International Expert Organizations Research Articles

Институт следственных судей: генезис и трансформация правовой модели

The judicial reform in Russia goes on and many provisions of the Concept of Judicial Reform of 1991 have been implemented. However, the institutions of investigating and penitentiary judges, provided by the Concept as a specialization of justices of the peace, have not yet been introduced. Academic and public discussion about the institution of investigative judges has intensified since 2014. Nowadays, there are several procedural models of this legal institution. However, the legal status of the investigating judge appears to be insufficiently developed. Using comparative and formal legal methods of research, the author examines the legal experience of postSoviet states that declare the formation of the institution of investigating judges in their judicial system to conclude that an investigating judge in many states has become a participant in criminal proceedings, but the institution of investigative judges has not been segregated into a separate judicial body, so the legal status of the investigating judge has not formed. In this regard, the author examines the institution of investigative judges of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in which it has undergone a significant transformation: from an investigating judge as a procedural figure to separate specialized investigative courts. Having studied the experience and recommendations of international expert organizations, the Republic of Kazakhstan is developing the idea of the institution of investigating judges in some possible perspective directions: finalization of the legal status of a judge of a specialized investigative court, harmonization of judicial and procedural legislation. Projecting the Kazakh model of a specialized investigative court onto the Russian judicial system, it is proposed to introduce specialized investigative courts in the Russian Federation with functionality that predominantly involves the exercise of judicial control functions. At the same time, the author notes that judicial control takes place both at the pre-trial stages of criminal proceedings and at the stage of execution of the judicial verdict. In this regard, it seems expedient to further build up the competence of a specialized investigative court and, on its basis, create a specialized investigative and penitentiary court, which in the future can become the basis for the formation of a national human rights court, the creation of which was proposed at a meeting of President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin with members of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, held in December 2020.

Knowing like a global expert organization: Comparative insights from the IPCC and IPBES

In this paper we draw on Science and Technology (STS) approaches to develop a comparative analytical account of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The establishment of both of these organizations, in 1988 and 2012 respectively, represented important ‘constitutional moments’ in the global arrangement of scientific assessment and its relationship to environmental policymaking. Global environmental assessments all share some similarities, operating at the articulation between science and policy and pursuing explicit societal goals. Although the IPCC and IPBES have different objectives, they are both intergovernmental processes geared towards the provision of knowledge to inform political debates about, respectively, climate change and biodiversity loss. In spite of these similarities, we show that there are significant differences in their knowledge practices and these differences have implications for environmental governance. We do this by comparing the IPCC and IPBES across three dimensions: conceptual frameworks, scenarios and consensus .We argue that, broadly speaking, the IPCC has produced a ‘view from nowhere’, through a reliance on mathematical modelling to produce a consensual picture of global climate change, which is then ‘downscaled’ to considerations of local impacts and responses. By contrast IPBES, through its contrasting conceptual frameworks and practices of argumentation, appears to seek a ‘view from everywhere’, inclusive of epistemic plurality, and through which a global picture emerges through an aggregation of more placed-based knowledges. We conclude that, despite these aspirations, both organizations in fact offer ‘views from somewhere’: situated sets of knowledge marked by politico-epistemic struggles and shaped by the interests, priorities and voices of certain powerful actors. Characterizing this ‘somewhere’ might be aided by the concept of institutional epistemology, a term we propose to capture how particular knowledge practices become stabilized within international expert organizations. We suggest that such a concept, by drawing attention to the institutions’ knowledge practices, helps reveal their world-making effects and, by doing so, enables more reflexive governance of both expert organizations and of global environmental change in general.

Social Security as the Basis of the National Security of the Country and the Region

The article examines the phenomena of «security» and «social security» from philosophical, sociological and psychological perspectives. The analysis of domestic and foreign scientific literature on security issues undertaken by the authors of the article showed that solving the problems of ensuring social security of an individual and society as a whole involves the interdisciplinary integration of scientific knowledge (including in the field of pedagogy and education), which will allow us to develop practical recommendations for preventing the destruction of social systems. Based on the synthesis of the content of analytical reports and monitoring studies on security issues of the leading sociological centers of Russia and the materials of international expert organizations, in particular UN documents, indicators, indicators of the level of security and methods of their assessment are identified. The applied significance of the theoretical and methodological work lies in the search for models of functioning and management of systems for ensuring the security of the individual and society at all levels of social existence and life activity that are adequate to modern conditions.

