On the state of the budgetary funding of government forensic medical expert institutions in the Russian Federation

The data on the budgetary funding of state-owned forensic medical bureaus in the Russian Federation for the period from 2005 to 2008 were collected and analysed. The results of the overall estimation and parameters characterizing the level of funding of these expert facilities are presented. Selected state forensic medical bureaus have been ranked based on the level of their financial support.     

The main results of expert activities in the forensic biological departments of the bureau of forensic medical expertise of the Russian Federation for 2009

This paper reports the main results of expert activities in the forensic biological departments of the Bureau of Forensic Medical Expertise of the Russian Federation for 2009. Analysis of expert data is supplemented by the comparison of the efficacy of the methods applied for the purpose of forensic medical studies. The information about the staff composition, material and technical support of the forensic biological departments is presented. A number of drawbacks have been revealed in the work of the forensic biological departments; recommendations are proposed for the improvement of their activities.     

The status of the forensic biological service in the Russian Federation in 1997]

The main parameters of the activities of forensic biological departments are analyzed for the year 1997. The staff, number of experts, number of expert evaluations and objects of examination, and work load per staff expert are presented. Shortcomings in the activities of departments are enumerated and recommendations for improving the quality of expert evaluations are offered.     

The problems of personnel training for military forensic medical expertise under the current reform of the military forces in the Russian Federation

The educational sphere is becoming a major priority in the state policy. The Concept of national security for the Russian Federation regards intellectual impairment as a most serious internal threat to the military security. It declares that the operational efficiency of the armed forces should be based on high-quality education of specialists. The current reform of the military forces in the Russian Federation envisages the modification of the forensic medical expertise and the system of training relevant personnel. The post-diploma education of forensic medical experts encounters difficulties at all levels. In all probability, such education will be performed in the near future through the primary retraining mechanism. In the course of the ongoing reform, the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Military Medical Academy remains the sole facility for the post-diploma education of military forensic medical experts. The teaching staff of the department have sufficient qualification and experience for training highly skilled specialists as stipulated by the reform of the military forces in the Russian Federation.     

Current status and prospects for developing chemical-toxicological (forensic chemical) studies in the Russian Federation

The authors discuss modern state and prospects of planning and carrying out research in forensic (toxicological) chemistry within the framework of practical forensic medical expert evaluation, state of forensic medical expert evaluation of alcohol and narcotic intoxication, and other pressing problems of forensic medical expert practice.     

System intervention problems in child sexual abuse investigations: the mothers' perspectives

On learning that her child was sexually abused, a mother must interact with professionals charged with the implementation of investigations, treatment, and legal remedies. This qualitative study, based on data from three focus groups (n = 19) and open-ended survey questions (n = 40), documents mothers' experiences with these professionals. Mothers report a lack of support from many professionals including receiving poor services, being criticized, insensitivity to their concerns, and being accused of false allegations and state that they have difficulty seeing the "system" as a positive future resource. Mothers reported appreciation for helpful professionals, whom they most often identified as therapists. Determining which mothers are reporting system problems and the effect of negative maternal-system interactions on mother and child outcomes are recommended as follow-up research.     

Urgent problems of forensic medical expert evaluation of disability in civil suits

The author discusses urgent medicolegal problems related to evaluation of the degree of occupational disability, necessity of additional diet for victims, which arise in connection with civil actions of persons who underwent non-occupational trauma.     

俄罗斯联邦抵押制度的立法与争论

本文主要考察了俄罗斯联邦抵押制度的立法与理论争议,相对于大陆法系其他国家的抵押制度而言,俄罗斯的抵押制度具有自己的特色,一方面延续了该国抵押制度的传统立法,另一方面又有所创新和突破。这种立法方式与该国的国情相适应。这些成功的立法经验值得我们学习与借鉴。     

Characteristic of mortality in the Russian Federation

The objective of the present work was to estimate the overall mortality in the Russian Federation and to elucidate the structure and characteristics of violent and non-violent mortality in this country. The study is largely based on the materials of reports on the activities of local bureaus of forensic medical expertise for the period from 2003 to 2008; in addition, the data from the official demographic and statistical yearbooks issued by the Russian State Statistical Committee (Goskomstat) in 2008-2009 were used. It is shown that cardiovascular pathology appears to be currently the leading cause of general mortality in the Russian Federation. A substantial fraction in the structure of general mortality is constituted by mechanical injuries most of which are inflicted in car accidents. More than half of the fatal cases caused by external factors and around one third of the deaths from cardiovascular diseases are associated with alcohol intoxication. Statistical treatment of the results of analysis conducted in the present study provided materials for the development of recommendations designed to improve the demographic situation in the Russian Federation.     

