What is international cooperation? Anti-corruption. When two or more

The origins of international cooperation are associated with the end of the religious wars in Europe and the establishment of the Peace of Westphalia. One of the most important achievements of the Treaty of Westphalia was the formation of the basis of legal relations between states, which created the conditions for the formation, institutionalization and subsequent development of international cooperation. The formation of the European system of international relations (the main parameters of which, and above all its main element, the state as a form of political organization of people, are gradually spreading to the whole world) not only gave impetus to interstate cooperation, but also determined its main direction for a long time. The starting points of cooperation between states as new political units are mutual respect for sovereignty and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, and its central chains are the conscious desire of governments to further strengthen national security and independence. In turn, concern for their own sovereignty forced states to agree with the right of coexistence (for more details on this, see:.-S. 1998. R. 138) and its fundamental principle - legal equality.
The following pattern is not surprising. The right of coexistence charged states with mainly negative obligations: not to interfere in each other’s internal affairs, not to violate treaties, not to wage unjust wars, and not to create obstacles to the diplomatic activities of official representatives of other countries on their territory. Therefore, the theoretical status of the problem of cooperation in international political science turned out to be inextricably linked with the analysis of confrontation and conflicts between independent states. However, further development of science has led to an expansion of the content of the concept of international cooperation and its types.
1. The concept and types of international cooperation The concept of “international cooperation” reflects such a process of interaction between two or several actors, in which the use of armed violence is excluded and the joint search for the realization of common interests dominates. Contrary to ordinary understanding, cooperation is not the absence of conflict, but “getting rid of” its extreme, crisis forms. The illusion of “transparency” of the content of this concept was apparently the reason why attempts to define it are quite rare. One of them was undertaken by J.-P. Derryennik, according to which “two actors are in a state of cooperation, when each of them can be satisfied only if the other is satisfied, i.e. when each of them can achieve his goal only when the other can also achieve this... The result of a purely cooperative relationship can be a situation in which either both actors are satisfied, or neither of them is satisfied” (Oetepts. 1977. R 110).
Traditionally, cooperative relations include bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, the conclusion of various types of alliances and agreements that provide for mutual coordination of political lines (for example, for the purpose of jointly resolving conflicts, ensuring common security, or resolving other issues of common interest to all parties involved).
As has already been shown, the development of cooperation between states and other actors in international relations has given rise to a whole system of interstate and non-state organizations of global and regional significance. The growing interdependence of the world, the emergence and aggravation of global problems have unusually increased the objective needs for expanding multilateral cooperation and contributed to its spread to other spheres of life. Today, cooperation covers not only issues of trade, customs regulations, border settlements or military-political alliances, but also the tasks of finding adequate responses to environmental challenges, space exploration, sharing of public resources, development of communication networks, arms control, etc.
Noting the significant progress achieved over the past decade in the theoretical study of international cooperation, experts especially highlight two of the most important achievements of the theory.
First, although discussions continue today, there is agreement in the scientific community regarding the concept of “interstate cooperation.” Following R. Cohen, many scientists today understand cooperation as a situation “when some actors regulate their behavior in accordance with the actual or expected preferences of others, through a process of [mutual] coordination of policies” (cited in: Mipeg. 1992. R 467). In other words, interstate cooperation presupposes the presence of three elements: the common goals of the partner states, their expectation of benefits from the situation and the mutual nature of these benefits. “Each actor does not necessarily help the other, but by doing so he expects his own situation to improve, which leads to mutual coordination of government policies” (ibid.).
This understanding is important because it allows us to not only find the boundaries between cooperation and competition (or conflict), the boundaries within which activities are conducted to reduce the benefits of others or activities aimed at preventing the implementation of their interests. In addition, such an understanding of “interstate cooperation” makes it possible to distinguish cooperation from non-cooperation, i.e. from unilateral behavior, in which actors do not take into account the consequences of their actions for others, as well as from inaction, i.e. from the behavior of actors that does not prevent negative consequences for the policies of other parties (ibid. R. 468).”
The presence of consensus on the content of the concept of “interstate cooperation” makes it possible to create a primary classification of cooperative situations. From this point of view, the following types of interstate cooperation can be distinguished: negotiations, the subject of which is the distribution of benefits of states from their interaction (this is both a path to cooperation and an indicator of its existence, for example: the Tokyo Round of GATT, the abolition of tariff barriers); conscious, negotiated agreement on policies (formal contracts and agreements on activities); implicit cooperation, carried out without direct connections and/or formal agreements, which does not imply the conclusion of contracts (such cooperation arises from the coinciding expectations of the actors); imposed cooperation: the stronger party forces the other to adjust its policies, but at the same time adjusts its own; the creation of specialized institutions (for example, UN institutions) that carry out regulations, examinations, and subsidies.
Second, another important development of recent research in the field of interstate cooperation has been the development of hypotheses regarding the conditions under which cooperation between states becomes most likely. These hypotheses did not constitute a comprehensive theory of interstate cooperation. They proposed a series of variables, each of which makes cooperation more likely. Analysis and empirical testing of these hypotheses can advance the creation of a comprehensive theory, and therefore the development of the theory of international relations as a whole. X. Milner identifies and analyzes six such hypotheses. Firstly, this is the “reciprocity hypothesis”, the main content of which is that states expect benefits from cooperation and fear of losses and even punishment in case of evasion. Secondly, this is the “number of actors hypothesis”, from the point of view of which the prospects for cooperation increase with a decrease in the number of interacting states. Thirdly, this is the “iteration hypothesis”, based on which the possibilities for states to enter the path of cooperation are related to the duration of their interaction. Fourthly, this is the “international regimes hypothesis”, i.e. on norms, principles and decision-making procedures, the totality of which constitutes centers of interstate cooperation. Fifthly, this is the “epistemic communities hypothesis”, which describes the role played in the development of interstate cooperation by professional experts who share a common understanding of the problem and develop common ways to solve it. Sixth and finally, there is the “power asymmetry hypothesis,” which has similarities to the so-called hegemonic stability theory, in which cooperation is more likely if there is a strong and committed hegemonic state.
X. Milner sees the main drawback of these hypotheses in the fact that they do not pay attention to the internal sources of interstate cooperation. In this sense, the position of X. Milner is close to the positions of some representatives of the sociological approach. However, before analyzing in detail the contribution of the sociological approach, it is worth briefly considering the features of the study of interstate cooperation within the framework of theoretical directions and paradigms existing in international political science.

