WARSAW, 14 May 2009 - Participants in an OSCE meeting on the rule of law that ended today stressed the need for participating States to increase efforts to keep the judiciary independent and to ensure a transparent and accountable administration of justice. 

"The rule of law is the foundation of any democratic society. Without this foundation, the full realization of human rights is not possible," said Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which organized the meeting.

The link with human rights is crucial, he stressed in his closing speech: "Otherwise the rule of law will fail to deliver justice and risks turning into a tool of oppression."

A main theme emerging from the meeting's working sessions was the importance of the rule of law for strengthening trust between governments and citizens, Lenarcic said.

Representatives from 39 OSCE participating States as well as a large number of international experts and civil society groups participated in the three-day meeting.

Participants discussed ways to improve the independence and integrity of the judiciary and the judicial review of administrative decisions, as well as transparency and accountability in the administration of justice, including prevention of torture at the pre-trial stage.

The meeting served to follow up on a decision of OSCE's Ministerial Council, which at its last meeting in December 2008 encouraged the Organization's 56 participating States to intensify their efforts to strengthen the rule of law as a basis for further political, economic, social and environmental development.