Relevance. This study explores the legal and practical relevance of witness presence in the implementation of online cash waqf at the Amil Zakat, Infaq, and Sadaqah Institution (LAZIS) Sabilillah Malang. Article 17 of Indonesia’s Waqf Law (Law No. 41 of 2004) prescribes that a waqf pledge (ikrar wakaf) must be declared in the presence of two witnesses before an authorized official. However, the transition to digital waqf practices presents challenges to the traditional legal structure, especially in terms of compliance with witness requirements and the legal certainty of digitally executed waqf pledges.

 Methods and Methodology. This research adopts a normative legal approach (doctrinal legal research) supported by statutory analysis, legal interpretation, and a limited case study of LAZIS Sabilillah Malang. Primary legal sources include national laws on waqf, electronic transactions (ITE Law), and data protection, while secondary materials encompass scholarly writings, fatwas, and guidelines from the Indonesian Waqf Board (BWI). The study also draws on interviews with waqf practitioners to understand the practical implementation of online waqf.

Results. The findings reveal that while digital cash waqf is increasingly accepted and institutionally supported, there is normative ambiguity surrounding the enforcement of the two-witness requirement. The absence of explicit sanctions in Article 17 of the Waqf Law weakens its prescriptive power, resulting in varied interpretations and practices among waqf institutions. In the case of LAZIS Sabilillah Malang, digital footprints such as payment confirmations and digital records are used as substitutes for traditional witnesses. However, this substitution has not yet received explicit legal recognition, creating a gap between regulatory text and institutional practice.

Conclusion and Discussion. The study concludes that the lack of clarity in the statutory language of Article 17, particularly regarding the necessity and legal consequences of absent witnesses, contributes to legal uncertainty in the digital waqf domain. This uncertainty calls for regulatory reform that accommodates technological advancements while upholding the core principles of Islamic waqf jurisprudence. Additionally, a stronger culture of legal literacy and community trust in digital waqf systems is essential to ensure broader acceptance. Collaborative efforts between the government, BWI, and waqf institutions are needed to provide a clear and authoritative framework for the legality of witness roles in online waqf practices.

Introduction. The appeal to Marxism as a system of ideas explaining and predicting the ways of development of mankind and the fate of the state is still relevant. Marxism is popular not only in postsocialist countries, but also in the consistently developed bourgeois world. It is not overlooked as an object of research by representatives of leftist intellectuals at leading foreign and Russian universities. The purpose of this paper is to identify or clarify the reasons for the discrepancy between the social class ideas of Marxism and the practice of the modern state, the prospects for the theoretical and practical development of this, perhaps, the most influential doctrine after the world religions.

Methodology and materials. Within the framework of a short article, which does not specifically touch upon the problems of foundations (sources), political economy, the concept of man, the interpretation of Marxism in the countries that today call themselves socialist, and many others, the author uses the methodological technique of interpreting Marx’s key theses concerning the driving forces of the historical development of society and the fate of the state through the comparison of the thinker’s ideas (insights) with contemporary reality.

 Research results and their discussion. The author reveals inconsistencies between the social class theory of Marxism and its practical implementation in the Soviet socialist state of the twentieth century; discovers the shortcomings of this theory in explaining the European society and state of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries; reveals its potential in modern state-organized society.

 Conclusions. The study argues the point of view according to which the transformation of the social class theory of Marxism into a discourse devoid of practical possibilities of overthrowing the state (as an institution) has led to the paradox of defense and improvement of the system of institutions of the modern state by the supporters of the once revolutionary doctrine.

Introduction. The paper is devoted to the problem of significance of a concept of the constitution for the choice of the model of constitutional evolution, for the development of jurisprudence and law education in Spain in the first half of the 19th century.

 Methodology and materials. The paper is based on Spanish sources and literature: legal acts and other documents prepared by lawyers and politicians, texts of their speeches, educational literature (it reflected the advanced development of university education in comparison with proper scientific researches), as well as scientific works on the history of law, political and legal doctrines and constitutional law of Spain. Preparing the article, formal-dogmatic, comparative-legal, systemic-structural and historical research methods were used.

