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Information Exchange on the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security

Working Session 4- Rule of Law I, Review Conference Warsaw, 30 September-8 October 2010

This Opinion on the Draft Law of Ukraine "On Public Consultations" was prepared in response to a request from the First Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine received by ODIHR in July 2016.

While the Opinion welcomes a mostly coherent legal framework pertaining to mediation which in many ways is compatible with international standards is also provides a number of recommendations in order to ensure sufficient safeguards with respect to criminal mediation in line with international standards, ensure the quality of mediation and guarantee procedural rights in the course of mediation processes, clarify the rules of confidentiality of mediation proceeding and the admissibility of mediation-related information as evidence in subsequent court proceedings, clearly outline exceptions to the confidentiality in the law.

The Opinion raises key issues and provides indications of areas of concern. In the interest of conciseness, the Opinion focuses more on areas that require amendments or improvements rather than on the positive aspects of the Draft Law. The ensuing recommendations are based on international standards related to the prevention of and protection from domestic violence, and prosecution of perpetrators, as well as on relevant OSCE commitments. The Opinion will also seek to highlight, as appropriate, good practices from other OSCE participating States in this field.

Russian Federation (Annex). The Russian Federation’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine. Report by the Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Brian Aggeler. Report by the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, Ambassador Bakyt Dzhusupov. Increasing military involvement of certain NATO and EU member States in yet more confrontation in and around Ukraine. Commitments regarding tolerance and non-discrimination: ensuring freedom of religion or belief. Signing of the Agreement between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan on the State border. Twenty-sixth anniversary of NATO’s aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Twenty-sixth anniversary of the NATO response to the humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. Detention of the head of the Gagauzia region. Follow-up to the invocation of the Vienna Mechanism on 22 March 2024 to address the issue of political prisoners in the Russian Federation.

It is important to know what a hate crime is. When a hate crime is committed, one or more perpetrators target the victim, which can be one or more people or property, because of a protected aspect of the victim's identity, such as religion or ethnicity, race, sexual orientation or disability. Similarly, a hate incident is an act of hostility motivated by prejudice or bias that does not necessarily reach the threshold of a criminal offence, or the criminal nature of which is yet to be determined. A hate crime is any crime where the perpetrator is driven by prejudice or bias. Criminal offence + bias motive = hate crime.

The scope of this Opinion mainly covers the Draft Law submitted for review. The Opinion focuses on aspects relating to the establishment and functioning of a state compensation scheme/fund covered by the Draft Law. Thus limited, it does not constitute a full and comprehensive review of the entire legal and institutional framework pertaining to the full and effective reparation1 of victims2 of criminal acts in Montenegro. It must be highlighted that the upcoming OSCE/ODIHR Opinion on the legal framework on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence in Montenegro will further address other aspects pertaining to the reparation of victims of violence against women and domestic violence.

This Opinion analyzes the two draft Laws, the draft "Law of Ukraine on the National Bureau of Anti-Corruption Investigations" (hereinafter the 'NBACI draft Law') and the draft "Law of Ukraine on National Anticorruption Service" (hereinafter the 'NACS draft Law') against the background of their compatibility with relevant international standards and OSCE commitments.