The paper analyzes the implications for BRICS countries following the adoption of the Global Digital Compact by the UN General Assembly in 2024. The authors emphasize that BRICS nations have real opportunities to establish a governance regime for the digital space based on respect for sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs, particularly concerning content regulation on the Internet. BRICS not only possesses significant potential for coordinating common principles and approaches to implementing digital sovereignty at the UN level but also has the capacity to extend norms and rules of digital sovereignty to a substantial part of the global community. Active participation in developing the concept and details of the «Global Digital Transformation Project» by BRICS countries, including the submission of alternatives and proposals on behalf of BRICS, SCO, EAEU, and other groups, is highly relevant. Furthermore, preparing a coordinated technological platform, programs, tools, and training initiatives with «friendly» countries can be viewed as a mechanism for the implementation of the UN project «Global Digital Compact» within the framework of BRICS.

In the context of the digital revolution, including the large-scale development and integration of artificial intelligence technologies into social life, human rights (including the rights of children and youth) can no longer be regarded as a static cross-sectoral legal institution. Over the past decade, new «digital human rights» or «human rights in the digital environment» have emerged, while «traditional» human rights have undergone transformation. It is crucial to take this trend into account when creating comprehensive public-law mechanisms for safeguarding human rights and freedoms directly within the digital environment, with the effective use of information (digital) technologies for such protection. The paper presents the results of an analysis of key risks to human rights in the context of the development of artificial intelligence technologies, as well as the specific features of the transformation of «traditional» human rights under these conditions. Particular attention is given to potential vectors of influence that AI technologies may exert on human rights.

The paper addresses pressing issues in the legal regulation of the digital foot-print of minors amid the rapid development of digital technologies, particularly in the context of smart toys and internet-connected devices. It analyzes key international and Russian approaches to protecting children’s personal data, identifying legal risks and gaps inherent in modern technological solutions. Special attention is given to the need for comprehensive regulation that integrates legislative provisions, technical standards, and effective state and public oversight. The authors propose measures to improve legislation and practices for safeguarding the digital footprint of minors in the Russian Federation, taking into account relevant foreign experience.

Client-Centric Governance is a new approach in public administration, grounded in the use of personal data and the automation of decision-making processes. It can be described as synergistic analytics, representing an emerging movement rooted in feedback theory, data science, and statistics, applying software algorithms to large datasets to identify patterns and correlations capable of generating actionable insights. Client-centricity, once driven by social empathy and marketing, is now shaped   by advances in computer science and software development that have powered the   networked digital revolution, transforming society in less than a generation. However, these powerful technologies are inherently ambivalent: their strength, flexibility, opacity, and unpredictable impact on the social sphere make them potentially dangerous and capable of causing harm. Algorithmic systems employing «self-learning» elements, automated profiling, automatic notifications, and large-scale databases pose the risk of delegating core public functions to digital machines. Warnings against absolutism were voiced by Enlightenment thinkers, and these ideas have regained relevance in the face of digital hegemony, the imposition of non-alternative digital platforms, and increased tax oversight of small businesses. When pushed to extremes through over-digitalization, client-centricity loses the balance between state power and society. The article examines specific trends in client-centricity as a form of reputational resource for governance, discusses the risks of failures and misuse of personal data, and assesses the feasibility of creating practical, effective, and meaningful safeguards for client-centric systems. It explores examples of both threats and advantages of client-centricity for the penal system. The digital emphasis on using market mechanisms in public service delivery and applying private-sector management methods has replaced liberal approaches, but the belief in the power of markets and competition retains a dogmatic character. Ambitious institutional restructuring programs should be complemented by healthy techno-skepticism and preserve decision-making freedom for individual and collective actors. The more deterministic the decision tree we create, the greater the risks of technological failures.

The relevance of issues related to the legal regulation of digital tools in public administration is driven, on the one hand, by the diversity of cross-sectoral norms that constitute their legal content, and on the other, by the need to develop unified approaches to the legal regulation of management processes based on digital technologies. The article presents the authors’ perspective on the essence of the term «digital tools of public administration». It examines the formalization of such tools within legal norms and existing technical regulation standards. The study identifies the fundamental distinctions between digital tools and information systems based on key criteria: legal regulation, implementation technologies, and purposes of use. A definition of «digital tools of public administration» is proposed: modern technological solutions based on digital content, aimed at transforming the processes of making and implementing public administrative decisions, improving the efficiency of public services, and optimizing interaction with citizens. Digital tools function as a form of public administration built upon the synergistic interaction of digital technologies and information resources to achieve public interests. Within the broader transformation of governance, digital tools encompass a set of new technologies (big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, among others) used to enhance the efficiency of public authorities. They take the form of technological solutions that automate routine bureaucratic procedures, increase the speed and transparency of public decision-making, and improve the interaction between government bodies, citizens, and organizations through digital platforms. The consolidation of the concept «digital tools of public administration» requires a comprehensive, systemic approach to their legal regulation. In the context of the proposed Digital Code of the Russian Federation, the term «digital tool» should become a fundamental legal category

