Abstract: The subject of this research is the views of the Russian and foreign community upon the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The authors analyze the problematic aspects of its activity of legal and political character. The article examines the contribution of the Tribunal into the development of international criminal law and procedure, participation of the Tribunal in post-conflict reconciliation in the Balkans, involvement of ICTY in the integration process of the countries of Western Balkans into the European Union, as well as such issues as complication of processes and remoteness of the Tribunal from the Western Balkan countries. The main method of this research lies in comparison of the Russian and foreign communities during the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The ICTY experience allows determining the key problems in the area on international criminal justice and the ways for their solution. The analysis of the views of Russian and foreign experts demonstrates that the negative sides of the international criminal processes must be considered by international community in establishment of similar institutions in future.

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The term of “epistemic community” is often used in the scientific literature in analyzing the work of experts and their influence upon the political processes. The subject of this research is the epistemic communities of the healthcare workers (first and foremost gynecologists) involved into the work with the victims of rape during the armed conflicts, based on the example of the German organization from Cologne (medica mondiale). The importance of this topic consists not only in the analysis of the work of the expert medical workers, but also the level of their influence on the international criminal processes that deal with sexual violence (particularly, processes in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia). Despite the fact that there is a significant amount of researches on the epistemic communities (for example,  with regards to the international environmental processes or integration within the framework of the European Union), the analysis of epistemic communities pertaining to the problem of sexual assaults as international crimes is absent. The author concludes that although the expert healthcare workers make a significant contribution into the fight of such phenomenon as sexual violations, their closer cooperation with the legal expert networks could become an important step in overcoming the impunity for commission of such crimes.

 

 
 
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia