Methodological Problems of Understanding Property Law, its Importance in the Context of the Modern Reform of Civil Law of the Russian Federation

The article analyses the methodological problems of understanding property law - one of the central institutions of civil law. The author considers interpretation and distinctions of such epistemological categories as feature and property. And on this basis, he looks at the features of the law of things. The author also and examines various definitions, including the definition proposed in the draft of the federal law ‘On Amendments to Part One of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation’. The narrow approach to the definition of right in rem comes under fire when the latter is associated exclusively with property law. The author castigates a dogmatic approach for focusing on only those features of the law of things that the legislator indicates. The model of ‘split’ property is under scrutiny. The author analyzes several features of property law, taking into account the modern capabilities provided by digital technologies and virtual space. The author substantiates the stipulation that in the definition of the right in rem, it is methodologically incorrect to distinguish a feature ‘direct’ (or ‘absolute’) domination of a person over a thing. The fact is that feature characteristic of property law is one of the most important but not the only one. The author proposes his definition of property law.