Last updated: July 2017

Cooperation with competent authorities of foreign states, as well as with international bodies and organizations is one of the priority areas of activity of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. To ensure this important direction, in June 2006, by order of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, instead of the International Legal Department, the Main Directorate of International Legal Cooperation was created, which included the extradition department, the legal assistance department and the international law department.

In order to increase the efficiency of cooperation with the competent authorities of foreign states on cases being processed by the central apparatus of investigative bodies, as well as on cases that have received a great public response, in September 2010, within the Main Directorate of International Legal Cooperation, a department of international cooperation for special important matters (as a manager). In March 2011, a department of legal assistance and cross-border cooperation with East Asian states was formed in the legal assistance department of the Main Directorate of International Legal Cooperation (with a location in Khabarovsk).

Today, the most important place in the international activities of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation is occupied by issues of interaction with foreign partners in the field of criminal proceedings. These are issues of extradition and provision of legal assistance in criminal cases, including in the field of return from abroad of property obtained as a result of committing crimes.

In accordance with international treaties and Russian legislation, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation is the competent authority of the Russian Federation on issues of extradition and legal assistance in criminal cases.

In particular, by Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation (dated October 26, 2004 No. 1362, dated December 18, 2008 Nos. 1799 and 1800, dated February 13, 2012 No. 180), the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation is designated as the central body for implementing the provisions on cooperation on extradition and legal assistance in criminal matters contained, respectively, in the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of 15 November 2000, the UN Convention against Corruption of 31 October 2003, the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention of 27 January 1999 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions of November 21, 1997.

Currently, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation interacts in the field of criminal proceedings with partners from more than 80 countries of the world. Such interaction is carried out on the basis of international treaties or the principle of reciprocity, enshrined in Articles 453, 457, 460, 462 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.

