Innovative activity as a direction of legal policy of the modern Russian State

Background. The combination of internal and external challenges faced by the modern Russian state and society predetermine a high demand for innovation. It determines the high relevance of research into the features of state innovation policy, which is consid-ered as a type of legal policy. The purpose of the work is to consider the features of legal regulation of innovation policy, identify problems and propose ways to solve them. Materi-als and methods. The implementation of the research tasks was achieved on the basis of an analysis of regulations, strategic planning documents, as well as scientific research devoted to the implementation of innovation policy in various areas of public relations. The meth-ods of dialectics, induction, synthesis and formal legal analysis predetermined the possibil-ity of obtaining formulated conclusions. Results. An analysis of the provisions of normative sources allowed us to come to the conclusion that the conceptual apparatus of innovation policy is inconsistent. This conclusion confirms the appeal to scientific research on relevant topics, pointing to the inconsistency of the regulatory framework with the actual existing social relations. Conclusions. The author has formulated conclusions about the advisability of clarifying the concept of «innovation» in relevant legislation, as well as developing the principle of transparency in the implementation of the state’s innovation policy. In addition, the role of balance between ensuring private and public interests in this industry is empha-sized.