transactions. Emerging regulations are focusing on ensuring that cryptocurrency platforms adhere to strict cybersecurity standards. Moreover, blockchain technology introduces new questions regarding property rights and the legal status of smart contracts. The technology’s ability to provide a tamper-resistant record system offers potential benefits for various sectors, including finance, healthcare, and entertainment. However, achieving these benefits requires a strategic, market-wide approach and international cooperation to address jurisdictional and regulatory challenges. The studies by Guadamuz and Marsden (2015), Savelyev (2017), Dierksmeier and Seele (2018), Conti et al. (2017), and Morini (2016) highlight these issues and opportunities, offering insights into the legitimacy, regulation, security, privacy, and business applications of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Collaborative efforts are essential to develop a cohesive regulatory framework that balances innovation with protection and integrity.
Smart Contracts and Smart Dispute Resolution: Just Hype or a Real Game Changer? This article explains the functioning of smart contracts and technology underlying blockchain. This contribution aims to compare smart contracts with traditional contracts and discuss their situation under the present contract law. It further discusses possible issues that may arise out of the application of smart contracts, for instance, coding errors and programming defects. It studies the possible application of smart contracts to specific fields, such as e-commerce and consumer transactions and possible disputes arising out of this application. It divides the smart contracts into categories based on their form and discusses legal issues in regard to their application. Against the common perception that smart contracts will replace the judicial enforcement of traditional contracts, it argues that smart contracts will not replace the system but are rather another form of contracts to be governed by it. In fact, the interplay of smart contracts and contractual law creates possible legal issues as to their validity, recognition and enforcement. It provides possible solutions as to the legal issues arising out of the application of smart contracts under present contract law. The study concludes that a robust and ‘smart’ dispute resolution mechanism is required for dealing with disputes arising out of the application of new technology. Online or blockchain arbitration and other online dispute resolution mechanisms are argued to be better suited to dealing with such disputes.
The paper analyzes the legal status of the consumer when concluding and executing a smart contract. The author proves the existence of special risks for citizens associated with the conclusion and execution of a smart contract. In particular, the author considers the risk of a consumer’s misunderstanding of the terms of a smart contract, the risk of a difference between the terms of a smart contract and the terms of a contract set forth in the natural language, the risk of including in a smart contract conditions that infringe on consumer rights (unfair contractual terms), as well as special manifestations of regulatory and operational risks in relation to a smart contract. Currently, in the Russian Federation, as in most foreign jurisdictions, there are no special legal mechanisms aimed at protecting consumer rights from these risks. The “general” mechanisms of consumer protection existing in the Russian jurisdiction are insufficient. Considering this, the author proposes mechanisms for each risk aimed at minimizing its implementation and negative impact on the citizen. The following risk-oriented approach to regulating relations when concluding a smart contract with the participation of a consumer is proposed. A citizen can conclude transactions using a smart contract subject to legislative limitation of his potential losses under a transaction (limiting the transaction price) and the introduction of the proposed legal regulation aimed at minimizing the risks discussed in the paper.
The purpose of this article is to analyze methods, approaches, and tools of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for working with documents in education. The objectives of the article are to analyze problems with the authentication of educational documents, develop new structural solutions using block chain technology, consider two models, and evaluate their use for educational documents. Authentication of educational documents is carried out using state registers, which is a complex and resource-intensive process. There is an increase in the number of forged documents in the world, which calls into question the effectiveness of modern mechanisms. Distributed ledger technology (block chain) is a sustainable technological trend that affects the development and quality of the digital economy. The existence of a mechanism for verifying the authenticity of educational documents that is resistant to malicious manipulation is an urgent task that goes beyond the sphere of education, possible solutions to which are proposed to be considered in this paper. The article provides a brief description of DLT and considers the approach of using the technology to authenticate educational documents. It consists of two main stages: the issue of a digital educational document and its verification. The role of a trusted third party in the issue and validation process is considered. The paper presents the models for issuing and validating digital documents based on distributed ledger technology, which allows one to eliminate the limitations and shortcomings of existing approaches. The effectiveness of the approach based on the proposed models is revealed. The formulated approaches can be applied in various socio-economic areas and public administration to work with similar documents.
The blockchain technology using by State authorities does not simply mean the technical modernization of their activities. The role of the State as a whole can change if it offers active services in the digital platforms organization. The participation of the authorities will increase confidence in the quality of data entered into the system, “balance” private participants of the blockchain. At the same time, interaction within the framework of the blockchain, both between the authorities themselves and with private actors, entails legal problems that are currently unresolved. This is demonstrated in the article on the example of State registration of real estate, the process of which involves many actors with different goals and degrees of participation. It is necessary to work out the system of legal significance of documents generated as a result of registration on the basis of the blockchain. The competences of the authorities as participants in the distributed ledger technologies system should be formulated in general in those acts that determine their competence, otherwise they will be illegitimate. Interaction of Public administration entities within the framework of the blockchain requires careful study in the normative plan of the regime of access to information contained in the registry.