The article presents an analysis of the demographic challenges facing contemporary Russia. It outlines the causes of population decline and proposes legal and social measures to address them. The author suggests initiatives such as granting young families free use of municipal housing with the option to privatize it upon the birth of a third child; increasing student stipends to the regional subsistence minimum or reducing tuition fees for student-parents in proportion to the number of children in their family. The article also advances the idea of providing material support to husbands with low incomes by paying their wives an allowance equal to the subsistence minimum, granting child benefits for each child in the same amount, and introducing a «father’s capital» in addition to the existing «family capital» for every child born. Attention is drawn to the spiritual factors behind the reluctance of young people to have large families. The author concludes that the state and civil society — represented by Russia’s traditional religious denominations — could cooperate more actively to address the severe demographic situation that has persisted since 1991. In the author’s view, proposals from major religious organizations to resolve demographic issues should not be disregarded by the state, as it is evident that material incentives alone cannot achieve the goal of preserving the nation. A change in the value orientations of the younger generation is essential.

The article, based on analysis of legal scholarship and the general and special legislation of the Russian Federation, examines various elements of the legal status of the Bank of Russia. Characterized by both public and private features, the legal status of the lender of last resort exhibits notable specificities from the perspectives of constitutional, administrative, financial and civil law. Independence, above all from the executive branch, the development of key feedback mechanisms for managerial influence, and sufficiency of internal resources have enabled the emergence of the institution of mega-regulation on the basis of the Bank of Russia. The author notes that since 2013 the objectives of the issuing bank have been expanded to include the development and stability of the financial market, and that regulatory and supervisory powers in this area were assigned to the Committee for Financial Supervision created within the structure of the «bank of banks». Today, the coexistence of seemingly contradictory restrictive administrative powers and the goals of strategic financial-sector development requires consolidation of public and state interests and measures to mitigate the risk of excessive, uniform burdens on infrastructure. The article concludes that the central bank of the first tier functions not only as an instrument of the state’s monetary policy but also as a constitutional organ for governing a multi-level banking system. As a mega-regulator active in financial markets it seeks to combine supervisory and regulatory principles, and as a legal entity of a special legal nature it may employ economic or direct means of influence, blending elements of administration with aspects of its private-law status. The normative regulation of the national bank’s activity is marked by a wide range of general and special legislative acts, while the Bank’s own regulatory instruments warrant particular attention. According to the author, fulfillment of the legislator’s mandates for the «bank of banks» and the improvement of financial-market rulemaking are most effective when informed by foreign experience and enforcement practice

The article addresses the concept, formats, and role of science diplomacy in the development of international cooperation, presenting it as one of the foundations for strengthening such cooperation and for producing expert solutions that can be employed in the conclusion of international treaties and in the adoption of instruments by international organizations and fora. The paper identifies the potential of science diplomacy across various domains in the context of the strategic documents of the Russian Federation, on the one hand, and the concept of sustainable development, on the other; it delineates the principal directions of science diplomacy and identifies its actors. Special attention is paid to the significance of science diplomacy for the development of legal regimes governing specific spaces, as exemplified by the Arctic and the Caspian Sea. The study examines formats of science diplomacy and highlights prominent practices in which scientific cooperation is of decisive importance given the distinct environmental agendas of these regions. It is shown that the development of science diplomacy is driven by the need to reduce the conflict potential of international relations, by the enduring value of sustaining international cooperation in a multipolar world, and by the capacity of science diplomacy to contribute to the formation of new norms of international law, particularly with respect to its progressive development. In conclusion, the article synthesizes the role of science diplomacy both for international relations and for the protection of the national interests of the state.

