The «Kovalyov Readings» is a unique international conference annually held in Yekaterinburg and attended by leading legal scholars and practitioners.

Traditionally, the Research-to-Practice Conference “Kovalyov Readings” is held by the Criminal Law Department of the Ural State Law University (USLU). It is dedicated to Mitrofan Ivanovich Kovalyov (1922-2002), an eminent Russian scientist and professor, a Participant of the Great Patriotic War, a Head of the Criminal Law Department at the Sverdlovsk Law Institute (SLI, now – Ural State Law University) for several decades, founder of the Ural criminal law school, Honored Worker of Sciences of the RSFSR, a teacher of many generations of students at SLI-USLU, Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Honorary Professor of the Ural State Law University.

The first “Kovalyov Readings” Conference was held on 13 February 2004 where the Conference participants discussed the topic of “Criminal Law: Past, Present and Future”. The first Conference established two traditions of the “Kovalyov Readings” that have been preserved to date: interdisciplinarity of the topic and the time of the “Kovalyov Readings” Conference.

The second Conference held on 10 February 2005 was devoted to “Intersectoral Aspects and Methods in Criminal Law”. The III International Research-to-Practice Conference dedicated to the memory of M.I. Kovalyov was held on 10 February 2006 focusing on “Philosophical and Historical Foundations of Criminal Law”. The IV Conference held on a same date a year after was called “Criminal Law Policy in the Sphere of Information Security in the Russian Federation”.

With the expanded program and participants geography, from fifth time on, the Conference was held within two days – on 9 and 10 February 2008 and was devoted to “The Problems of Cooperation of International and Municipal Law in the Conditions of Globalization”. The VI International Research-to-Practice Conference dedicated to the memory of M.I. Kovalyov (on 21-22 February 2009) was devoted to “Moral, Ethical and Religious Basics of Criminal Law”. It was the first time when “Kovalyov Readings” was held outside the Ural State Law University – at the Yekaterinburg Diocese Conference Hall. All subsequent conferences were also held at various venues in Yekaterinburg, apart from the XII session.

The VII “Kovalyov Readings” Conference was held on 20-21 February 2010 when the discussion was devoted to the “Media Potential of Criminal Law”. On 18-19 February 2011, Yekaterinburg hosted the VIII International Research-to-Practice Conference dedicated to the memory of M.I. Kovalyov, where the issues of criminal penalties were discussed for the first time: “Criminal Penalty: a Social Good or Evil?”. On 17-18 February 2012, the IX “Kovalyov Readings” Conference was held on the topic of “Providing Safety of the European Transport System by Criminal Law and Criminology Means”.

The X Anniversary “Kovalyov Readings” Conference was held on 15 February 2013 and was devoted to the “Application of Criminal Penalty as a Form of Criminal Liability”. On 21 February 2014, the XI Kovalyov Readings Conference was held on the “Transnational and National Concepts and Models in Criminal Law Imposing Liability for Illegal Activity with Counterfeit Goods in Pharmacology”.

In 2015, the XII Kovalyov Readings Conference was for the first time co-organized with the Federal Bar Association and “Puchkov&Partners” Law Firm (LOYS since 2019). The Conference gained the scope of an international event with more than 200 participants from different countries. Foreign guests from Brazil, Germany, Serbia, England, USA and neighboring countries, Russian criminal law scholars, leading experts in criminal law, high-level representatives of various government agencies, law students, members of the Association of Lawyers of Russia met to discuss the issue of “Protection of the Information Space in Criminal Law in the Era of Globalization”.

The 2016 Conference was devoted to a sort of unusual topic - “Criminal Law Provisions in Fine Art, Oratory, Drama, Classic Literature and Cinema”. The “Kovalyov Readings” was opened by a concert of the Ural Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Enkhe. The event was attended by more than 200 scholars, legal practitioners, writers, cultural and art workers from Russia, Belarus, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, China, New Zealand, Serbia, the USA, Taiwan, and France. The Conference was held in the Yeltsin Center.

The 2017 Conference raised the issue of “Moral Foundations of Criminal Liability”. The event was held on 16-17 February 2017, in the Yeltsin Center and started with the performance “Fake Coupon” by the world-famous “Kolyada Theater”. The Conference was attended by more than 200 law scholars and legal practitioners from Russia and countries such as USA, Germany, Serbia, Macedonia, the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and others. The 2017 Conference also held a meeting of the Council of the Federal Bar Association of the Russian Federation chaired by its President Yuri S. Pilipenko, where the participants could offer their ideas of changes in the current legislation on the Bar. Also, there was a lecture by Andrey A. Klishas, the Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, a workshop by Constance Bagley, a Senior Research Fellow at Yale Law School, USA.