Constitutional Judicial Review in the Russian Federation

The institution of constitutional judicial review has acquired a new legal foundation for its application: the Constitution of the Russian Federation (RF), adopted on 12 December 1993; the federal constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of 21 June 1994; and other acts. However, the opportunities for full implementation of this new legislation on constitutional judicial review in the Russian Federation are constrained by problems from the past: first of all, by the problem of depoliticization, which has assumed exaggerated proportions as a result of the lack of practical success that marked the first stage of the Constitutional Court's operation in Russia. The resolution of this problem has become a condition for the viability of specialized constitutional judicial review in the RF. The difficulty of understanding and mastering this problem is further aggravated by the ambiguous nature of the institution of constitutional judicial review, not only in the Russian model but also in the classical model of its organization. For it is indisputable that constitutional judicial review is a component of the mechanism of judicial authority, regardless of where it is situated in the constitutional structure of power. However, constitutional judicial review cannot be wholly equated with traditional judicial functions since it is at the same time also a political activity undertaken through a jurisdictional form.     

Russian Federation Federal Law On the General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation

The 2011 recertification of the Russian police force has been accompanied by numerous violations of legal procedures.     

Insightlessness and an unscientific forensic expert

In Council for Regulation of Healthcare Professionals v General Medical Council [2005] EWHC 579 (Admin) Collins J heard an appeal relating to sanctions imposed on a medical practitioner who had provided medically unjustifiable opinions in relation to the person responsible for the death of a child in a notorious case for which a solicitor had been convicted of murdering her two sons. The author analyses and evaluates the considerations determined by Collins J to have justified the imposition of conditions rather than erasure of the practitioner from the Medical Register.     

论法医专家顾问和法医鉴定结论的质证

根据证据学的观点提出法医鉴定结论是一种科学证据，指出无论是民事诉讼还是刑事诉讼中，对其进行质证对维护司法公正的必要性和重要性。由于法医鉴定结论的专业性，对其质证时，当事或控辩双方，以及法院聘请法医专家顾问。协助对法医鉴定结论的质证具有重要的意义。     

论法医专家顾问和法医鉴定结论的质证

根据证据学的观点提出法医鉴定结论是一种科学证据,指出无论是民事诉讼还是刑事诉讼中,对其进行质证对维护司法公正的必要性和重要性。由于法医鉴定结论的专业性,对其质证时,当事或控辩双方,以及法院聘请法医专家顾问,协助对法医鉴定结论的质证具有重要的意义。     

Russian Federation: Battle not over in drug-law changes

As reported in the last issue of the Review, in late 2003 the Russian Parliament amended the national drug law to allow for the possibility of less harsh penalties for small-scale drug users. The Parliament left the development of accompanying regulations to the federal drug-control authorities and the Ministry of Health. These two entities were meant to recommend new levels of minimum dosages that would qualify users for criminal penalties if those amounts were found in their possession. Rather than acting in the spirit of the Parliament's amendment, in March 2004 the drug-control authorities circulated a proposal for minimum dosages so tiny that virtually any level of possession would incur a long prison sentence.     

Phylogeographic investigations: the role of trees in forensic genetics

The human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome is commonly analyzed in various disciplines, such as population, medical, and forensic genetics, but conceptual and scientific exchange between them is still limited. Here we review several aspects of the mtDNA phylogeny that are particularly--but not exclusively--of interest to the forensic community. Among the issues that arise, we emphasize the importance of integrating evolutionary concepts into the forensic routine. We also discuss topics such as mtDNA mutation-rate heterogeneity and the weight of evidence, ethnic affiliations of mtDNA profiles, and the abuse of reference databases. Finally, we show the usefulness of coding-region variation in a forensic context.