The General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation is the only competent body of the Russian Federation that sends to foreign states extradition requests persons to bring them to criminal responsibility or execute sentences, and also makes decisions on foreign requests for the extradition of persons from the Russian Federation.

Russia has special bilateral and multilateral international treaties regulating issues issuance, with almost 80 states (for a list of these agreements, see the section “Main documents”). In particular, Russia is a party to such multilateral treaties as the European Convention on Extradition of 1957 with its three additional protocols of 1975 and 1978 and 2012, as well as the Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Family Relations concluded within the CIS. criminal cases of 1993 with the Protocol to it of 1997.

The Russian Federation has special bilateral and multilateral agreements on legal assistance in criminal cases with more than 80 states (for a list of these agreements, see the section “Main documents”). Thus, Russia participates in a number of multilateral treaties in this area: the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters of 1959 and its Additional Protocol of 1978, the European Convention on the Transfer of Criminal Proceedings of 1972, as well as the CIS Convention on legal assistance and legal relations in civil, family and criminal cases of 1993 with its Protocol of 1997.

Cooperation between the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia and the competent authorities of foreign states in matters of extradition and provision of legal assistance has been developing quite actively in recent years.

The scale of this cooperation is evidenced by the fact that annually the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation reviews more than 10 thousand materials on extradition, legal assistance in criminal cases, search and other issues within the competence of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation in the field of criminal proceedings.

The most effective cooperation is with the competent authorities of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Germany, Spain, Serbia, and Switzerland.

Every year, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation sends about 400 requests for the extradition of persons to the competent authorities of foreign states, and considers over 1,500 similar foreign requests.

The geography of cooperation in the field of issuance is expanding. Increasingly, criminals are trying to escape justice in states with which Russia does not have extradition treaties. However, in recent years, issues of transferring wanted persons to Russia have been successfully resolved with some of these countries (in particular, Chile, Ghana, Cambodia, Paraguay, the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand).

Every year, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation reviews more than 6 thousand requests for legal assistance in criminal cases, both received from abroad and Russian, intended for referral to foreign countries.

The institution of transfer of criminal proceedings is effectively used. Petitions for criminal prosecution of foreign citizens who have committed crimes on the territory of Russia are sent to the competent authorities of foreign states, and petitions from foreign states for criminal prosecution of Russian citizens who have committed crimes abroad are also considered.

One of the important areas of activity of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office is cooperation with foreign colleagues in matters of search, arrest, confiscation and return of stolen property from abroad.

Thanks to cooperation with foreign colleagues, over $110 million have been returned to Russian companies from Switzerland alone over the past few years. USA, arrested on behalf of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office.

To date, at the request of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, criminal funds totaling about 250 million euros and real estate worth about 300 million euros have been arrested and blocked abroad.

In May 2011, Chapter 29-1 was introduced into the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses, regulating international legal cooperation in cases of administrative offenses. At the same time, the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia has been designated as one of the competent authorities for providing legal assistance in such cases.

In addition, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation is the competent authority for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Convention on the Transfer of Persons Suffering from Mental Disorders for Compulsory Treatment (1997).

In recent years, in cooperation with the Russian Ministry of Justice and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a lot of work has been carried out to develop the legal framework for our country’s participation in international cooperation in the field of criminal proceedings, as well as to implement the provisions of international treaties into Russian legislation.

Representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation take an active part in the development of draft agreements on extradition and legal assistance in criminal cases, incl. within international organizations.

In particular, one of the deputy heads of the Main Directorate of International Legal Cooperation of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation has been successfully representing Russian interests in the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe on the operation of European conventions on cooperation in criminal matters for more than 20 years, actively contributing to the implementation of the Russian initiative to modernize such conventions, in incl. in matters of speeding up and simplifying issuance procedures.

Work is being carried out on an ongoing basis to strengthen the legal framework for interdepartmental cooperation. In particular, within the CIS the following were signed:

Agreement on cooperation between the prosecutor general's offices (prosecutor's offices) of member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the fight against corruption dated April 25, 2007;

Agreement on cooperation between the prosecutor general's offices of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the fight against trafficking in persons, organs and human tissues of December 3, 2009.

