Status of probiotic regulations in Southeast Asia countries

This review summarises the key components of the available probiotic regulations in six Southeast Asia countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). Diverse approaches have been undertaken by the countries in regulating the marketing and sale of probiotics in foods and health supplements. Only Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand have enacted specific regulations which include their respective legal definition of probiotics. Only Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand publish a list of microorganisms permitted to be used as probiotics in foods or health supplements; the approved microorganisms are not harmonised among these countries. All six countries allow the application for new microorganisms to be used, but have adopted differing requirements and approaches. A common requirement is that all applications must be accompanied by scientific data to demonstrate clinically that the microorganisms are safe and provide health benefits. All the countries, except Indonesia and Vietnam permit the use of a small number of pre-approved generic function claims. It is noted that the countries have different specific labelling requirement for products containing probiotics. The divergent probiotic regulations in the region, either for foods or health supplements, creates inconsistencies and difficulties for all stakeholders including regulators, academia, industries and consumers, as well as impacting trade among countries. This review highlights the importance of having regulatory control to ensure consumers have access to safe, genuine and efficacious probiotic products. We propose working towards a harmonised probiotics regulation in the region to enable further development and progress of probiotics in the region.

INTERPRETATION OF THE TERM EMPLOYER IN ARTICLE 3 OF THE POLISH LABOUR CODE

The article discusses concepts related to the legal definition of the key term in the Polish labour law system ‒ the concept of employer. The author presents the evolution of models and concepts for both individuals and organisational units acting as employers. The article addresses the issue of corporate links and the influence of such links on the definition of an employer, as well as the problems related to the qualification of a civil partnership.

Understanding of administrative prejudice in criminal law (legislation): main doctrinal approaches

A consistent increase in the number of criminal-law norms with administrative prejudice requires an adequate doctrinal understanding of this legal phenomenon. This circumstance becomes relevant due to the lack of a legal definition of an administrative prejudice. The author comes to the conclusion that there are four main conceptual approaches in understanding the administrative prejudice in criminal law (legislation): formal-legal, socio-legal, intersectional and criminological. The article notes that none of these concepts can be considered as dominant.

The Procedure for the Official Publishing of Regulatory Legal Acts as a Source of Russian Law

The article is aimed at the study of the procedure for publishing of regulatory legal acts in accordance with Russian legislation. Normative legal acts affecting the rights, freedoms and duties of man and citizen are the most important source of Russian law and should be officially published. It is with this fact that the law connects their entry into force. Given that there are no legal definitions of a regulatory legal act, official text, publication, problems arise in law enforcement practice. In addition, the diversity of normative acts by the level of their adoption indicates the diversity of sources of their official publication. This scientific article has been delivered in order to determine the rules for the publishing of laws and other regulations, national and international documents. The author concludes that it is necessary to improve legislation in field and the legal definition of the concepts under study.

DEGENERATING DISCURSIVE ATTEMPTS IN THE BALKANS TO ALTER THE LEGAL DEFINITION AND CONTENT OF THE CONCEPT OF GENOCIDE

Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish ancestry, coined the term of genocide in 1944. The period in which Lemkin coined the term coincides with the Second World War. He started to write his most significant work, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, in 1942. He formulated his work in Nazi Germany's and other Axis Power's occupation policy especially in Poland and the Soviet Union. Lemkin's central insight was to deduce from these occupation regulations that the Germans intended to reorganize Europe along racial lines, which would entail mass murder and the suppression of other cultures. Lemkin modified his initial proposals on genocide formulated in the Axis Rule in Occupied Europe and advocated that the newly formed United Nations should sponsor a treaty to prevent genocide and use its machinery to enforce it. On December 11, 1946, one year after the final armistice, the UN General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution which stressed that "The punishment of the crime of genocide is a matter of international concern."In the ensuing period, The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1948. According to the Genocide Convention, genocide is a crime that can take place both in times of war and in the time of peace. The concept of genocide, which Lemkin brought to the agenda and tried to make it an international crime, was fully established on a legal basis by adopting the legally binding Genocide Convention. The Genocide Convention should not be eroded, and the term genocide, which has a strict legal definition, should not be used randomly. Recently statements were made that will erode the genocide convention, especially in the Balkans. Statements by the President of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic, downplaying the Srebrenica Genocide are example. Speaking to the press in the city of Komija on the Croatian island of Vis, Milanovic, answering a question on whether he considered Srebrenica a genocide, recently said the following: "I say yes, but then for some more serious crimes, we have to invent another name. I respect other people's sacrifices, but not everything is the same. If everything is genocide, we will have to find another name for what the Nazis and the German machinery did to the Jews in the Second World War. It is the Holocaust, but it is also genocide. Not every victim is the same, it is relativization.'' Considering that certain EU countries have been recently bringing up revisionist views and suggestions regarding the Balkans, we cannot ignore the possibility that Milanovic will jump on the bandwagon of producing "brilliant" ideas. In this context, it suffices to recall the Slovenian Prime Minister's plan (as the Slovenian EU presidency) to dismember Bosnia and Herzegovina, reorganize the borders of Croatia, Serbia, Albania, and Kosovo..The statements of Milanovic in this respect are also noteworthy in that they seriously question the current legal basis and framework of the crime of genocide.These statements will inevitably have repercussions both in the Balkans and internationally. It should be noted that any misuse of the term genocide based on shallow political interests will constitute an utter disservice to the fundamental principles of maintaining international peace, security, and stability as enshrined in the UN Charter. In terms of the Balkans, as mentioned above, it is noteworthy that revisionist discourses have recently come from countries such as Slovenia and Croatia, which are both NATO and EU members. It is disappointing that these countries, instead of playing a role that strengthens security and stability in the Balkans, play a role that disrupts security and stability. Member states of these influential international and supranational organizations are naturally expected to be much more careful in ensuring and maintaining security and stability in the Balkans. If there is a danger of fire in an area, instead of throwing flammable materials into the area, it is necessary to try to prevent the fire hazard. As AVİM, we hope that rhetoric and policies to the contrary will not be accepted in both NATO and the EU.

