Law and Digitalization: New Challenges and Prospects
The article focuses on the state of the modern Law in the conditions of digital technologies which transform existing State and social institutes. The author sets the purpose to investigate the digital technologies influence on contents and a structure of Law, underlining the new advantages and challenges connected with the digital technologies use in legal practice; possible options are being offered for legal regulation of various aspects of the legal subjects' status, legal regime of objects of law and virtual legal relationship. The analysis of process and main directions of digital technologies penetrations into branches of Law, recognition of connecting a role of the Information Law in a system “public - private”, use of general scientific and special legal methods, including methods of Comparative Law, guide the author to more general conclusions about the state of the Law in general. As a result of the research the value of digitalization for the Law system and advantages and risks of use of digital technologies in various branches of Law is revealed. The author considers that concerning new objects of law (cryptocurrency, new things created by means of digital technologies) there will not be enough adaptation of existing rules, development of new ones will be required. In view of augmentation of contradiction between the information freedom and the right to private life protection the problem of human rights protection in the digital era comes to the forefront. The probability to apply the right of private property to personal data of virtual personality, the influence of “smart contracts” particularities (concluded without person's participation) on the contract definition in Civil Law is estimated. Nowadays the government can't be limited to guarantying access to public information because technologies of big data processing cause transition to the principle of “openness by default”. Marking problems of the Internet Law, the author pays attention to risks for classical theory of the State sovereignty in connection with emergence of “cyberspace” category. The author proves that influence of technology factor leads the traditional Law to transformation.