Theoretical and Legal Foundations of the Automation of Legal Activities

Introduction: legal activities in the digital society are changing qualitatively. The methods of legal regulation are expanding, new forms and methods of implementation are emerging, and the material and technical base is being modernized. Automation is becoming a new direction for improving legal activities and, at the same time, a source of large-scale problems and risks. The purpose of the research is to formulate the theoretical and legal foundations of the automation of legal activities. The objectives of the research are to analyze the elemental composition of automated legal activities, the relationship between humans and technology in the process of these activities, and the disclosure of some terminological aspects of the problem. Methods: the paper uses the methods of formal law, logic, systems, and modeling and forecasting. Results: the author believes that of the two approaches to the nature of automated legal activities (instrumental and machine-agent), the most suitable for modern Russia is the instrumental approach, whereby any automated technology should only act as a means of realizing human and social interests, including in cases of its externally “independent” functioning. From this perspective, such elements of its composition as forms, legal means, and principles are considered. The author considers consistency, realism, efficiency, the auxiliary role of artificial languages, and controllability to be among the fundamental principles. The phenomenon of so-called hybridization of humans and machines is considered separately, which implies major fundamental changes in the life of the digital society, for which there are currently no sufficient reasons to introduce the term into the lexical circulation of legal science. Conclusions: the effectiveness of solving social problems facing legal activities increases significantly as a result of automation if the achievements of digitalization are used for the benefit of the humans, society, and the country, while the negative consequences of this process are minimized.