The article presents scenarios for the transition to smart contract technology, compiled as a result of a study of the functioning of transport and logistics chains formed by the largest Russian railway company, JSC "Russian Railways", and also specifies a set of conditions for the introduction and effective use of this technology. It is determined that a necessary condition for the introduction of smart contract technology for the largest transport and logistics companies, which mainly occupy a monopoly position in their segment of the logistics services market, is to focus on an expanded transport and logistics chain and the presence of Mature processes. Special attention is paid to methodological tools for assessing the maturity of internal processes of a focus company in the transport and logistics chain. The presented approach is recommended for use by large operators that own infrastructure facilities and act as focus companies in transport and logistics chains.
Economic and Technological Systems Analysis
Advanced Research in Systems and Signal Processing
На сегодняшний день в российской и зарубежной практике как учеными, так и законодателями выделяется несколько подходов к пониманию смарт-контрактов в предпринимательской деятельности. Чаще всего смарт-контракт определяют через: компьютерную программу или компьютерный код; гражданско-правовой договор; особую форму договора; способ исполнения обязательств; способ обеспечения исполнения обязательств. В соответствии с законодательством Аризоны, «смарт-контракт определяется как программа, активирующуюся происходящими событиями и действующая в распределенном децентрализованном многопользовательском воспроизводимом реестре и умеющая управлять и передавать активы в реестре». Смарт-контракт - программный код, предназначенный для функционирования в реестре блоков транзакций (блокчейне), иной распределенной информационной системе в целях автоматизированного совершения и (или) исполнения сделок либо совершения иных юридически значимых действий. To date, in Russian and foreign practice, both scientists and legislators distinguish several approaches to understanding smart contracts in business. Most often, a smart contract is defined through: a computer program or computer code; civil contract; a special form of contract; way of fulfilling obligations; method of ensuring the fulfillment of obligations. In accordance with Arizona law, "a smart contract is defined as a program that is activated by events and operates in a distributed decentralized multi-user reproducible ledger and is able to manage and transfer assets in the ledger." A smart contract is a program code designed to function in the register of transaction blocks (blockchain), another distributed information system for the purpose of automated execution and (or) execution of transactions or other legally significant actions.
The article explores the dialectic of determining the legal status of cryptocurrencies. Digital technologies are considered specifically for their application in the financial sector. The features of the use of digital technologies in various countries of the world are analyzed. Due to the variability of the legal regulation of digital technologies, the complex nature of their implementation is noted, which is not reduced to a simultaneous behavioral act. It is concluded that there is no universal way to sell cryptocurrencies in the financial market. The analysis of existing scientific approaches to understanding the concept of cryptocurrency, bitcoin is carried out. The article examines the digital technologies used in the financial sector, which include virtual currencies and — like their kind of cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency status is not defined, however, there is the prospect of normative fixing it on the territory of the Russian Federation.
This article is devoted to the consideration of issues related to the legal regulation of cryptocurrencies in the Russian Federation and some foreign countries. In the course of the study, the features of cryptocurrencies were highlighted, various approaches to the definition of this category were considered, some aspects of the legal regulation of digital currencies were analyzed. It has been determined that the rules of financial law regulate a whole range of public relations related to the use of cryptocurrencies and the complex regulation of this institution is necessary. The author came to the conclusion that it is necessary to use digital technologies and digital currencies in the Russian economy in the future. At the same time, this is a complex and not an instantaneous process of transition to digital currencies; a clearly thought-out strategy for the development of legislation in this area is necessary.
The articles focuses on opportunities and problems connected with implementation of smart contracts into “over-the-counter” derivatives trading. The importance of success of professionals who work on this cannot be underestimated: the volume of “over-the-counter” derivatives market is huge, its automatization and transparency provided by implemented smart contracts could dramatically increase its economic efficiency. In this study, the author aims at answering the following question: what aspects of “over-the-counter” derivatives trading could take a quantum leap because of the implementation of smart contacts and, per contra, what aspects could not benefit from implementation of underlying technologies at all. The author starts with the overview of “over-the-counter” derivatives market, investigates the matter of its internal design, main features and the structure of legal documentation used by market participants. Then the article provides the analysis of smart contract phenomenon, summary of its engineering aspects and difficulties connected with the implementation of smart contracts as a practical matter, including underlying legal issues. The third part is a synthesis of ideas indicated in previous parts. Herein the author examines the perspectives of adoption of smart contracts in “over-the-counter” derivatives trading, identifies the problems that cannot be resolved yet: different parts of legal relations existing between market participants shall be structured in a flexible way and shall be subject to revision under specific conditions. Smart contracts in their turn cannot be considered as a flexible tool and the revision of their terms requires the input from highly experienced specialists that dramatically increases the costs of their implementation and maintenance. As a matter of conclusion, the author gives recommendation to potential developers of smart contacts to implement them only in relation to the automatization of payments and deliveries as at the moment the clearing can be considered as the most appropriate area for the implementation and use of smart contracts.