Economic crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemics: predictions, prognoses, and mitigation measures

The approaches of economists, experts, and international expert organizations regarding the prediction of pandemics emergence and prognosis options of economic development in the crisis period are outlined. The paper substantiates the conclusion that despite the previous lessons, numerous predictions, and warnings of experts on the inevitability of economic crisis in the nearest future, the crisis was “unexpected” and the world, not only Ukraine, turned out to be unprepared again. Meanwhile, the so-called catalyzer of changes in the economy – the coronavirus pandemics – turned out to be an important factor. The pandemics has emphasized the systemic problems of both global development and the economy in Ukraine. It has displayed the need to take immediate efficient and real measures in healthcare and economic policy, including global cooperation to overcome its consequences, protection of the vulnerable segments of the population, and strengthening the security system of the countries in terms of operative response and prevention of similar events in the future. The official governmental programs and practices of countries in the world and Ukraine on the support of business and citizens being in difficult circumstances because of coronavirus are analyzed, and the peculiar trends of the process are determined with further definition of the most optimal and perspective examples (lessons) for further application in selection and implementation of mechanisms to fight the economic crisis and its consequences. The paper proves that each country has prepared and continues adjusting its model of anti-crisis activities to minimize economic losses from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemics and global economic recession based on their priorities and available resources. The practice has shown that Ukrainian officials do not act within the distinct strategy and dwell on the mechanical reproduction of the steps of other countries in form of chaotic and unreasonable actions, and even more so – declarations. The estimations regarding the nature of the impact of the scales of economic activity restrictions on various economic sectors are constantly changing, preventing the opportunity of reliable prognoses because the pandemics hasn’t disappeared anywhere and uncertainty and threats are still essential.

Transfer pricing: international legal doctrine and practice

The article explores relevant issues of the international legal doctrine of transfer pricing and the judicial practice of the consideration and resolution of disputes in this area of legal relations. In the context of globalization of trade markets, corporate strategies of multinational corporations are focused on minimizing taxes by transferring the relevant assets to companies. These companies are registered in jurisdictions with preferential taxation, with the construction of appropriate corporate structures, which created the necessary prerequisites for the formation of common international standards in the field of transfer pricing. There is a process of harmonization of their tax regulation with ensuring the stability and unity of judicial practice and the appropriate resolution of disputes in this area of legal relations. The urgency of judicial control in this area of legal relations is indicated by the conclusions of authoritative international expert organizations. In particular, according to the Financial Secrecy Index — 2018 study, the global volume of illegal cross-border financial flows is estimated at 1—1.6 trillion. dollars USA per year. At the same time, the size of assets located in offshore jurisdictions and tax havens reaches 32 trillion. dollars USA. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that the losses of the budgets of the world from aggressive tax planning annually reach 100—240 billion dollars. US or 4—10% of total corporate income tax revenues. Given the above application of tax legislation in the field of transfer pricing is an important indicator of Ukraine’s implementation of international obligations in the field of implementation of its European aspirations, in the field of protection of the rights and interests of taxpayers. Key words: international agreement, transfer pricing, controlled operations, judicial protection.

“Better less, but better”: a new philosophy of vitamin and mineral complexes use in the pregnancy and breastfeeding periods

Need for micronutrients increases more than for macronutrients during pregnancy, and their inadequate intake with food can have significant consequences for mother and fetus. Many nutritional supplements containing vitamins, minerals and other trace elements are widely offered to women at all stages of pregnancy. But when choosing any vitamin and mineral complexes, it is extremely important to take into account the possibility of different types of interactions between vitamins, as well as between vitamins and macro- and/or microelements. Irrational use of large doses of vitamins during pregnancy carries risks that are almost comparable to their deficiency. Therefore, today multicomponent vitamin and mineral complexes are not recommended for routine use during pregnancy to improve maternal and perinatal outcomes. The modern tactics of their use in pregnant and lactating women is based on the position that any supplements can be useful only if they compensate for the identified deficit in specific micronutrients, which cannot be replenished with food. Therefore, the optimal decision for prevention of micronutrient deficiencies in pregnant and lactating women is the use of a basic complex containing only those components whose deficit is scientifically proven. According to various expert organizations in pregnant and lactating women are increased need for folic acid, ω-3- fatty acids, iodine and vitamin D regardless of their nutritional status. Based on the above principles and recommendations of international expert organizations, specialists of the Scientific Research Center Besins Healthcare developed a basic micronutrient complex Ogestan® to provide the physiological needs of the female body during the preparation for conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding. This is an addition to the daily diet of a pregnant and lactating woman with no clinical signs of any deficient conditions. It contains folic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, iodine, and vitamin D.

Stakeholder Engagement in the Making: IPBES Legitimization Politics

A growing number of expert organizations aim to provide knowledge for global environmental policy-making. Recently, there have also been explicit calls for stakeholder engagement at the global level to make scientific knowledge relevant and usable on the ground. The newly established Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is one of the first international expert organizations to have systematically developed a strategy for stakeholder engagement in its own right. In this article, we analyze the emergence of this strategy. Employing the concept “politics of legitimation,” we examine how and for what reasons stakeholder engagement was introduced, justified, and finally endorsed, as well as its effects. The article explores the process of institutionalizing stakeholder engagement, as well as reconstructing the contestation of the operative norms (membership, tasks, and accountability) regulating the rules for this engagement. We conclude by discussing the broader importance of the findings for IPBES, as well as for international expert organizations in general.

CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT RISKS ARISING WITH INTRODUCTION OF FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGIES

The introduction of financial technologies has a significant impact on the development of companies in all sectors of the economy. The financial gurus of the Russian Federation and world experts agree that the financial institutions of all countries will undergo radical changes in the coming years. Companies, regardless of their size, form of ownership and type of business, are being brought into the orbit of new financial technologies; the ways of doing business are also changing. The government program of 2017–2025 “The Digital Economy” is becoming a new benchmark and a kind of compass in the world of money circulation. The introduction of financial technologies gives rise to new risks not previously considered. The paper provides examples of principally new approaches to risk assessment and emphasizes the increasing importance of using large amounts of data. The author examines the scope of new uncovered risks of corporate development, defines concepts and systematizes such risks at macro and micro levels along with their comparison. The study compares risk assessment approaches of reputed international expert organizations, such as the World Economic Forum, COSO ERM, leading international consulting companies and the Bank of Russia. Authors of previously published works only listed new risks without developing particular criteria for their assessment, though emphasizing the big practical potential of the latter. Based on the analysis of characteristics of non-covered corporate development risks arising with introduction of financial technologies, the author offers her own approach to classification of assessment criteria and a version of the working classification of criteria for assessing two of the most important non-covered corporate development risks: the cyber-crime security risk and the IoT risk. The assessment criteria are understood as a verbal description of risk consequences and a “qualitative” assessment of probabilities without conversion to quantitative indicators. Experts can use this classification in practice with further risk rating on the basis of expert risk assessment.

Evolution of Monitoring and Evaluation of AIDS Response in Ukraine: Laying the Groundwork for Evidence-Based Health Care.

Once facing the most severe HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe, Ukraine has built an elaborate Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system to track the response to AIDS. This system was developed using recommendations and input from multiple international expert organizations and donors and, at the current stage, serves as a best practice model in many areas. The present paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution of the M&E system in Ukraine since its inception. Notable achievements and challenges are described and illustrated by epidemiological data and the recommendations for future development are discussed. Unique experiences and advances in M&E in Ukraine may be useful to other countries facing similar epidemiological, structural or methodological issues.

PLATELET FUNCTION TEST FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THROMBOSIS AND BLEEDING RISK IN CHD PATIENTS TAKING ANTIPLATELET MEDICATIONS

The review concerns on the testing of platelet function in Chd patients receiving antiplatelet medications. the results are shown of the main large-scale studies demonstrating the relationship of the residual platelet activity level with the development of ishemic and hemorrhagic complications. the analysis is done of the causes of insufficient suppressing of platelet function as the response to clopidogrel. the guidelines of major international expert organizations are discussed on problem of sensitivity to aggregants testing and possible modification of antiplatelet treatment.

Social Security: Theoretical Aspects

The paper looks at the phenomena of security and social security from the philosophical, sociological and psychological perspective. The undertaken analysis of domestic and foreign scientific materials demonstrates the need for interdisciplinary studies, including pedagogy and education, aimed at developing the guidelines for protecting the social system from destruction. The paper defines the indicators, security level indices and their assessment methods singled out from the analytical reports and security studies by the leading Russian sociological centers and international expert organizations, including the United Nations. The research is aimed at finding out the adequate models of personal and social security control systems at various social levels. The theoretical concepts can be applied by the teachers of the Bases of Life Safety course, the managers and researches developing the assessment criteria and security indices of educational environment evaluation, as well as the methods of diagnostics and expertise of educational establishments from the security standpoint.

International Expert Organizations and Policy Adoption

Microfinance as a development policy tool has enjoyed an increasing popularity in the last few years. The United Nations declared 2005 as the international year of microcredit. Since Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, microfinance is once more under the spotlight. The prominence of development programs is mainly promoted by powerful international organizations like the World Bank. This article examines the World Bank's World Development Reports over time to demonstrate how the Bank became interested in, interpreted, and framed microfinance in accordance with its general background assumptions on poverty and development. The neoliberal interpretation by the Bank in the 1990s of notions such as social capital and gender is crucial for understanding its adoption of microfinance.

Results of epidemiological surveys for iodine-deficiency diseases within the framework of the Thyromobile project

In the Russian Federation, there are virtually all areas whose population is at risk for iodine-deficiency disorders. During 2003, we made epidemiological studies of iodine-deficiency disorders within the framework of the Thyromobile project supported by the pharmaceutical company "Nycomed"in 12 regions of the Russian Federation. A total of 2673 individuals were examined. According to the WHO recommendations, the study covered prepubescent children aged 8 to 11 years. It involved physical examination, thyroid ultrasound study, blood sampling for ioduria, intelligence test, and sodium chloride iodine assay. The findings indicated that the tension of goiter endemia corresponded to the level of iodine deficiency, which was in the range of mild iodine deficiency, in most regions other than some districts of the Volgograd, Astrakhan, Nizhni Novgorod regions where the median of ioduria in schoolchildren corresponded severe iodine deficiency. The studies indicated that the population's use ofiodinated salt is not up to the recommendations of international expert organizations. Intelligence tests revealed an 11-18% IQ decrease in children from virtually all study areas. According to the strategy of iodine deficiency control in the Russian Federation, it is advisable to use iodinated salt for mass prevention and drugs containing a physicological dose of iodine for group and individual prevention.