Prynova V.I.
Digital environment as a new reality for legal assistance
Keywords: legal assistance, digital environment, legal transformation, digitalization, digital competence, artificial intelligence, Legal Tech, digital platforms
Transformation of social relations under the influence of digital technologies is outpacing the development of the legal mechanisms designed to support them. The Institute of legal assistance, traditionally focused on physical presence, paper document management and personal communication, is facing challenges that cannot be solved within the framework of the classical paradigm. In the context of the digitalisation of the public and legal sector, it is the state that acts as the primary agent in initiating and facilitating the transformation of legal support, by creating digital platforms, services and legal mechanisms designed to improve the accessibility and quality of legal aid. The lack of a theoretical model that takes account of the capabilities of digital technologies leads to difficulties in terms of the allocation of responsibility, as well as to a reduction in the effectiveness of the support provided. The relevance of the study is due to the need to understand the positive dynamics of state-legal phenomena in the modern world, where the state is not only adapting to the digital environment, but is also actively shaping it to implement public functions. A rapid increase in the number of legal relationships arising exclusively in the digital environment, coupled with the lag in their regulatory framework, make actual the need for a theoretical re-examination of the institution of legal assistance, both from a doctrinal and a law enforcement perspective. The purpose of the study is to identify the nature and content of the transformation of the features of legal assistance in the digital environment. Materials and methods. The research used general scientific methods of cognition (analysis, synthesis, deduction, abstraction, dialectical method) and specific scientific methods (formal-legal, comparative-legal). The materials used included legislative and regulatory acts of the Russian Federation, a report by the Council under the President of the Russian Federation on the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, foreign case law, and scholarly works by Russian and foreign academics. Results. Five characteristics of the digital environment that are significant for legal assistance were identified (ability to transcend geographical boundaries, virtualisation, automation and the emergence of intermediaries, transformation of the legal subject and delegation of tasks). It is proved that under the influence of these characteristics, the digital environment does not generate new subjects of assistance, but complicates their structure. Legal liability for the final outcome should be determined on the basis of each party’s actual contribution and degree of control over the system’s operation (the state, the developer, the platform owner), which requires redistribution of liability amongst them in proportion to their degree of control. Conclusion. In the digital environment, legal assistance is being significantly transformed: the activity is becoming hybrid, and the lawyer's special competence is complemented by digital one. At this, digital environment does not generate new subjects of law; algorithms are always backed by the state, the developer and the owner of the platform.
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About authors
- Prynova Victoria I.
- Adjunct (Post-Graduate Student), Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod (prinovavictoriya@mail.ru; )
Article link
Prynova V.I. Digital environment as a new reality for legal assistance [Electronic resource] // Oeconomia et Jus. – 2026. – №3. P. 109-121. – URL: https://oecomia-et-jus.ru/en/single/2026/3/8/. DOI: 10.47026/2499-9636-2026-3-109-121.
Copyright holder: authors. License: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