In 2018, at the XV Anniversary Conference, questions concerned crime-fighting models from the point of Criminal Law and Criminology were discussed (“Criminal Planet”). The event was held on February 15-16 at the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg. A series of discussions raising the most pressing issues, as well as arbitration conferences and a meeting of the Council of the Federal Bar Association of the Russian Federation, took place within the Conference.

On February 14th a joint performance of the soloists of the Sverdlovsk Opera and Ballet Theater and Capella of Boys and Young Men of the Sverdlovsk State Children's Philharmonic was held within the Conference. And the cultural program of the Conference acquainted the Conference guests with the most significant and interesting places in Yekaterinburg.

During the traditional Afterparty, guests could relax, make new acquaintances, and enjoy the performance of the Ural rock singer Yulia Chicherina. The 2018 session established a new tradition for the Conference – the opening of the scientific part of the Conference with a Plenar Report.

The XVI “Kovalyov Readings” Conference was held on 13-15 February 2019, in the Yeltsin Center. The Conference participants discussed the issue of "Error: right or responsibility?". During the Conference, the dichotomy of legal responsibility for mistake was discussed: on the one hand, a mistake is allowed, and on the other, any mistake gives rise to responsibility. The session preserved the tradition of interdisciplinarity. The Conference was attended by experts in the field of criminal law and criminology, criminal procedure, private law, civil procedure. For the first time within the Conference, a discussion on legal education was held “LegalTech vs Classical Education”. The 2019 session was attended by more than 300 scholars and experts from Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, USA, and other countries. The 2019 Conference was opened with a performance devoted to the life of M.I. Kovalyov (the director - A.I. Rusinov), and the work program was concluded by the traditional “Puchkov Afterparty” with the concert of Nino Katamadze.

On 13-14 February 2020, the XVII International Research-to-Practice Conference dedicated to the memory of M.I. Kovalev was held on the "Reconciliation in Law: Compromise or Concession?". The conference was held at the Yekaterinburg Expo Center and gathered more than 1 500 participants. The 2020 session turned out to be truly experimental. The event was held in cooperation with the International Criminological Society (ISC) and the International Forum on Crime and Criminal Law in the Global Era (IFCCLGE, since 2021 – IFCCL). Conference discussed the following issues: "Private Life: Limits of Permissible State Intervention", "Ancient Customs of Reconciliation Today", "Mediation Potential in Criminal Law, Process and Penitentiary", "The Price of State Forgiveness: Responsibility or Damage Compensation?". Traditionally, along with the Criminal Law Conference, an Arbitration Sessions took place on the issue of "Arbitration Award: Voluntary or Compulsory enforcement". The Conference united representatives of leading research and educational law centers in the session of "What Does Law Employer Expects from Legal Education?". For the first time, the daily newspaper of “Kovalyov Readings” was published at the Conference (series of 3 issues). The conference ended with a Yolka concert at the Center Club. The “Kovalyov Readings-2020” became the largest scientific and legal forum in Russia, for which they were awarded by PRAVO-300.

2021 adjusted the usual way of holding the Conference. During pandemic, we changed the format to a hybrid one: offline speakers gathered in Yekaterinburg, online ones were attending the Conference through Zoom, and participants joined the live broadcast. The Conference itself was held at the Country Club "Les" in the Sysertsky district of the Sverdlovsk region. The Grand Opening took place on 19 February 2021 in the fresh air at a temperature of -25! None of the participants were injured! The theme of the XVIII “Kovalyov Readings” was also explained by the pandemic: "Criminal Law: New Reality". Conference held the following discussions: "Biotechnologies, Synthetic Biology and Genome Editing: a Criminal Legal Perspective", "Criminal Law in the Era of Cyberreality: the Potential to Respond to New Challenges", "New Realities of the Notary: Between Digitalization and Pandemic", "The Impact of Sanctions on Dispute Resolution: Recent Trends", "Protection of Digital Human and Civil Rights". The Conference was concluded with the traditional “Puchkov AfterParty” with the group "Nol Caloriy".