Format: on Shaninka campus and online
Language: Russian, English
Moderators: Mikhail Belov (Shaninka alumnus, PhD student at UCLA), Anton Kazun (PhD, Director of the Institute for Industrial and Market Studies, HSE University),
Anna Lulikyan (Researcher at the International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development)

Law enforcement practices in Russia and around the world are rapidly evolving under the influence of technological developments and shifts in social and cultural norms. At the same time, empirical research in this domain enables socially significant decision-making in line with evidence-based policy principles. The quality of such research directly impacts the capacity to address various tasks, including ensuring equality before the law, minimizing the likelihood of erroneous decisions, preventing crime, rehabilitating offenders, and more. Nonetheless, many studies yield mixed results or propose contradictory explanations for similar phenomena.

Within this section, we will discuss current theoretical and methodological issues in the sociology of law and criminology, as well as present findings from recent empirical studies on law enforcement. Topics to be addressed include: “How do judges and law enforcement officers make decisions under conditions of bounded rationality?”, “What role do extralegal factors (such as gender and socioeconomic status of the defendant and victim) play in judicial and law enforcement decisions?”, “How do cultural norms and values affect the quality of law enforcement?”, “Can stricter law enforcement today help reduce crime rates in the future?”, “What are the career trajectories of judges and how do these trajectories relate to law enforcement practices?”, and “What changes in the legal profession can be expected with the advancement of artificial intelligence?” among other relevant questions.

Format

• Day One: In-person (on-site at Shaninka), in Russian, with a focus on Russia and the post-Soviet region.
• Day Two: Online, in English, featuring comparative research on law enforcement and inviting international speakers.

Leading Russian and international scholars researching law enforcement in Russia will be invited to participate. However, on the second day, our discussions will not be limited to the Russian context; we will consider broader questions of law enforcement as well. Special attention will be paid to accessible data sources for researching law enforcement and to new analytical tools and methodologies.