The Scope of Academic Freedom Right and the Situation of Scientists in Poland

The implementation of academic freedom can be difficult both for policymakers and university authorities. A good example of these difficulties is the case of Poland. These difficulties stem from three factors: a weak legal tradition of academic freedom, a lack of legal definition of this freedom and the transition of Polish universities from the collegial to the managerial management model. This article analyzes the impact of these three factors on the situation of Polish scientists. It is very plausible that the introduction of a legal definition of academic freedom to the Law on Higher Education and Science could mitigate the tendency to limit academic freedom in Poland. Such a definition would make it difficult for governments, faculty and university authorities to interfere with this right and make it easier for researchers to assert their rights in court.

THE RATIO OF THE CATEGORIES «LOSSES», «DAMAGE» AND «HARM» IN THE ARTICLES OF THE CIVIL CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Статья посвящена правовой характеристике таких гражданско-правовых категорий, как «убытки», «ущерб» и «вред. Указывается, что гражданское законодательство приводит легальную дефиницию только применительно к категории «убытки», хотя наряду с указанным термином, нормы Гражданского кодекса РФ оперируют также такими понятиями как «вред» и «ущерб». Проведен постатейный анализ норм Гражданского кодекса РФ на предмет содержания в них и упоминания, исследуемых правовых категорий. В заключении статьи сделан вывод о том, что понятия «вред», «ущерб» и «убытки» - это категории различного свойства в отношении их применения к формулировке негативных последствий, возникших в имущественной (неимущественной) сфере лица, хотя они и имеют общеродовые признаки. The article is devoted to the legal characteristics of such civil categories as losses", "damage" and "harm. It is indicated that civil legislation provides a legal definition only in relation to the category of "losses", although along with this term, the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation also operate with such concepts as "harm" and "damage". The article-by-article analysis of the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation for the content and mention of the legal categories studied in them is carried out. In conclusion, the article concludes that the concepts of "harm", "damage" and "losses" are categories of different properties in relation to their application to the formulation of negative consequences that have arisen in the property (non-property) sphere of a person, although they have generic characteristics.

Geography of Refugees

While there is debate about terminology, ‘refugee’ broadly defined refers to people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. In 2019, there were 26 million refugees, 45.7 million internally displaced persons, and 4.2 million asylum seekers according to the UNHCR. By legal definition, refugees are those who cross international borders and are legally processed in another country; asylum seekers are those seeking legal protections in other countries; and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are individuals who have been displaced within the boundaries of their country. There are 148 state signatories, including the United States, on either or both the 1951 Convention on Refugees, formed in the aftermath of WWII, and the follow-up 1967 Protocol. The 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees outlined the legal definition and rights of refugees and the obligations of receiving countries. Taken today as customary international law, this agreement was premised on a right to move. In the 21st century, the refugee experience globally has been characterized by decreased mobility; protracted journeys that are punctuated with legal and physical waits and permanent residency in informal encampments; or increasingly dangerous travels via informal, illegal, and unsafe smuggling networks. Refugee management is a global process that both transcends and is shaped by the fortification of borders—national and otherwise. While much of the current legal framework dictating the rights of refugees was adopted in the context of large-scale war, in the 21st century causes of forced displacement include those that are war-induced or famine-induced, or caused by environmental change, natural disasters, government coercion or oppression, and the construction of large infrastructural projects, such as dams or mega-event complexes. To study refugees from a geographic perspective is to examine the spatial dimensions of the nation state system that legally and materially produces refugees, the multiple and interacting scales of government that oversee and manage refugee movements and settlement, and the embodied spatial experience of being displaced and dislocated across time and space. Moreover, geography offers methodological frameworks to understand and study the origins, impacts, and experience of forced displacement.

Public Interests in Law: Concept and Content

The paper examines various approaches to defining the concept of "public interests", and carries out a comparative analysis of the positions of scientists regarding the content of this concept. The author distinguishes between the categories of "public interests", "state interests" and "public interests". The paper examines the judicial and law enforcement practice in cases in which public interests are affected. The author proves the need to develop a legal definition of the concept of "public interests" in order to increase the efficiency of the activities of Russian courts and other state bodies that ensure and protect these interests. The author offers his original definition of the concept of "public interests", highlights its features. The importance of consolidating in the legislation a single, universal for all branches of law, the definition of the category of "public interests" with the possibility of supplementing its content, taking into account the specifics of the subject of legal regulation, as well as the subject composition of the relevant legal relations.