Subscribe to e-mail services

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Rule of law

In transitional states of the former Soviet Union and South-Eastern Europe, criminal-justice systems have been, and continue to be, in need of expert advice and assistance to develop and meet relevant international standards and OSCE commitments.

Work in the area of criminal-justice reform takes place at different levels that range from the working level of lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and law-enforcement personnel to the political level, involving policy changes in dealing with crime (including decriminalization of certain offences and increasing alternative sentencing).

Therefore, the ODIHR provides ongoing assistance at the working level and at the political level to encourage comprehensive reform in criminal-justice systems. This assistance includes training, exchange of experience through conferences and seminars, as well as direct advice on legislative reform.

Specific issues of focus for the Criminal-Justice Reform Programme include lending assistance to combat torture, encouraging and supporting penal-policy reform, and promoting greater use of alternative sentencing.

Penal reform

The ODIHR supports momentum for change in participating States and furthers the process of reforming penal policy.
More

Mainstreaming anti-torture work

Instead of isolating anti-torture work, the ODIHR is now working to integrate, or mainstream, anti-torture activities into its broader efforts of criminal-justice reform, which should create opportunities to address the underlying causes of torture.
More

Fair trials and the legal system

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.
More

Legal training

The ODIHR 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.
More

Back

Anvar Kaliev, a lawyer from Almaty, addresses the jury during a mock trial at a workshop for defence lawyers in Almaty, March 2007. (OSCE/Tatyana Zinovich)

Documents

The Role of Defence Lawyers in Guaranteeing a Fair Trial

PDF English (989.3 Kb)
Final report from the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting in Tbilisi, 3-4 November 2005.

OSCE Commitments relating to Judicial Systems and Human Rights

PDF English (57.2 Kb)
View as HTML: English

Pre-Trial Detention in the OSCE Area

PDF English (176.6 Kb), Russian (374.4 Kb)
View as HTML: Russian
A background paper published for the OSCE Review Conference, September 1999.

Preventing Torture: A Handbook for OSCE Field Staff

PDF English (347.7 Kb), Russian (899.5 Kb)
View as HTML: English

Contacts

Democratization Department
Al. Ujazdowskie 19
00-557 Warsaw
Poland
Tel: +48 22 520 0600
Fax: +48 22 520 0605
Send E-mail