In general, today the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation has 5 multilateral and 80 bilateral interdepartmental agreements and other cooperation arrangements with partners from 66 foreign countries. Over the past 5 years, 28 such agreements have been signed.

Since 2007, on the basis of agreements with the competent authorities of foreign states, cooperation programs have been developed and signed. The programs are accepted for 1-2 years and provide for the exchange of experience and the establishment of practical interaction on current issues of mutual interest. During this time, 48 programs were signed with partners from 28 foreign countries, 40 cooperation programs were implemented, and more than 130 planned events were held: consultations, meetings, seminars and round tables.

Currently, 7 programs of interdepartmental cooperation are being implemented: with the prosecutor’s office or justice authorities of Abkhazia, Armenia, Bahrain, Hungary, China, Cuba, Finland.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has developed especially close relations with their Belarusian colleagues. On May 15, 2008, the Joint Board of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Belarus was created, which coordinates the activities of the prosecutor's offices of the two countries in the areas of ensuring law and order, protecting human and civil rights and freedoms, and combating crime.

Representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation participate in the activities of various international bodies and organizations, including the relevant structures of the UN, Interpol, CIS, Council of Europe, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as well as the Council of the Baltic Sea States.

For example, representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation are included in the delegations of the Russian Federation participating in the work of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, as well as in international events held within the framework of the UN Convention against Corruption. The participation of Russian prosecutors in events organized by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council, as well as in conferences of parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime is ensured.

At the meeting of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Yu.Ya. Chaika. with the Secretary General of Interpol, Mr. Yu. Shtok, on June 22, 2017 in Moscow, issues of organizing an effective search through Interpol channels for persons accused of committing crimes in Russia were discussed.

Interaction between the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation in the areas of ensuring the rule of law, protecting human rights and freedoms, and fighting crime with partners from the CIS countries is carried out within the framework of the Coordination Council of Prosecutors General of the CIS Member States (CCGP).

Since the creation of the KSGP in December 1995, its chairman has always been the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. The Scientific and Methodological Center of the KSGP operates on the basis of the Academy of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.

The most important issues are raised at the annual meetings of the KSGP. In particular, information is traditionally heard on the state of protection of the rights of citizens, especially those living outside their state in the territories of the CIS member states, as well as on the practice of implementing interstate programs and international treaties of the CIS member states in the field of combating crime. Information is exchanged on best practices in prosecutorial activities in various areas.

The 27th meeting of the KSGP will be held in St. Petersburg in November 2017. Previously, meetings of the KSGP were held in Russia 8 times, including in Moscow on September 5, 2010 and St. Petersburg on May 15, 2012.

The 15th meeting of the prosecutors general of the SCO member states will be timed to coincide with the 27th meeting of the KSGP. The decision to create a mechanism for regular meetings of the prosecutors general of the SCO member states was made during the meeting of the prosecutors general of the member states of the Organization held on October 31 - November 2, 2002 in Shanghai (PRC).

Over the 15 years of existence of this format of cooperation, many decisions have been made that have contributed to improving prosecutorial cooperation within the SCO, primarily anti-terrorism, consolidating the efforts of prosecutors’ offices in the fight against organized forms of crime, as well as in protecting human rights and freedoms. In Russia, meetings of the prosecutors general of the SCO member states were held twice (Moscow, November 24, 2005 and April 13, 2009).

The issue of the growing role of prosecutors in the fight against terrorism was discussed at the 14th meeting of the prosecutors general of the SCO member states (People's Republic of China, Sanya, November 30, 2016).

In September 2017, the third meeting of the Interstate Anti-Corruption Council (Interstate Council) will be held in Russia (Kazan), the agreement on the creation of which was adopted at a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS on September 25, 2013. In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 21 February 2014 No. 104 The Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation is a member of the Interstate Council from Russia.