The paper elucidates the relationship between the political, legal and social foundations of the Dreyfus affair (France, 1894–1906), when the captain of the French army, Alfred Dreyfus, was accused of spying for Germany on falsified documents with a number of procedural violations for the sake of one goal — to sentence a Jew serving in the general staff of the French army. This event must be viewed in an inextricable connection with the historical context: in French society after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870–1871, in the context of the formation of new economic relations at the turn of the century, the influx of immigrants began to intensify chauvinistic, nationalist and anti-Semitic sentiments. Despite the obvious fabrication of the case, military judges deliberately wanted to accuse Dreyfus, who, in their opinion, as a Jew, could not belong to the military elite of France, consisting of aristocrats and monarchists. After widespread publicity and discussion by supporters of the verdict and defenders of Dreyfus, which included the press and intellectuals of France, the case moved from the sphere of jurisprudence to the political sphere. After the publication of the famous writer Emile Zola, «I Blame», denouncing the French generals, the arrest and imprisonment of Dreyfus split the country into dreyfusars and anti-dreyfusars. In order to preserve the authority of the French army, trials are initiated against Zola and Major Picard, who established that the author of the note is another military man, Ferdinand Esterhazy. After admitting to forgery of evidence and the suicide of Colonel Henri, the court at the review of the case in Rennes found Drefus guilty «with mitigating circumstances» and changed the sentence to 10 years in prison. Captain Drefus later agreed to a pardon by the President of the Republic, despite the fact that his supporters sought a complete acquittal. The final rehabilitation of Dreyfus occurred only in 1906. The Dreyfus Affair significantly influenced the political and legal life of France and the strengthening of the republican system.

The article presents a comparative analysis of the legal foundations of the management of the offices of the Hanseatic League — Novgorod (based on the material of the surviving edition of its charter) and Bruges (based on the Charter of 1347). The study focuses on identifying mechanisms for adapting the unified principles of the Hansa to radically different legal and political contexts in the eastern (Novgorod) and western (Bruges) peripheries of the union. The author believes that, despite the general basis in the person of Lübeck city law, the management models of offices developed along different trajectories. In Novgorod, where maintaining extraterritorial status was required in an alien legal environment, a rigidly centralized system was formed with a sole headman appointed from the metropolis (Lubeck/Gotland). This headman concentrated in his hands exclusive administrative and judicial powers, including the application of archaic talion sanctions («life for life», «hand for wound»), probably borrowed from the local tradition, as well as strict control over the storage of trade letters and the resolution of disputes before the merchants left. Sanctions for violations were predominantly high monetary fines and deprivation of trade rights. In Bruges, interacting with the urban institutions of Flanders, the Hansa implemented a complex collegial model. The merchants were divided into territorial «thirds», each of which annually elected foremen. A panel of six foremen managed the office, making decisions by a majority vote both within itself and between thirds, with detailed regulation of the procedures of meetings and legal proceedings, including fines for delays or violation of order. For operational decisions, an expanded council was formed. The author believes that Hansa has created a unique precedent for harmonizing diverse legal traditions («unity in diversity») within a single economic space. The historical experience of adapting management models to local conditions, based on flexibility and corporate solidarity, is of great importance for understanding the evolution of international trade law and remains relevant to modern transnational integration.

The article analyzes the regulatory system that determines the functioning of the field of traditional medicine and the interaction of its participants. The study aims to identify its key characteristics and features. Attention is paid to the study of the international legal framework for regulating activities in the field of traditional medicine, including the right of integration associations in this area. The author emphasizes that at the global level, the foundations of regulatory regulation of relations in the field of traditional (traditional) medicine are reflected in the strategic documents of WHO, which determine the goals and objectives of regulation, as well as its key areas. The breadth of wording in WHO documents provides legislators of Member States with scope for introducing their own approaches to the legal regulation of relations in this area, outlined by lengthy meanings of strategies and resolutions. At the regional level, as well as within the framework of integration associations, the most developed segment of regulatory legal regulation in the field of traditional (traditional) medicine is the field of circulation of traditional medicines, while other aspects are not sufficiently regulated. Using comparative legal analysis, the experience of regulatory legal regulation of activities in the field of traditional medicine in certain foreign countries was investigated, including approaches to determining qualification requirements for persons engaged in traditional medicine and tools for monitoring their professional activities. It is indicated that the Russian Federation will have to rethink the current regulations on traditional medicine in the context of WHO initiatives to integrate traditional medicine into the health care system.

The article addresses the problem of power relations, including the transformation of power paradigms and their imagery amid the shift toward political technicism. Digitalization, driven by scientific and technological progress, continuously expands its reach into ever-new domains — power relations being no exception. Political technicism reveals the multifaceted nature of this digitalization process, wherein a well-conceived doctrine of technological sovereignty becomes critically important. Drawing on an interdisciplinary approach, the author formulates scholarly propositions that elucidate Russia’s role and position in a rapidly transforming world. The analysis examines both the present and future of Russia’s domestic political landscape through the lens of technological sovereignty. This perspective enriches and broadens the prevailing understanding of Russia as a strong, sovereign state capable of responding effectively to contemporary civilizational and geopolitical challenges.