The problem of determining the place of international civil process in the legal system of the Republic of Kazakhstan

In the science of private international law under international civil process usually means a series of procedural issues related to the protection of the rights of foreigners and foreign legal entities in court. This issue of access of foreign persons to justice, their position in the process, international jurisdiction, legal assistance the courts and other judicial authorities of each other, the collection of evidence, the establishment of the content of foreign law, recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, notarial acts, designed to serve as collateral rights of domestic citizens and legal persons abroad. According to another understanding, international civil procedure - a comprehensive institution of private international law governing the relationship and interaction of national and international procedures defined in the procedural rules for the protection and the establishment of civil rights.peer-reviewe

Consumer rights protection in international and municipal law : problems and perspectives

This paper presents theoretical and practical issues of consumer rights protection in international and municipal law. Study of international civil aspects of origin and development of consumer protection institute revealed that consumer problems are global. Kazakhstan successfully employs experience of developed countries in the sphere of legal regulation of consumer rights. Study of national peculiarities of consumer protection development in Kazakhstan allowed revealing actual directions for the development of Kazakhstan consumer rights protection.peer-reviewe

Microeconomic Aspects of Economic Growth in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, 1950-2000

The theme of this paper is the microeconomics of economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS) over the period 1950-2000. The key structural change in this region is the end of the socialist regime in 1989 and 1992, and the subsequent attempt at transition to a market economy. We begin the paper with an examination of the key legacies from the socialist period. We then examine the key microeconomic actors in transition economies: households, enterprises, and government officials. Although there are many common processes at work, differences in economic performance tend to coincide with the geographical divide. Legacies play an important part. We also argue that differences in openness also plays an important role in generating different outcomes. These factors, combined with defects in the political and legal system, have given rise to a vicious circle of resistance to reform in the NIS.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39732/3/wp348.pd

CREATION OF LAND MARKETS IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE INSTITUTIONS OF LAND ADMINISTRATION

This paper describes (1) the processes of privatization of land management in selected transition countries and (2) the post-privatization changes in land administration institutions which are being crafted to establish land markets. It begins with the proposition that there are similar land market institutional problems which most "transition" countries are facing, due largely to common experiences in creating command economies during the past 50-80 years and the almost simultaneous decisions of these countries to move toward market political economies in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Each country has had unique historical experiences, but this paper proposes that there is enough similar institutional history among the transition countries to venture into comparative analysis. In this regard, the Albanian experience with land market institutional development is presented as being potentially relevant to experiences in other transition countries of Europe and the former Soviet Union. The broad question is: How can countries construct the institutions of immovable property markets once they have made the political-economic decision to "go market"?Land use--Government policy--Europe, Eastern, Land use--Economic aspects--Europe, Eastern, Land tenure--Government policy--Europe, Eastern, Land administration--Europe, Eastern, Land administration--Albania, Land markets--Europe, Eastern, Land markets--Albania, Privatization--Europe, Eastern, Post-communism, Land Economics/Use,

Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union since the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Review of the Changes in the Environment and Natural Resources

This paper reviews the environmental record of the transition countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia since the fall of the Berlin Wall, with a focus on areas of key concern to public policy at the present time. With the impacts of environment on public health being given the highest priority, we examined several associated health indicators at the national level, as well as looking at important environmental issues at the local level. In this respect, we focus on environmental problems related to air and water quality, land contamination, and solid waste management. Despite showing a highly differentiated performance across the region, the results suggest that inadequate environmental management seen in several of the transition countries in the past 20 years has put people’s health and livelihood under huge threats. Moreover, this paper looks at the development of policy responses and resources, i.e. environmental expenditures, in these countries, during the process of transiting from centrally planned economies to market-based one. Similarly, we identify various degrees of progress across the region. The findings reinforce the need for better coherence between national environmental expenditure and international environmental assistance, as well as the actual enforcement of national regulations and international agreements in those non-EU transition countries.Eastern Europe, Environmental Record, Public Health

Assessment of National Migration Policies: An emerging picture on admissions, treatment and enforcement in developing and developed countries

This paper presents an internationally comparable assessment of several dimensions of migration policies as of early 2009. For a selected set of 28 countries, both developed and developing, we analyse the admission criteria, policies on integration and treatment of migrants, and efforts to enforce those policies. Irregular migration is a particular area of focus. The analysis distinguishes between different entry regimes, namely: labour migrants (high or low skilled, with a permanent or a temporary permit), those who move with a family-related visa, humanitarian migrants (asylum seekers and refugees), international visitors and international students. The data is drawn from an assessment by country experts as well as by desk-research of HDRO staff.Migration policies, admission, treatment, enforcement