Cooperation between the prosecutor's offices of the states that are members of the international association BRICS (Brazil, India, Russia, China, South Africa) is being strengthened. The General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation organized the first meeting of the heads of prosecutorial services of the BRICS states (Sochi, November 10, 2015), the participants of which agreed to establish prosecutorial cooperation in the association, primarily in order to prevent international terrorism, counter the global drug threat and corruption, as well as approved the Concept of Cooperation between the Prosecutor's Offices of the BRICS States.

The second meeting of the heads of prosecutorial services of the BRICS states took place on December 1, 2016 in Sanya (Hainan Province, China). During this event, issues of cooperation in the fight against corruption were discussed.

Representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation also participated in meetings of senior BRICS officials on issues of anti-corruption cooperation (St. Petersburg, November 1, 2015; London, June 9–10, 2016), during which the functioning of the BRICS Anti-Corruption Working Group was discussed. And also took part in meetings of this group (Beijing, January 26-27, 2016, Berlin, January 22-26, 2017, Brasilia, March 14, 2017) In 2017, the main agenda items of the BRICS Anti-Corruption Working Group are Issues related to the growing issue of the return of assets obtained as a result of acts of corruption.

At the third meeting of the heads of prosecutorial services of the BRICS states, scheduled to be held in Brasilia from August 23 to 24 this year, it is expected to discuss issues of combating cybercrime and crimes against the environment.

Representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation actively participate in the work of the Advisory Council of European Prosecutors (ACEP), created in 2005, which is an advisory body of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe - the main body of this organization uniting 47 states of the old continent. The CCEP adopted 11 opinions on various aspects of prosecutorial activity, in the development of which Russian prosecutors actively participated.

For example, on the Russian initiative, in October 2008, CCEP Conclusion No. 3 “On the role of the prosecutor’s office outside the criminal legal sphere” was adopted. The basis for the preparation of the CCEP conclusion No. 3 was the final document of the Conference of Prosecutors General of European Countries, held on this topic by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation jointly with the Council of Europe on July 1–3, 2008 in St. Petersburg. During this conference, the experience of the Russian prosecutor's office in protecting human rights and freedoms and public interests outside the criminal legal sphere was highly appreciated by foreign colleagues.

As a follow-up to CCEP Conclusion No. 3, in September 2012, with the active participation of representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, a recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (2012)11 to member states on the role of prosecutors outside the criminal justice system was adopted.

The Academy of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation is a member of the Lisbon network created within the Council of Europe for the exchange of information on the training of prosecutors and judges.

Delegations of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation take an active part in meetings of the prosecutors general of the member states of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. In September 2017, the 17th meeting of the prosecutors general of the member states of the Council of the Baltic Sea States is planned to be held in Kaliningrad.

The Russian prosecutor's office has high international authority, as evidenced by the fact that its representatives are elected to the governing and working bodies of a number of authoritative international organizations, incl. Council of Europe, International Association of Prosecutors and International Association of Anti-Corruption Bodies.

In 2011, the Deputy Head of the Department for Supervision of the Implementation of Anti-Corruption Legislation of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation joined the bureau of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). Since November 2013, the heads of this department have been elected to the Executive Committee of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Bodies, created in 2006.

In November 2016, at the 85th session of the Interpol General Assembly, a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, based on the results of a secret ballot, was elected as a member of the Commission for the control of Interpol files and the procedure for interaction through Interpol channels in the field of international search for persons.

Close relations link the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation with such a non-governmental organization as the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP). The Russian prosecutor's office was among the initiators of its creation in 1995.

The Association has more than 2,200 individual members and 170 organizational members (prosecuting services, national prosecutors' associations and a number of crime-fighting bodies). Thus, MAP represents almost 250 thousand prosecutors from 173 jurisdictions.

Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yu.Ya. Chaika is a member of the MAP Senate. Representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation also take an active part in the work of the Association's Executive Committee.

In particular, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation was awarded the right to host the 18th Annual Conference of the MAP, which was held in Moscow in September 2013 and was dedicated to the topic “The Prosecutor and the Rule of Law.” It was attended by 115 delegations from more than 90 states and 16 international bodies and organizations, including 52 prosecutors general and directors of national public prosecution services.

