Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

In a number of OSCE participating States, there is a widespread lack of confidence regarding the compliance of the legal system with minimum standards for fair trials.

Fair trials are impossible without appropriate procedural safeguards and guarantees. They also require access to professional legal advice and representation.

Ensuring the right to a fair trial is dependent on the availability of competent and professional legal counsel and procedural guarantees that allow defence lawyers to do their job properly. In Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan, the ODIHR has engaged in defence-bar (advokatura) reform efforts, sharing international standards and best practices from other OSCE states.

The ODIHR has also been an advocate for structural changes in the defence bar in countries where serious problems remain with respect to access to lawyers.

If the bar is not an open institution that freely, fairly, and regularly admits new members, there will inevitably not be enough lawyers to counsel those arrested and in need of legal assistance.

Complementing bar-reform activities, the Office has developed programmes to enhance the capacity of individual lawyers. This includes training seminars for defence lawyers in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on issues such as legal skills and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.