2012 Expert Forum on Criminal Justice for Central Asia
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The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, in co-operation with OSCE field operations in Central Asia, is organizing the 2012 Expert Forum on Criminal Justice for Central Asia. This is the fourth time the Forum is being held, with previous events taking place in 2008 (Zerenda, Kazakhstan), 2009 (Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan) and 2010 (Dushanbe, Tajikistan).
The Forum has emerged as a leading regional platform for professional discussion on criminal justice and judicial reform, human rights in criminal procedure, and harmonization of national legislation with international criminal justice standards.
The event brings together leading policy makers and experts from Central Asia and other OSCE regions to discuss recent reforms, trends and initiatives in the criminal justice sector. The Forum serves as a platform to exchange experiences and expertise between participating States on matters encompassed by the OSCE commitments related to the rule of law, thereby fostering technical dialogue and strengthening constructive ties between professionals.
Through plenary sessions and working groups, the discussions will cover the following topics:
- The role of the investigator in the context of criminal procedure reform;
- Control of pre-trial proceedings: the respective roles of the judge and the prosecutor;
- The defendant in pre-trial proceedings;
- Alternatives to pre-trial detention;
- Rules of evidence;
- Evidentiary defence rights;
- Torture allegations in criminal proceedings;
- Plea and confession bargaining and abbreviated procedures;
- Reform of the criminal law: division of criminal acts into misdemeanours and crimes.