News and press releases

Promoting change in policies, attitudes and training curricula to achieve higher representation of women and members of minorities in justice sector institutions was the focus of an event in Vienna on 23 May 2019, during which the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) launched its paper Gender, diversity and justice.

Trial monitoring principles, ways to mainstream gender and diversity in trial monitoring activities, follow-up steps and the training of monitors were the key topics of an annual meeting on trial monitoring in the OSCE region, which took place in Sarajevo from 14 to 16 May 2019.

Bratislava/Copenhagen/Vienna, 13 May 2019 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovakia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) George Tsereteli and OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella today strongly condemned the use of violence by this weekend‘s protesters in Albania’s capital Tirana, as well as the threats and attempted intimidation directed at the Head of the OSCE’s Presence in Albania and at the Organization in general. They also called on law enforcement officials to show restraint.

Bratislava/Copenhagen/Vienna, 13 May 2019 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovakia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) George Tsereteli and OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella today strongly condemned the use of violence by this weekend‘s protesters in Albania’s capital Tirana, as well as the threats and attempted intimidation directed at the Head of the OSCE’s Presence in Albania and at the Organization in general. They also called on law enforcement officials to show restraint.

The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights supported a three-day training course for local prosecutors on Kyrgyzstan's new criminal justice legislation. The event was organized by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Kyrgyz Republic and held from 6 to 8 May 2019 in Bishkek. This is the first round of training for staff of Kyrgyzstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office. Similar training courses will be conducted in all regions of Kyrgyzstan throughout the year.

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe conducted a roundtable discussion on the issue of judicial independence for 30 lawyers, legal scholars, and former judges and prosecutors. The event was held on 30 April 2019 and organized in partnership with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe donated 25 computers and a printer to the Judicial Training Centre of Tajikistan’s Supreme Court to enhance the quality of training conducted for judges and prosecutors. The handover ceremony took place on 19 April 2019 in Dushanbe.