ODIHR workshop highlights role of professional and ethical standards in maintaining public trust in parliaments

Parliamentarians and experts from the OSCE region discussed professional and ethical standards for parliamentarians, as well as the benefits of and challenges in developing codes of conduct, at a workshop organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw on 18 and 19 March 2014.

The 25 participants in the workshop, including 21 MPs and experts from Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, discussed challenges and different regulatory models designed to ensure ethical behaviour on the part of parliamentarians during the workshop, which was organized in co-operation with OSCE field operations and the Polish parliament, the Sejm. Four Assembly members from Kosovo also took part in the workshop.

A number of OSCE participating States have recognized the importance of establishing ethical standards and creating codes of conduct for parliamentarians as essential to maintaining public trust in parliaments, and have already put these in place.

“Across the OSCE region there is growing consensus that professional and ethical standards for parliamentarians are key to strengthening good governance, public integrity and the rule of law,” said Beatriz Balbin, ODIHR First Deputy Director.

“This workshop provided a valuable opportunity to identify the main concerns and possible obstacles to be considered while reforming parliamentary standards of conduct,” said Kaja Kallas, Member of the Estonian Parliament and Chairperson of the Economic Affairs Committee.

Participants at the event, who included Cezary Grabarczyk, Deputy Marshal (Speaker) of the Sejm, and representatives of the Polish Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, also benefitted from a presentation of ODIHR’s Background Study: Professional and Ethical Standards for Parliamentarians.