SMART CONTRACTS BEYOND THE CODE: LEGAL UNCERTAINTY AND ENFORCEMENT CHALLENGES IN RUSSIAN LAW
Main Article Content
Abstract
this article adopts a legal and technological perspective to examine the regulatory framework governing smart contracts in the Russian Federation. It first explores the conceptual and doctrinal debates regarding their legal nature under Russian civil law. The analysis then reviews regulatory developments facilitating their application in financial services, logistics, and public administration, with particular emphasis on integration with the digital ruble infrastructure. Notably Russian Railways pay special attention to practical use in freight transportation. The article further considers recent court decisions delineating the legal boundaries of automated contract execution and formation on digital platforms. It concludes by identifying key legal and technical limitations that restrict the broader applicability of smart contracts to standardized, low-complexity transactions. The study offers recommendations aimed at enhancing legal certainty and promoting the effective use of smart contracts in digital governance.
Article Details

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
K. A. Abdullaev, E. B. Abdurakhimova, S. V. Alborov et al., Aktualʹnye problemy effektivnosti chastnogo prava: monografiia, eds A. N. Levushkin and E. Kh. Nadysheva (Justitsinform: Moscow, 2022)
N. Ballaji, 'Smart Contracts: Legal Implications in the Age of Automation' (2024) 18 Beijing Law Review 1022
V. V. Blazheev and M. A. Egorova (eds), Tsifrovoe pravo: Glossarii poniatii (Prospekt: Moscow, 2020)
D. Drummer and D. Neumann, 'Is Code Law? Current Legal and Technical Adoption Issues and Remedies for Blockchain Enabled Smart Contracts' (2020) 35 Journal of Information Technology 337
D. B. Garrie and G. A. Andler, 'Arbitrating Smart Contract Disputes' (2024) 12 Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy 87
S. Greenstein, 'Choice of Law in Smart Contracts: Metadata and Jurisdictional Challenges' (2023) 27 International Business Law Review 122
C. Kuiper and J. Neureuter, Ethereum: Advancing Blockchain with Smart Contracts and Decentralized Applications (Fidelity Digital Assets: May 2022)
K. E. C. Levy and A. E. Waldman, ‘Smart Contracts and the Illusion of Automated Enforcement’ (2019) 24 Washington University Law Review 101
A. T. Miftyakhetdinov, ‘Tsifrovoi rublʹ kak instrument ispolneniia smart-kontrakta’ (2023) 34 Voprosy rossiiskoi iustitsii 177
M. Iu. Iurasov and D. A. Pozdniakov, ‘Smart-kontrakt i perspektivy ego pravovogo regulirovaniia v epokhu tekhnologii blockchain’ (Zakon.ru, 9 October 2017)
G. Richardson, 'Standardization and Legal Templates in Smart Contracts' in R. Brown (ed.), Technology and Contract Law (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2023) 201
E. Rusakova and K. Sergeev, ‘Changing the Activity of a Lawyer in Civil Procedure in the Digital Age’ (2024) 12(2) Russian Law Journal 200
Iu. V. Runtsevsky and V. V. Sevalnev, ‘Smart-kontrakt: ot opredeleniia k opredelennosti’ (2020) 1 Pravo. Zhurnal Vysshei shkoly ekonomiki 124
A. I. Savelʹev, Pravovye aspekty razrabotki i kommerchializatsii programmnogo obespecheniia (Statut: Moscow, 2024)
A. A. Volos (ed.), Kontseptsiia pravovogo regulirovaniia otnoshenii, oslozhnennykh ispolʹzovaniem smart-kontraktov: Monografiia (Prospekt: Moscow, 2021)
V. V. Sankov and M. V. Tegichev, ‘Perevozki 2.0: kak smart-kontrakty izmeniaiut pravila igry’ (2023) 10 Obrazovanie i pravo 447
A. V. Stepanchenko, ‘Digital Ruble in Russian Civil Circulation: Challenges and Perspectives’ (2022) 134 SHS Web of Conferences, EURO-ASIAN LAW CONGRESS 2021, 00041
T. Qadri, The Role of Artificial Intelligence Systems in Smart Arbitration, available at: https://www.russianlawjournal.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1177 (accessed 21 June 2025)
Cases
Arbitrazh Court of Moscow, Decision in Case No. А40-22612/22-131-226, 16 August 2022
Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction, Decision in Case No. 88-9830/2023, 25 April 2022
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Resolution of the Plenum No. 49 On Certain Issues Related to the Application of the General Provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the Conclusion and Interpretation of Contracts (25 December 2018)
Statutes
Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Arts. 309(2), 434–435, 438, 432(1)(2), 427, 429, 429.1, 437(1)
Official Publications and Government Documents
Bank of Russia, Analytical Review on “Smart Contracts” (April 2018), available at: https://www.cbr.ru/Content/Document/File/47862/SmartKontrakt_18-10.pdf (accessed 19 June 2025)
Bank of Russia, Digital Ruble Concept (April 2021), available at: https://www.cbr.ru/content/document/file/120075/concept_08042021.pdf (accessed 18 June 2025)
Bank of Russia, Main Directions for the Development of the Financial Market of the Russian Federation for 2025 and the Period of 2026 and 2027, available at: https://www.cbr.ru/Content/Document/File/141798/onrfr_2025_2027.pdf (accessed 22 June 2025)
Government Commission on Digital Development, Concept for the Development of Machine-Readable Law Technologies, Minutes No. 31 (15 September 2021), available at: https://digital.gov.ru/uploaded/files/kontseptsiya-razvitiya-tekhnologij-mashinocitaemogo-prava.pdf (accessed 19 June 2025)
Government of the Russian Federation, Rasporyazhenie No. 1750 (28 October 2020)
Government of the Russian Federation, Rasporyazhenie No. 3684-r (31 December 2020)
Government of the Russian Federation, Rasporyazhenie No. 381-r (21 February 2020)
Government of the Russian Federation, Rasporyazhenie No. 2101-r (30 September 2018)
Government of the Russian Federation, Rasporyazhenie No. 4355-r (29 December 2022)
Government of the Russian Federation, Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation up to 2030 with a Forecast Period until 2035, Rasporyazhenie No. 3363-r (27 November 2021)
Government of the Russian Federation, Strategic Initiative for the Digital Transformation of the Transport Sector of the Russian Federation until 2030, Rasporyazhenie No. 3097-r (3 November 2023)
Ministry of Industry and Trade, Strategy for the Digital Transformation of the Manufacturing Industries (2021)
Agreements
JSC Russian Railways, Agreement on the Provision of Information Services and Access to Electronic Services in the Field of Freight Transportation, No. 2633/r (18 December 2017)