Dr Eugene C Lim is a faculty member at the City University of Hong Kong School of Law. This article Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have, in recent years, triggered a dramatic paradigm shift in how we conceive of authorship and creation. Intelligent machines, such as those powered by the new GPT-3 neural network technology, are capable of generating expressions, composing text, performing translations and producing other ‘creative’ outputs once thought to be beyond the ability of computers. This article will focus on intelligent AI applications (or ‘creative avatars’) that are programmed to replicate the ‘style’ of a human author (such as Shakespeare, Rembrandt or JK Rowling), and the regulatory challenges flowing from the generation of...
The paper analyzes the potential impact of blockchain technology and smart contracts on the shipping industry. As the shipping industry represents a complex system of various actions that have to be controlled and registered, blockchain technology could serve as a tool to allow the streamlining of numerous processes, whilst at the same time taking the human factor out of multiple elements where trust between involved parties is an issue. The authors therefore first present how blockchain technology works and what smart contracts are, in order to give an insight into their applicability in the shipping sector. After a general overview of the technological and legal characteristics of blockchain technology and smart contracts, the authors present examples of relevant subjects, relations, and contracts in the shipping industry. Based on the charter party, a key contract in the shipping industry, the authors present the existing problems which could potentially be solved using blockchain technology. Besides the benefits of blockchain technologies, the authors furthermore point out the existing deficiencies that still make blockchain technology hard to apply in legal relations within the shipping industry. Based on these insights, the authors highlight the current developments in this area and present the existing and expected regulatory reforms of blockchain solutions and smart contracts within the European Union.
Coordination and facilitation of multiple and diverse AKIS stakeholders is vital for increased efficiency and better agriculture performance. The decision to decentralize the administration and management of AKIS to local structures needs to be realistic. Public financing in AKIS for enhanced capacities of the sub-systems ensures inclusive service delivery and increased agriculture productivity. Participation of all groups of clients in AKIS decision-makings and implementation, through participatory tools, ensures responsive and relevant goods, services, and policy. Continuous professional development of AKIS stakeholders’ personnel is key to responding to evolving mandates and complex challenges, including food security during the Covid-19 crisis
This article is aimed at identifying and analyzing the specifics of the network model of innovation in the pharmaceutical industry in the context of intellectual property protection on the example of a number of foreign countries and Russia. The starting point of the research is the currently observed networking - the introduction of non-market communication, which is beginning to replace purely exchange, monetary regulators in the economy, law, and other spheres of society. The article examines the issue of acceptability (objective necessity) of applying (accepting) «open» innovations in the pharmaceutical industry and some facets of the influence of this trend in the field of law. Specific examples are used to discuss various forms of expression of the open innovation strategy practiced in the pharmaceutical industry and some of its prospects. At the same time, some aspects of the protection of intellectual property rights obtained during the implementation (realization) of the «open» innovation strategy in pharmaceutical sector are studied in the traditional and network (using blockchain technology) format. The relevance, theoretical and practical significance of such a research is due to the fact that both network «open» (innovative) and «closely-held» (traditional) methods of developing new scientific knowledge have their pros and cons, which can currently slow down or accelerate scientific progress and promote innovative growth. Foreign experience can be useful in finding answers to similar questions related to the development, justification and adoption of collaborations based on «open» innovations by our country, and the fact that this study serves to fill in the existing gap in the development of legal and other approaches of foreign countries in the field of modern research. The author's results, among other things, are presented in the fact that currently the protection of intellectual property from unauthorized use is still traditionally based on agreements, but can already be performed in a modern network way - using distributed ledger technology - blockchain, that reliability is due to hardware control over any changes in the protocols or information in the network, its copying, easiness of establishing and verifying its authorship, which increases the chances of successful development of the OI strategy.
This article is aimed at studying of theoretical issues of implementing network contracts (smart contracts) on the example of Russia and foreign countries, based on the fact that its knowledge allowed and allows to successfully solve current problems of legal regulation in our country. The starting point of the research is network communication as a non-market type of communication. The article analyzes the provisions of approaches to the legal regulation of network contracts (smart contracts) developed in the new technological reality, taking into account the experience of foreign countries and the Russian Federation that determine the acceptability of the use of blockchain in the field of legal regulation of such a type of interaction between the parties to the contract that is updated according to present technological era. The relevance, theoretical and practical significance of this research is due to the emergence of new tools for interaction between the parties to the contract in the context of using blockchain technology. The author's results, among other things, are presented in the idea that the ability to compile codes by software tools that ensure the fulfillment of obligations under contracts (smart contracts) that are used in the blockchain network not only expands the latter's utilities from simple information storage to participation in the system of economic transactions, but also is an excellent tool for automatic fulfillment of the obligations stated in them.