2025 Issue №2

The system of categories in legal science requires constant reflection, clarification, and updating. Legal punishment, being one of the most significant general theoretical legal categories, remains among the least studied today. The aim of the present study is to conceptualize the most important general theoretical characteristics of punishment, including its main features, its interaction with related legal categories, and current developmental trends. The author attempts to formulate provisions that may serve as a starting point for developing a general theory of legal punishments. In the course of the study, in addition to general scientific methods, special legal research techniques were employed, including the formal-legal, systemic-legal, and legal modeling methods, which, together with the analysis of legislative norms and decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, allowed the research objective to be achieved. A conclusionis drawn on the necessity of a dual understanding of punishment as a phenomenon of both objective and subjective law, and the substantive and functional connections between punishment, legal responsibility, and retribution are identified. A model of the punishment system is examined, and general theoretical and sector specific problems of its implementation in legal practice are outlined. Finally, the author proposes concrete directions for the future development of the theory of legal punishments and methodological guidelines for distinguishing punishments from other forms of state coercion. 

Malicious software and viral phishing attacks have remained for several consecutive years among the most effective tools for infiltrating information infrastructure. In the vast majority of cases, the exploitation of malicious software is associated with gaining access to systems containing confidential information and its theft, which constitutes the least costly method for delivering and executing malicious code on a recipient’s device. Given that the increase in unlawful acts related to the creation, use, and distribution of malicious computer programs is a significant factor in the self-reproduction of cybercrime, it is reasonable to explore the possibilities for optimizing their investigation process, in particular by examining the elements that comprise their forensic profile. The object of the study is the legal relationships arising in the investigation of crimes in the field of computer information associated with the creation, use, and distribution of malicious computer programs. The main goal is to reveal the content of the elements of the forensic profile of these offenses, taking into account the current development of information technologies and trends in the exploitation of malicious software. The theoretical significance of the study lies in the description of the forensic profile of the examined crimes, which may serve as the basis for forming their informational model (digital twins), and this constitutes the conceptual scientific novelty. The applied value of typical forensic profiles of crimes in the field of computer information lies in their potential use for the development of specific forensic investigation techniques, the creation of new forensic records based on digital evidence databases, and the design of specialized software in the form of decision support systems used, for example, in the formulation of investigative hypotheses and planning of investigations.

The study examines current issues arising in the course of investigating crimes related to the acquisition of information contained in electronic communications. The research includes an analysis of investigative practices formed in the execution of the procedural action “seizure
of electronic messages in organizations engaged in data transmission over communication networks.” Tactical and organizational problems encountered during investigative actions involving the seizure of electronic messages in organizations that provide their transmission via information and communication networks are identified. An analysis is conducted on the situational conditionality of conducting investigative actions related to the seizure of electronic messages, as well as the challenges faced in this process. The objective of the scientific study is to develop scientifically grounded recommendations for conducting investigative actions related to the seizure of information contained in electronic messages. The study draws on the works of domestic experts in the field of forensics, focusing on the use of information technologies in crime investigations; normative legal acts regulating the procedures for seizing electronic messages and other communications transmitted over telecommunications networks. The research employed methods of analysis, systematization, and generalization of information. As a result of the study, deficiencies in the procedures for conducting the specified investigative actions were identified, and advantages were noted. Methodological recommen
dations are provided regarding the tactics and methods of conducting investigative actions related to the seizure of electronic and other communications transmitted over telecommunications networks. An algorithm was developed containing a set of investigative measures aimed at establishing the most complete and objective body of electronic evidence in the investigation of various types of crimes.