 Research results. The author of the paper identifies and analyzes the formed types of the concept of constitution: 1) as “ancient” (medieval) fundamental laws and customs (an “ancient” constitution); 2) as fundamental law of the Spanish monarchy (a political code); 3) as social relations as a result of the constitutional acts’ implementation (a subject of political law researches). Their formation is inseparable from the history of the adoption of four constitutions of the 1st part of the 19th century, of the origin and development of the constitutional law science and its teaching in Spanish universities.

 Conclusions. The “ancient” constitution became one of the legal sources of the constitutions mentioned above and the foundation of their legitimization. The concept of constitution as a systematized fundamental law, adopted by a national representative body, following the models elaborated in France, determined forms and contents of the Spanish constitutional acts, the practice of their implementations, the features of juridical education and science. The sociological approach to the concept of constitution, activated by the introduction of political law in University schedule and in field of scientific researches, provided a theoretical study of the results of constitutional norms applying, of the influence of various social factors. Three noticed types of the concept of constitution are historical examples of the typology of the concept of constitution (historical-traditional, rational-normative, sociological), recognized by Spanish constitutional law.

Introduction. The article examines the legal regulation of food safety at the federal level. The legal acts that consolidate the powers of federal executive authorities in this area are analyzed. The purpose of the study was to identify ineffective executive authorities in the field of food security, legislative gaps and to develop proposals to eliminate them.

Methodology and materials: general and particular scientific methods of cognition of objective reality, including analysis, synthesis, formal legal and other methods of scientific cognition.

 Research results. The absence of legislation consolidating the system of executive authorities, whose activities are entirely aimed only at ensuring food security, has been revealed. There are also no legal acts establishing separate bodies whose competence includes exclusively issues related to food security. The Russian specifics of the construction of the public administration apparatus in relation to the relations under consideration lies in the distribution of relevant competence between various executive authorities. However, the activities aimed at ensuring food security are not the main ones for them.

Conclusions. The study revealed inefficiency in the activities of the Federal Agency for Fisheries. It is proposed to deprive the agency of the authority to quota the catch of marine biological resources, and assign them to the Government of the Russian Federation.

Introduction. The article examines the essence and legal status of “organizations created to perform tasks assigned to federal government agencies” as objects of anti-corruption regulation. Individual defects in law enforcement in this area are identified and analyzed.

 Methodology and materials. This study is based on a substantive analysis of applicable sources of national legal regulation of anti-corruption activities in relation to the above-mentioned organizations, acts of “soft law” — methodological materials and official explanations issued by authorized state authorities, and current scientific research. At the same time, the purpose of this study is directly to determine the legal nature of such organizations in the context of national anticorruption regulation.

Research results and their discussion. The examination and substantive analysis of the array of normative and scientific research material on the specified topic made it possible to identify the problem of not always proper distribution to the relevant organizations as a whole and their employees of the system of restrictions, prohibitions and obligations established for the purpose of combating corruption, other related obligations, as well as the implementation of the possibility of applying measures of responsibility for committed offenses, which is associated with the legal uncertainty of the perception and identification of these organizations.

 Conclusions. In the course of the conducted research, systemic identifying criteria (features) of “organizations created to perform tasks assigned to federal government bodies” were formulated, on the basis of which a corresponding definition was proposed that is valuable for representatives of law enforcement agencies, federal executive bodies involved in law enforcement practice and/or regulation of this area, and employees of the relevant organizations.

Introduction. The article deals with issues of the concept of “investment” in economic and legal theory, in the legislation and law practice in order to identify effective legal regulation of relations arising in this area. It should be noted that investment legislation is a complex structured system of the acts with different purposes, content and regulation methods. It is also shown that there aren’t only acts of different levels and different legal force (acts of an international acts, national acts, as well as subordinate normative acts), but also of a different legal nature. For this reasons there aren’t universal legal definitions of such concepts as “investment”, “investment activity”, “investor”, “investment agreement”, which are the basic categories for all areas of investment activity.

Methodology. The research methods are general scientific and private legal: analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, systemic, logical, dialectical, structural and functional, formal legal, comparative legal methods and others. The research aims to investigate the problems related to the content of the concept of “investment”. It analyzes academic literature and investment legislation on this sphere, investigates, describes different approaches to the definition “investment”.

 Results. The texts of numerous regulatory legal acts regulating investment activities contain their own definitions of the listed basic categories, which are of regulatory importance only for the relevant sphere of investment relations. For this reason, in legal doctrine and law enforcement practice, difficulties arise with the legalization of the concept of “investment”.

