Centre for Legal Research of Digital Technologies

   ABOUT US

   AIMS

• Fundamental and applied academic research, including conceptual research, empirical research and legal-positivistic research, on the legal, societal and technological aspects of regulating digital technologies;
• Organization national and international scientific events (such as conferences, symposium, seminars and workshops);
• Implementation of research results in the education system for students, which ensures they are offered the most recently available knowledge and insights (state of the art) in their study materials
• Legal support and compliance for digitalization of business and public administration.

   RESEARCH

• Russian market of digital settlement and financial instruments: legal and regulatory challenges (RSF № 24-18-00618). The Principal Investigator – Sannikova L.V.
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  The market for digital settlement and financial instruments is a promising sector of the global financial market. Leading technological powers, including Russia, are striving to create a national infrastructure for such an innovative sector of the financial market, which would ensure security and predictability for its participants, primarily for consumers. For these purposes, a regulatory legal framework is being developed that will allow, on the one hand, to control this sector of the market, and, on the other hand, to support the development of financial innovation.
  Despite the existence of a legal framework in Russia, a regulated market for digital settlement and financial instruments has not yet been created, as evidenced by the lack of national infrastructure, as well as the presence in the gray zone of the existing market for foreign crypto-assets. Meanwhile, under sanctions pressure, such innovative digital tools can become a driver for the development of the domestic financial market.
  In this regard, this project is aimed at forming a theoretical basis for developing proposals for the composition and content of measures that provide incentive legal regulation of the Russian market of digital settlement and financial instruments, guaranteeing the security of all its participants and control by the state.
  The scientific novelty of the project is due to an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the study of problems of regulation of the Russian market of digital settlement and financial instruments. Modern scientific literature is dominated by studies devoted only to individual elements of this segment of the financial market, mainly digital assets (digital currency, digital currency of central banks, digital financial assets, foreign crypto-assets). As a result, there is no holistic understanding of its functioning. This scientific project is intended to fill this gap, which will allow us to develop scientifically based proposals for improving the legal and regulatory environment for the development of the market infrastructure of digital settlement and financial instruments.
  


• The rule of law in the digital economy in China and Russia: current state, challenges and future development (RFBR grant № 21-511-93004 КАОН) The Principal Investigator – Sannikova L.V.
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  The research conducted within the framework of the project confirmed the hypothesis that law continues to function as a universal social regulator in the context of the digital economy. The implementation of digital technologies in the country’s economy not only contributes to economic growth but also creates significant risks for citizens. To ensure comprehensive protection of citizens' rights and interests, strict adherence to the principle of the rule of law in the regulation of economic relations using digital technologies is essential. An analysis of the legislation in Russia and China revealed substantial differences in the two countries’ approaches to legal regulation of the digital economy, particularly in the prioritization of regulatory areas. The study showed that the most pressing areas for legal regulation include e-commerce, financial innovation, data protection, and the use of artificial intelligence. China places primary focus on developing a legal framework for e-commerce, data protection, and legislative regulation of generative artificial intelligence. Russia, meanwhile, has created the world’s first legal framework for the digital ruble, is advancing legislation on personal data, and is drafting a bill on e-commerce. The following significant scientific results were obtained during the project:
  A comparison of China’s policy with Russia’s initiative on introducing new experimental regimes for foreign online trade led to the conclusion that the two countries could cooperate by creating a joint mechanism for promoting cross-border e-commerce.
  It is essential to further develop the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding on E-commerce Cooperation between China’s Ministry of Commerce and Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development. Currently, coordination is unilateral, focusing only on the import of Chinese goods to Russia. It appears necessary for Russia to establish similar cross-border e-commerce zones.
  China’s experience with the mBridge project, under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements, demonstrated that the digital yuan, positioned as a retail central bank digital currency, could also be used for wholesale cross-border transactions. Based on this, it can be concluded that the digital ruble could similarly be utilized for wholesale cross-border payments with friendly countries, especially within BRICS.
  China's “managed anonymity” model implemented in the digital yuan rollout better addresses the needs and interests of citizens than the “complete transparency” model used for the digital ruble.
  A similarity in Russia and China’s positions was identified, viewing Big Data as a critical strategic resource, enabling both countries to engage in strategic interaction actively.
  The study of China’s experience in the legal regulation of recommendation algorithms on digital platforms highlighted a user’s right to opt-out of recommendations.
  The scientific results were presented in 26 reports by project participants at national and international conferences held in Russia and China. Project participants published 20 articles, including 3 in journals indexed by international citation databases WoS/Scopus, 2 in journals indexed by RSCI, and 9 in journals from the VAK list. 5 articles were co-authored with Chinese participants, along with a collection of papers from a joint conference.
  The outcome of these collaborative studies is the monograph “Legislative Regulation of the Digital Economy: The Experience of Russia and China”, edited by L.V. Sannikova and A.P. Alekseenko.
  


