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Fourth Expert Forum on Criminal Justice for Central Asia, Almaty, 29-31 October 2012

31 October 2012
  • (L-r) Benjamin Moreau, Chief of ODIHR’s Rule of Law unit; Nurlan Abdirov, Member of the Kazakhstan Parliament; Eva Katinka Schmidt, Deputy Chief of ODIHR’s Rule of Law unit; Michael Grau of the Consulate-General of Germany in Almaty, and Stefan Buchmayer of the OSCE Centre in Astana, open the Fourth Expert Forum on Criminal Justice for Central Asia. Almaty, 29 October 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
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  • (L-r) Daniyar Kanafin, Defence Attorney at the Almaty City Bar, speaks as Dmitry Nurumov, Legal Adviser at the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, and Richard Soyer, Professor of Criminal Law at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, listen at a discussion on the role of the investigator in criminal proceedings, and the impact that reform of this role would have on the limits of police investigation. Almaty, 29 October 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
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  • Almaz Mukhametzhanov from the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan noted recent developments related to criminal justice reform in his country such as the introduction of plea bargaining. Government representatives from four Central Asian countries gave presentations on the ongoing reform discussions in their own countries, with a view to sharing good practices and lessons learnt in criminal justice reform. Almaty, 29 October 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
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  • Stefan Trechsel, Ad litem Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, highlighted the need to uphold the principle of equality of arms whereby procedural measures effectively balance the powers of the police and the prosecution on the one hand, and the legitimate interests and human rights of the defendant on the other. Almaty, 29 October 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
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  • Zhemis Turmangambetova, a participant from Kazakhstan speaks at a session on the respective roles of the judge and the prosecutor during pre-trial proceedings as Vera Tkachenko of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Kyrgyzstan looks on. The discussion focused on the regulation of measures involving severe interference with the individual rights of a person as well as the regulation of intelligence-gathering operations and how the information obtained is used. Almaty, 29 October 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
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  • Representatives from Kyrgyzstan at a presentation of the recent developments related to criminal justice reform in their country noted that Kyrgyzstan's new constitution of 2010 prescribes that all domestic legislation should be in line with international human rights standards. Almaty, 29 October 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
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  • Vera Tkachenko of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Kyrgyzstan emphasized that criminal justice reforms in Central Asia need to take into consideration the gender perspective. Almaty, 30 October 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
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  • Tamila Rakhmatullaeva (r), Chairperson of the Tashkent-based Felix TK Advocatory Bureau, noted that more attention should be paid to the specific needs of women pursuing legal careers such as provisions for maternity leave. Almaty, 30 October 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
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  • Nigina Bakhrieva (c), Director at the Dushanbe-based Nota Bene Public Foundation; Stefan Trechsel (l), Ad litem Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and Ulugbek Azimov, Legal expert from Kyrgyzstan, led a working group session on effective responses to torture allegations in criminal proceedings. Among the topics covered, participants examined what can be done to guarantee the proper registration and effective investigation of torture allegations in criminal proceedings. Almaty, 30 October 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
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More than 100 policymakers, academics, legal professionals and civil society representatives from across Central Asia highlighted recent reform initiatives, current challenges and the way forward in the region’s criminal justice sector at the Fourth Expert Forum on Criminal Justice for Central Asia, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in co-operation with OSCE Centre in Astana and other OSCE field operations in the region.

Participants shared their experiences and expertise on a range of issues, including the distinct roles of judges, prosecutors, investigators and the police in the pre-trial phase of criminal cases, and how to ensure that evidence is collected in a fair manner.

This photo gallery highlights some of the issues raised and debated at the Forum.