Conclusions. The paper is concerned with identifies the economic and legal features of the concept in question, which help to distinguish it from related categories and reveal its essence. It is stressed that the investment characterizing: 1) aim, 2) risk, 3) period and 4) object.

Introduction. In the context of the creation and development of digital platforms, the relevance of the problem of defining their concepts and adequately regulating the norms of the tax legislation of the Russian Federation is indisputable, and is due to both contradictions in legal regulation and the difference in opinions expressed in the literature about the essence of digital platforms.

 Methodology and materials. Russian regulatory legal acts and Internet sources, as well as works by Russian and foreign authors in the field of law, economics and public administration, were used as materials for the study. For the purposes of studying the phenomenon of the digital platform as an object of tax regulation, the following general and special legal methods were used: dialectical method of cognition, methods of comparative analysis, formal legal, method of analogy.

 Research results. The approaches available in legislation and scientific literature to the concept of a digital platform in the field of taxation are summarized and analyzed, and its main features are identified. The prospects for the transformation of the Federal Tax Service of Russia into a digital platform are considered, and its features are outlined. The creation and functioning of digital platforms in the field of taxation is analyzed using the concept of “the state as a platform”, which made it possible to formulate directions for improving Russian tax legislation in modern conditions.

Conclusions. The legal regulation of the concept of a digital platform, including in the field of taxation, is ambiguous. The author formulates the concept of a digital platform, and also highlights its following features: the mandatory use of blockchain technology; the formation of a unified ecosystem of digital services; the existence of legal consequences of the functioning of the digital platform of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. To ensure the functioning of the Federal Tax Service of Russia as a digital platform, it is necessary to: develop a procedure for its functioning; supplement the Tax Code of the Russian Federation with a norm on the obligation of tax authorities to notify about the use of artificial intelligence technology; develop and subsequently publish a policy on the use of artificial intelligence technology.

Introduction. The article explores the legal nature of distributor and dealer agreements, which are widely used in business but lack clear legislative regulation in Russian law. The author examines the problem of the absence of legal definitions for these contracts, leading to ambiguity in their classification in judicial practice and legal doctrine. Attention is also given to the international aspect, as distributor agreements often involve foreign companies.

 Methodology and materials. The research is based on the analysis of Russian and international legislation, judicial practice, as well as scientific legal and economic literature. The methodological framework employs comparative legal and systemic approaches, which help identify the specifics of distributor and dealer agreements in relation to other contractual structures, such as supply, agency, and paid services.

 Results and discussion. The author concludes that distributor and dealer agreements have the legal nature of mixed contracts and include elements of various named contracts (supply, agency, paid services). Judicial practice also often qualifies these agreements as mixed, allowing the application of norms from relevant contracts. It is established that both types of agreements belong to the category of “entrepreneurial contracts,” with the key difference lying in their subject composition: distributors act as wholesalers, promoting the manufacturer’s goods, while dealers engage in retail sales, thus being closer to the end consumer.

 Conclusions. The article identifies significant differences between distributor and dealer agreements, primarily in the specificity of their subject composition. The legal nature of the examined contracts is clarified, and the approaches of judicial practice to their classification are analyzed. The author emphasizes the need for further research and improvement of the legal regulation of distributor and dealer agreements. The results of the study may be useful for practicing lawyers and for the development of legislative initiatives in the field of civil law.

Introduction. The object of this study is the problem of light pollution and its impact on the environment and human health. The relevance of the topic is due to the growing concern of the scientific community and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) about light pollution, which disrupts the natural cycles of day and night, affects ecosystems, and impacts human health. The aim of the study is to analyze existing legal norms and develop proposals for improving legislation in the field of environmental protection from light pollution. The tasks include studying international experience, analyzing Russian legislation, and developing recommendations for its improvement.

 Methodology and materials. The research is based on the general theory of law and the theory of environmental law. The study was conducted using general scientific (dialectical and functional) and special legal (formal-legal and comparative-legal) methods. The article analyzes regulatory legal acts, scientific publications, and data from international organizations. General scientific methods were used for the analysis and synthesis of information, while special legal methods were used for the interpretation and systematization of legal norms.