• A conceptual model of an artificial personality as a trusted artificial intelligence system applicable in socio-political communications (FZNF-2022-0015, EISI 2022) The Co-Investigator - Sannikova L.V.
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  Political bots have become an important tool for political strategists. The active use of chatbots in social networks has been recorded in all major electoral processes around the world. At the same time, researchers have identified the negative impact of such bots on political processes. The destructive nature of political bots lies in the fact that they are digital tools for manipulating public consciousness. In this regard, there is a need to establish a legal framework and boundaries for the use of such artificial intelligence systems in socio-political communications. Based on the analysis of the experience of foreign countries, the need for legislative consolidation of the principle of transparency of artificial intelligence systems is justified, which will oblige developers and owners of such systems to label them. Informing users that they are interacting with an artificial intelligence system will reduce the risk of manipulation of public consciousness.


• The mechanism of legal regulation of relations using the distributed ledger technologies (RFBR grant № 18-29-16145 MK) The Principal Investigator – Sannikova L.V.
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  The research project resulted in the development of a conceptual framework for the legal regulation of relations with the use of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) in the financial, corporate and intellectual property spheres.
  The research's scientific originality is due to an interdisciplinary approach that ensures the study of new socio-economic and legal objects arising from the use of DLT, especially blockchain, in the unity of their technological, economic and legal essence. The most significant scientific results include the following:
  For the first time, a scientifically based legal classification of crypto-assets covering most of the existing types of crypto-assets (more than 30) has been formed. This approach made it possible to identify the legal features and properties of crypto-assets that are essential for legal regulation. For the first time, the properties of crypto-assets that are important for legal regulation have been identified and theoretically justified: emergence and fluidity. The analysis of the process of legalisation of crypto-assets taking place in different countries of the world allowed to identify and theoretically substantiate the models of legal regulation of crypto-assets (adaptive, fragmentary, experimental, innovative).
  A fundamentally new approach to the protection of valuable information in the open information space using a distributed ledger architecture has been developed. Distributed ledger technologies are described from the point of view of their applicability for solving information security problems. It was proposed to use databases based on distributed ledger technologies to track user access to a digital profile or other information base. Such a solution would identify a potential perpetrator and gather evidence for prosecution if necessary.
  Based on an analysis of blockchain-based digital solutions for green energy (green asset wallet, digital green bonds, etc.), the use of blockchain to validate green projects in sustainable finance is justified. This approach will ensure investor confidence in green tools, reduce their issuance costs and minimise the risks of greenwashing.
  Prospects for digital transformation of corporate governance have been explored. For the first time, the appropriateness of blockchain technology in the field of corporate control and audit was justified at the theoretical level.
  The economic effect of tokenisation of intellectual property rights through the circulation of NFT is identified as the ability to provide funding for creative industries. The tokenisation of intellectual property shows the two main functions of blockchain: the ability to certify the origin of an art object or intellectual right and to validate it in transactions. This approach creates a reliable system for the management of digital art objects.
  Scientific results were presented at 36 scientific events, including leading universities worldwide (Faculty of Law, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Institute of Information, Telecommunication and Media Law, University of Münster, University of Geneva and University of Zurich). The project participants produced 44 scientific publications, including more than 5 publications in WoS and Scopus indexed journals.
  Based on the research carried out by the Ministry of Science of Higher Education of the Russian Federation, materials have been prepared to present the national contribution to the implementation and widespread use of the blockchain technology at the 24th regular session of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development (May 2021).

Larisa V. Sannikova
Head of Centre

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Larisa V. Sannikova

Larisa V. Sannikova, Doctor of Law, Professor of Legal Science, Professor of The Russian Academy of Sciences. Prof. Sannikova main expertise is in legal regulation of the use of digital technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, etc. She has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to several textbooks and other works on civil law, banking law and digital law. Prof. Sannikova is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. She is an expert of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF).

Lyudmila Kabir
Сhief researcher

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Lyudmila Kabir

Lyudmila S. Kabir, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the author of more than 160 scientific papers on the compatibility of the financial policy and the existing model of economic development of the country in modern conditions, characterised, among other things, by the weakening of national state institutions and increasing complexity of participation in international cooperation in the framework of financial activities.
Expert of the Russian Academy of Sciences and an expert Scientific Research Institute – Federal Research Centre for Projects Evaluation and Consulting Services (SRI FRCEC). He is a member of the Scientific Council of the RAS «Life Sciences»; Scientific and Expert Council of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Self-Government and Northern Affairs; and a member of the INFRAGRIN Ranking Committee.
Head of ANO NS «Sustainable Development».
Member of the editorial boards of the journals «Financial Journal» and «Proceedings of the International Banking Institute».

Ivan D. Rakov
Researcher

Mikhail A. Uspenskiy
Leading specialist

Igor A. Tereshchenko
Leading specialist

Aleksey S. Biryukov
Leading specialist