Ethical Standards: Traditions and Innovations in Law Enforcement in the Context of the Fourth Technological Revolution

Purpose The study aims to analyze internal corporate (ethical) ways of controlling the digital public sphere, which are developed at the intersection of public and private interests based on the principles of corporate ethics. Design/methodology/approach The transformation in communication technologies directly affects the ways to protect the rights and interests of citizens and legal entities, which in turn entails the need for changes in the regulation of the professional activities of lawyers, as well as other persons providing legal assistance. However, legislative activity does not always manage to solve the problems that arise. The practice of foreign countries is on the way to fill in the gaps in legal regulation due to the ethical standards of non-state law enforcement communities—bar and notarial associations. Findings The authors analyze the corporate and ethical standards that ensure safe professional activity. Modern ethical regulators of the Code of Professional Ethics of Notaries are investigated. The legal community adheres to a more universal principle of professional conduct for lawyers in the context of digitalization: to preserve honour and dignity, avoid anything that could harm the credibility of the bar association or undermine its authority in any situation. Originality/value It is determined that the impossibility of rapid legislative response to changes in the country’s public life entails the need to use other regulators, in particular, corporate and ethical standards of individual communities, which directly affect the entire population of the country. The main visible positive aspects of digitalization, algorithmization and mechanization of production and communication, which increase the speed of exchange and accumulation of information, provide ease of searching for information about individuals and entities, which can lead to uncontrolled invasion of privacy, are identified. Such challenges are resolved by professional communities by transforming ethical regulation within their communities.