In November 2015, the 7th regional IAP conference for the states of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia was held in Sochi, dedicated to the fight against terrorism and violent extremism. It brought together more than 150 representatives of prosecutors from 34 states and 9 international bodies and organizations, including the UN, Council of Europe, OSCE, CIS, SCO and Eurojust.

The strengthening of ties with the competent authorities of foreign states was greatly facilitated by efforts aimed at developing interdepartmental cooperation with foreign partners.

In addition to concluding cooperation agreements and programs, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation organizes events of a multilateral international nature, during which the most pressing issues of international prosecutorial cooperation are discussed. In particular, on September 13, 2010, in Moscow, on the initiative of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, the first meeting was held of the heads of the prosecutor's offices of the CIS member states, whose competence includes issues of extradition and legal assistance in criminal cases.

In April 2011, an international conference was held in Pskov on the topic “Combating illicit drug trafficking, including synthetic drugs and their precursors. The effectiveness of international cooperation in this area.”

Issues of cooperation in the field of combating illicit drug trafficking and combating illegal migration were considered at an international conference organized by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and held in Yekaterinburg on August 28–29, 2012.

In Vladivostok, on September 23–25, 2014, an international seminar was held with representatives of the competent authorities of a number of countries in East and South-East Asia on the issues of increasing the efficiency of cooperation in the field of criminal proceedings.

The Baikal International Conference of Prosecutors, held by the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation in Irkutsk on August 26–27, 2014, was devoted to the topic of cooperation in combating transnational organized crime.

On December 14, 2016, in Moscow, with the participation of representatives of competent authorities of foreign states and a number of organizations of the international prosecutorial community, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation held the Third Open Information Forum on international legal cooperation.

Representatives of the international prosecutorial community participated in the ceremonial events on the occasion of the 290th anniversary, as well as the 295th anniversary of the Russian prosecutor’s office in January 2017. The latest anniversary events were attended by representatives of prosecutorial and justice authorities from 18 states, as well as the leaders of the International Association of Prosecutors and the Executive Secretary of the KSGP .

The most important tasks of the Russian prosecutor's office for the near future are to expand and increase the efficiency of its participation in international legal cooperation, especially in the field of criminal proceedings, to improve the contractual and legislative framework, including on the issues of search, arrest, confiscation and return of property received from abroad criminally.

Main Directorate of International
legal cooperation, July 2017

33. International cooperation

International cooperation is carried out in the areas of trade, customs, industrial, monetary and financial, and transport law.

Cooperation in the field of trade law. In order to regulate trade relations between states, a multilateral General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was concluded in 1947. According to the agreement, any customs and tariff benefit granted by one of the participating countries to another participating country automatically, by virtue of the most favored nation principle, applies to all other GATT participating countries. In 1964, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established, which is an autonomous body of the UN. UNCTAD's main goal is to facilitate international trade, in particular trade in commodities, industrial goods and so-called invisible items, as well as in the field of trade-related finance. Particular attention is paid to the problems of trade preferences and other benefits for developing countries.

Cooperation in the field of industrial law. In order to promote the process of industrialization and provide technical assistance to developing countries, as well as coordinate all UN activities in the field of industrial development, the UN Industrial Development Organization was created in 1966, which has become a specialized agency of the UN since 1985.

Cooperation in the field of monetary and financial law. In 1945, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund were created as specialized UN agencies, within which almost all cooperation in the monetary and financial sphere at the global level is concentrated. The World Bank's goals are to promote the reconstruction and development of the economies of the Bank's member states, encourage private foreign investment, provide loans for the development of production, as well as promote the growth of international trade and maintain equilibrium in balances of payments. The purpose of the IMF is to promote international cooperation on issues related to currency and international trade, and to establish a multilateral settlement system for current transactions among member countries.

Cooperation in the field of transport law.

In 1975, the European Convention on Passenger Tariffs was adopted, with the aim of establishing a uniform tariff policy to promote the development of international passenger transport. There is also the International Association of Railway Congresses, founded back in 1884, whose functions include preparing and holding international congresses to discuss scientific, technical, economic and administrative problems.