(L-r) Benjamin Moreau, Chief of ODIHR’s Rule of Law unit; Nurlan Abdirov, Member of the Kazakhstan Parliament; Eva Katinka Schmidt, Deputy Chief of ODIHR’s Rule of Law unit; Michael Grau of the Consulate-General of Germany in Almaty, and Stefan Buchmayer of the OSCE Centre in Astana, open the Fourth Expert Forum on Criminal Justice for Central Asia. Almaty, 29 October 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
ODIHR carries out a number of activities aimed at ensuring due process, with a particular focus on OSCE participating States where further reforms are needed to meet international standards and OSCE commitments on the right to a fair trial and related guarantees. Furthermore, ODIHR promotes institutional reforms to better enable the key actors in the criminal justice chain to perform their duties in a manner that is transparent and that complies with human rights standards.
ODIHR provides expert assistance and also facilitates exchanges among participating States, providing them with an opportunity to learn from each other. One example of this is the annual Expert Forum on Criminal Justice for Central Asia, which brings together officials, practitioners, and academics to discuss policy issues in the field of criminal justice, judicial authorization of pre-trial detention, reform of legislation on administrative offences, and alternatives to criminal prosecution. ODIHR also provides expertise on reform of criminal procedure and the prosecutorial system in participating States, most recently in the Caucasus and Eastern Europe.
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
