Russian Science Citation Index

This article considers the problem of security in the Baltic region, namely, that of Poland and the Baltics. The authors rely on the works of Karl Deutsch, Emanuel Adler, on Michael Barnett’s theory of s ecurity communities and Barry Buzan’s re- gional security complex theory, address Steven Mann’s controlled chaos theory and the concept of Intermarium . Their starting assumption is that the situation in the Baltic depends largely on the politics of external powers — Russia and the United States, — being a projection of their global geopolitical confrontation. The US strategy thus becomes a major part of the equation. The authors believe that since the end of the second Iraq war the American elite has been divided along ideological lines into adherents of the chaos theory and traditionalists thinking in terms of sharing control with the other centres of global power. The US strategy in the Ba ltic region does not seek an open military conflict with Russia. On the contrary, the US strives to preserve the current level of confrontation between Russia and the EU, convincing the latter of the reality of the Russian threat. Countries that traditionally support confrontation with Russia, Poland and the Bal- tics, serve as a conduit for Washington strategy in Europe and a cordon sanitaire. This function is implemented through the Intermarium project meant to separate Russia from the EU. The four countries are rather active in this area, striving to attain the status of the US principal partners in the region and Europe in general. To retaliate, Moscow does everything w ithin its power to ‘separate’ Brussels from Washington, yet the US influence is still very strong in Europe. Key words: Baltic region, regional security complex, Barry Buzan, US strategy, chaos theory, Intermarium, Russia-EU relations

The article analyzes the concept of planning a pre-trial investigation and its importance for the pre-trial investigation. The content of this process is analyzed as one of the factors influencing the effectiveness of pre-trial investigation of financial crimes in Lithuania. The article consists of an introduction and two sections. The first section introduces the concept of planning a pre-trial investigation and defines the interrelation between the proceedings and the organization of a pre-trial investigation. This section discusses the elements of planning a pre-trial investigation and the possibilities of planning in practice as well as the fundamental objectives and principles of planning a pretrial investigation. The second section introduces the results of empirical research: it analyzes real-life planning situation in the Financial Crime Investigation divisions of the country, considers and assesses how a pre-trial investigation is planned by investigators of financial crimes. This section also discusses some aspects of planning techniques as well as their influence on a more effective investigation of such criminal actions. At the end the authors present some important and essential recommendations for planning an investigation and seeking efficiency. © 2016, Baikal National University of Economics and Law.

Globalization requires joint actions in order to combat crime. The aim of this paper is to analyze the development of forensic science information sys- tem in the common European Union area. The Council of the European Union acknowledges that European Forensic Science Area has to be created by 2020. The article presents the results of an expert evaluation carried out in the course of the project «Conception for the implementation of the vision for European Fo- rensic Science 2020 in Lithuania». Lithuanian forensic science information system is being developed according to the European Union e-Justice Strategy and the decision to create the European Forensic Science Area. However, conditions and problems of developing the forensic science information system in Lithuania have not been sufficiently analysed. This paper presents only part of the survey re- sults and the analysis of theoretical material. The results of our analysis of current Lithuanian forensic science system allow to identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the current Lithuanian forensic science system. This is necessary for the second stage of the project.