OSCE Centre and ODIHR support Supreme Court of Kazakhstan in strengthening judicial independence

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Centre in Astana shared experience from OSCE participating States at a roundtable discussion in Astana on 15 May 2014 on devising effective mechanisms to strengthen the independence of the national judicial system.

The event, co-organized by the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan and the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, brought together judges and representatives from government ministries and academia to provide recommendations on how to raise the level of professionalism of the judiciary.

“The co-organizing of this event by the Kazakh Supreme Court demonstrates interest in these issues,” said Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana. “The Centre stands ready to support concrete efforts of the Kazakh judicial authorities in adopting measures to strengthen the independence of judges.”

During the discussions, the participants shared experiences from different jurisdictions within the OSCE region to illustrate options for improving procedures for selecting, promoting and training of judges in Kazakhstan.

“A fair and transparent assessment of judges is key to ensuring that only the best candidates are selected and promoted,” said Eva Katinka Schmidt, Deputy Chief of the ODIHR Rule of Law Unit.

ODIHR participated in the roundtable as part of its rule of law programme and in support of the Centre in Astana’s long-term efforts to assist judicial reform in Kazakhstan.