Modern Procedural Approaches in Criminal, Civil and Arbitration Proceedings of the Russian Federation
Authors:   Volgograd State University, Inshakova Agnessa 
Published: December 2023

The relevance of research. The paper analyzes the heading “Mainstream issue” of the current issue of the journal “Legal Concept = Pravovaya Paradigma” “Procedural law technologies for preventing offenses and combating crime”. The prepared issue deals with the problem of modern procedural approaches and the methods of procedural communication in civil, arbitration, and criminal proceedings, modernized by the procedural reform of 2018–2022. The paper highlights the factors of modern reality that necessitated the inclusion of legal science, legislator, and law enforcement officer in the process of actively seeking a balance between a wide variety of procedural approaches and the methods of procedural communication. The scientific and practical significance of the papers presented in the heading is analyzed. The scientific novelty of the conducted comprehensive intersectoral legal research, which has made up the content of the heading “Mainstream issue”, is based on the results obtained by the authors of the scientific papers touching on various aspects of the consequences of the procedural reform, which was initiated by the draft law proposed by the Supreme Court of Russia and followed by Federal Law No. 451-FZ of November 23, 2018 “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation”. The fundamental changes that the “procedural revolution” entailed were reflected in more than 20 federal laws and influenced the transformation of established approaches in civil, arbitration, criminal and administrative proceedings, as well as the order of the judicial system as a whole. Many of the most controversial issues related to both traditional and modernized procedural regulation under the influence of digitalization and scientific and technological progress are also analyzed. The methodological framework for the intersectoral legal research has traditionally been made up of general scientific methods of cognition used in the social sciences and humanities in general, including in law. Among the most significant general methods of cognition are the method of historical materialism, as well as the general logical methods: analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction. The special and private methods are presented in the scientific papers of the heading mainly by formal legal and comparative legal methods. Results. It is revealed that some of the most important topics of judicial proceedings remained untouched by the reform, although they were repeatedly raised both within the framework of doctrinal discussions and in the process of developing legislative initiatives. In this connection, their coverage in the framework of scientific papers prepared under the heading “Mainstream issue” remains relevant. Conclusions. Taking into account the opinion of specialized professionals, as well as based on the analysis of the legislative novelties, the conclusion is substantiated that the main purpose of the changes introduced through procedural reforms both in Russia and abroad is the unification of procedural law. As another fundamental reason, the author cites the optimization of legal proceedings caused by the processes of digitalization of all spheres of public life and the creation of a new order of procedural communication. It is established that many controversial issues related to the current procedural approaches, not affected by the reform, have received coverage within the framework of the feature topic of the prepared issue of the journal “Legal Concept = Pravovaya Paradigma” “Procedural law technologies for preventing offenses and combating crime”.