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Legal Opinions and Comments

  • Opinion on the Draft Law of Ukraine on Police and Police Activities
    Opinion on the Draft Law of Ukraine on Police and Police Activities (1 December 2014) notes that this Draft Law contains many positive aspects which correspond to international standards and good practices. Certain areas, however, would benefit from improvement: • the provisions of the Draft Law on the roles and responsibilities of individual police authorities/units, and on inter-agency cooperation mechanisms should be improved and clarified. • the Draft Law should enhance accountability of the police by including clear and independent complaints mechanisms, and should introduce specific provisions to ensure that key human rights standards are followed. • further discussions on the Draft Law should be conducted with all relevant stakeholders from different parts of society, and the Draft Law itself should undergo a proper and realistic impact assessment, including a full financial impact assessment.
    Report
    1 December 2014
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  • Opinion On the Law on the Bureau on Prevention and Combating of Corruption of Latvia
    At the outset, the OSCE/ODIHR notes that the Law generally complies with international anti-corruption standards, as well as with relevant OSCE commitments. Some improvements may be considered, in particular: • no outside body or actor should control or influence the Bureau; • limiting the appointment of the Head of Bureau to a single term; • creation of one or more advisory committees; • mechanisms of the Bureau should be strengthened in the course of its investigations.
    Report
    17 November 2014
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  • Opinion on the Draft Law of the Kyrgyz Republic on Safeguarding and Protection from Domestic Violence
    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.
    Report
    28 October 2014
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  • Opinion on the Draft Federal Law of Austria Amending the Law on the Recognition of Adherents to Islam as a Religious Society
    This Opinion analyzes the provisions of the draft Law against the background of its compatibility with relevant international human rights standards and OSCE commitments.
    Report
    7 November 2014
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  • Joint Opinion on the Draft Act to Regulate the Formation, the Inner Structures, Functioning and Financing of Political Parties and Their Participation in Elections of Malta
    The Joint opinion raises key issues and provides indications of areas of concern. The ensuing recommendations are based on relevant international human rights and rule of law standards and OSCE commitments, Council of Europe standards, as well as good practices from other OSCE participating States and Council of Europe member states. Where appropriate, they also refer to the relevant recommendations made in previous ODIHR and Venice Commission opinions and reports
    Report
    14 October 2014
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  • Joint Opinion on Draft Amendments to the Law on the Financing of Political Activities of Serbia
    The scope of this Joint Opinion covers only the draft amendments, submitted for review, and the law that they are amending. Thus limited, the Joint Opinion does not constitute a full and comprehensive review of the entire legal and institutional framework governing the financing of political parties and election campaigns in Serbia.
    Report
    15 October 2014
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  • Opinion on the Impact of the Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence on Legislation in Montenegro
    This Opinion on the impact of the ratification of the Istanbul Convention for Montenegro was prepared in response to the above request. The OSCE/ODIHR conducted this assessment within its mandate as established by the OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality, which states that “[t]he ODIHR, in co-operation with other international organizations and relevant national bodies and institutions, will assist OSCE participating States in complying with international instruments for the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights, and in reviewing legislation to ensure appropriate legal guarantees for the promotion of gender equality in accordance with OSCE and other commitments”.
    Report
    10 September 2014
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  • Joint Opinion on the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia
    This Joint Opinion analyzes the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia against the background of its compatibility with relevant international standards and OSCE commitments. Thus limited, the Joint Opinion does not constitute a full and comprehensive review of the criminal law system of Georgia.
    Report
    22 August 2014
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