 Research results and their discussion. The study showed that light pollution has a negative impact on the environment and human health, disrupting the natural cycles of day and night and affecting ecosystems. The analysis of foreign experience showed that different countries apply different approaches to the regulation of light pollution, including the establishment of lighting standards, the introduction of time periods for minimizing outdoor lighting, and the restriction of advertising using LED screens. Russian legislation lacks special norms aimed at protecting the night sky from light pollution, which hinders the implementation of state policy in the field of environmental protection.

 Conclusions. The results of the study allow us to conclude that it is necessary to develop and implement special legal norms aimed at protecting the environment from light pollution. The proposed measures include the establishment of maximum lighting standards, the introduction of time periods for minimizing outdoor lighting, mandatory preliminary coordination of outdoor lighting projects, and the restriction of advertising using LED screens. The implementation of these measures contributes to improving the quality of life of people and preserving biodiversity, as well as corresponds to the tasks of environmental protection.

Introduction. The article examines the historical background and problematic aspects of the formation of supranational consideration of economic disputes between economic entities in the Eurasian space: the issue of creating the Arbitration Chamber under the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States as a structure for arbitration resolution of economic disputes between economic entities (2006–2007), the issue of creating the Arbitration Court of the Customs Union (2012–2014), the issue of establishing international arbitration for consideration of economic disputes based on applications from economic entities (2020–2021), and the issue of creating a supranational arbitration of the Eurasian Economic Union (2023 — present).

 Methodology and materials. This study is based on the works of both Russian and foreign authors in the field of Eurasian integration, as well as on the analysis of documents and materials of international organizations in order to determine the possibility of supranational arbitrability of economic disputes of economic entities. In the presented study, general scientific methods of cognition (analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction), special legal methods (formal-legal, technical-legal, method of legal analogy) and comparative-legal method were used.

Results of the study and their discussion. The presented analysis showed that it is necessary to develop the doctrinal scientific concept of “supranational arbitrability”, which is understood as the property of the object of an economic (commercial) dispute that determines its possibility of being accepted for consideration by a supranational jurisdictional body. At the same time, supranational arbitrability of economic (commercial) disputes of business entities, in the author’s opinion, is possible only when it best meets the economic freedoms for which the integration association was created.

 Conclusions. As a result of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that at present there is no unity in the application of the EAEU law. In the author’s opinion, the unity of application of the EAEU law can be ensured by a new Eurasian arbitration mechanism.

Over the past decade, Chinese state-owned entities have increasingly invested abroad as part of the implementation of the People’s Republic of China Government’s Belt and Road Initiative and the “Made in China 2025” strategic plan. As the volume of investment increases, the risk of infringement of Chinese state-owned investors’ rights is also growing. In this article, the author analyzes whether Chinese state-owned companies controlled by the People’s Republic of China have the right to initiate international investment arbitration against the host state, and concludes that to answer this question it is necessary to analyze the circumstances of investment in each specific investment project.

The review provides a detailed account of the textbook by Yuri Evgenievich Permyakov “Contemporary Philosophy of Law: An Overview of the Main Problems” (St. Petersburg: Lan’, 2023). The author’s contribution to clarifying the province and structure of the discipline, its role in the formation of legal thinking is emphasized. The originality of the proposed reading from the point of view of the metaphysics of law of such categories as agent, ought, judicial authority, subjective right, obligation is noted. The author brings important emphases to the discussion of controversial issues of the boundaries of the law as well as of scientific status and tasks of jurisprudence. Yu. E. Permyakov considers the main task of jurisprudence in general and legal science in particular to be the drawing a line between law and non-law. In view of this task, he examines issues of the legal force of normative and law enforcement acts and of a dispute as an immanent condition of legal life. The author’s proposal to replace the perspective accepted in legal theory, in which the agent of law is considered to be a legal norm, with a “reverse perspective” associated with the concept of a legal construction seems pertinent. Seeing the ontological basis of legal institutions and the starting point of the analysis of law in the claims of the individual, and the most important task of law — in preserving the human cosmos in a state of unity, Yu. E. Permyakov associates the current crisis of law with the inability of the agent to acquire shape, declaring his claims to status, and with the crisis of sociality, in which society loses itself as a whole. The author analyzes the phenomena of provincial comprehension of law and political manipulation of legal consciousness as factors that are directly related to the crisis, reflects on how the latter manifests itself in legal practice, legal science and education.