The Rule of Law Department supports further development of effective and sustainable rule of law mechanisms, in line with OSCE principles and international standards. The Department is focused on four main priority areas:

• strengthening independence and effectiveness of the judiciary;
• supporting implementation of the Criminal Justice Reform Strategy;
• supporting implementation of the anti-discrimination institutional and legal framework; and
• supporting further improvement of the regulatory framework addressing the lawmaking and law implementation process.

The Department is divided into two Units: the Judicial Reform Unit and the Legislation Reform Unit.

Judicial reform

The Judicial Reform Unit aims to improve and strengthen the effectiveness and independence of the judiciary by using a multifaceted approach. The Unit provides technical assistance to assess and refine the legal framework.  It also provides training and capacity-building for legal practitioners in close co-operation with the Ministry of Justice, the Academy for Training of Judges and Prosecutors, Judges Association, Public Prosecutors Association, State Judicial Council and the Bar Association. In addition, it promotes transparency of the judiciary through different activities including the monitoring of court proceedings and sessions of the State Judicial Council, and accessing court decisions.

Along with other international stakeholders the Unit supports and assists the Ministry of Justice in the implementation of the new Law on Criminal Procedure by providing technical assistance with training, preparing educational materials, and by developing specialized literature for legal practitioners. In co-ordination with the Association for Human Rights Protection of Roma People (AHRPR), the Unit works for the promotion and protection of the rights of Roma people.

Judicial Reform Unit representatives monitor all court proceedings related to the four cases deferred from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in line with the mandate provided by the 2006 Law on Cooperation with the ICTY. In addition, other high profile cases that may have an impact on the security situation are also monitored.

Legislation reform

The Legislation Reform Unit assists in the improvement of the lawmaking and law implementation process and advises in the development and implementation of novel legislative concepts. The Unit supports governmental institutions and civil society organizations in adopting international standards and best practices in secondary lawmaking, monitoring and evaluation of legislation, transparency, and public participation in the policy and lawmaking processes. It also supports the establishment of an external accountability mechanism for law-enforcement bodies, the implementation of government anti-trafficking efforts and the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings.

The Unit supports the implementation of the new Law on Promotion and Protection from Discrimination with activities such as capacity-building for the newly established Commission for Protection of Discrimination and to the Agency for Community Rights Realization. The Unit works with the Ombudsman Institution by promoting its role and competencies in the mass media, increasing its effectiveness in protecting human rights and overall capacity-building – with special focus on its new competencies as National Preventive Mechanism and in light of new anti-discrimination legislation.