WP 96 - An overview of women's work and employment in Belarus

*Management Summary* This report provides information on Belarus on behalf of the implementation of the DECISIONS FOR LIFE project in that country. The DECISIONS FOR LIFE project aims to raise awareness amongst young female workers about their employment opportunities and career possibilities, family building and the work-family balance. This report is part of the Inventories, to be made by the University of Amsterdam, for all 14 countries involved. It focuses on a gender analysis of work and employment. History (2.1.1). Belarus, severely hit by the German occupation, after the second 1945 emerged as emerged as one of the major manufacturing centres of the Soviet. It suffered heavily from the Chernobyl disaster. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, from 1994 on under president Lukashenko the country kept a command economy, though central planning disappeared. Its growth rates have been considerably throughout the 2000s, though the economy continues to be dependent on heavy discounts in oil and natural gas prices from Russia. Governance (2.1.2). Belarus is a republic with power concentrated in the presidency. The government’s human rights record remains very poor. The judiciary is not independent. Corruption continued to be a problem. Authorities harassed independent trade unions and dismissed their members. Women’s participation in politics and governance is low, except for the Chamber of Representatives. The law protects women well within the family context and protects the physical integrity of women to a relatively high degree. Prospects (2.1.3). Belarus’s economy has been moderately hit by the global economic crisis. The government had to accept loans from the IMF, Russia and China. It undertook some steps to open up the country for foreign investors. In 2009, the country’s GDP fell slightly and real wages by 1 to 5%. Energy-intensive and inefficient production may become the largest hindrance for recovery. Communication (2.2). The coverage of fixed telephone connections has recently increased, but coverage of cellular telephone connections is with over 0.9 cell phones per inhabitant much higher. By 2008, the share Internet users was with 321 per 1,000 of the population rather high, but the government is growingly restricting access to the Internet. Nearly all households have a TV set. The government censored the media and repeatedly harassed and arrested independent journalists The sectoral labour market structure (2.3.1). The sectoral labour market structure is difficult to trace. State employees constitute about 80% of the working population. With nearly 68%, women’s Labour Participation Rate (LPR) in 2008 was 91% of men’s. Official unemployment is low and decreasing, in particular for women. Since 1995, considerable wage increases have been allowed in Belarus, largely outpacing increases in labour productivity. Legislation (2.4.1). Belarus has ratified the eight core ILO Labour Conventions. Yet, the Trade Union Law 2000 and presidential decrees contain serious violations of trade union rights. Specific regulations and benefits for women, including maternity benefits and paid leave on childcare, are comparatively good. Labour relations and wage-setting (2.4.2). The independent trade union movement in Belarus is small. The law provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively; however, government authorities and managers of state-owned enterprises routinely interfered with union activities. ILO recommendations to improve the situation are not acted upon. The statutory minimum wage (2.5.1). In December 2009 the monthly minimum wage, set by law, was BYR 229,700, or 23% of the country’s average monthly wage. Inequality and poverty (2.5.2). Directly after independence, inequality and poverty started to increase, but since 2000 the share under the official poverty line fell rapidly till 6% in 2007. However, this poverty line is set quite low, and depending on other yardsticks poverty in 2007 is estimated at 13 to 43%. Income inequality developed simultaneously with poverty, and is currently at low-to-medium level in international perspective. Population and fertility (2.6.1). Since the 1980s Belarus is in a demographic crisis, with reduced fertility rates and high death. Between 1999 and 2009 the population decreased by over 6%. The total fertility rate, less than 1.3 children per woman, is quite low; the adolescent fertility rate is with 22 per 1,000 low. Health (2.6.2). In 2007 there were an estimated 13,000 persons with HIV/AIDS in Belarus, which is below the regional level. The levels of public awareness of HIV/AIDS seem rather low. The life expectancy at birth for women is recently increasing. The Belarusian health care system aims to provide the entire population with universal access to care and health care benefits are extensive. Women’s labour market share (2.6.3). Women make up half of the country’s labour force. In 2009 women made up majorities in wholesale and retail, restaurants and hotels, education, and public administration et cetera, and in the occupational groups professionals and clerks. At the level of legislators, senior officials and managers, the female share of 45% is high in international perspective. Literacy (2.7.1). The adult literacy rate –-those age 15 and over that can read and write—in 1999-2006 was 98.9%, with hardly a gender gap: 99.0% for men and 98.8% for women. In 2007 the literacy rate for 15-24-year-olds stood at 99.8% for females and 99.7% for males. Education of girls (2.7.2). In 2006, the combined gross enrollment rate in education was nearly 100%, divided in 99% for females and 100% for males. Net enrollment in primary education was for 2005 set at 87.9% for girls and 90.8% for boys. In 2007 women to men parity in secondary education was 102%. With 45% gross enrollment in tertiary education in 2007 and women to men parity reaching 141%, women’s participation at this level of education is high. Female skill levels (2.7.3). Women in the employed population have on average a slightly higher educational level than their male colleagues. More women employed are educated at tertiary level, with women to parity at 118%. We estimate the current size of the target group of DECISIONS FOR LIFE for Ukraine at about 95,000 girls and young women 15-29 of age working in urban areas in (the Belarusian equivalent of) commercial services. Wages (2.8.1). We found for 2008 a considerable gender pay gap, totaling 25%. The pay gap seems to have grown in particular between 1996 and 2004. Women in Belarus have profited considerably less than men from their better education. Moreover, horizontal segregation has taken place with women leaving well-paid sub-sectors of manufacturing like the ICT sector , while many of them entered low-wage jobs like in education and health. The “glass ceiling“ obviously widely remains in place. Working conditions (2.8.2). Especially men in heavy manufacturing still seem often exposed to bad health and safety conditions, though the incidence of reported occupational injuries and casualities is rapidly decreasing. Unfortunately, working hours cannot be detailed by industry and gender.