Publications

As the OSCE’s main institution for the human dimension, ODIHR aims to assist the OSCE Mediterranean Partners by sharing its own experience and that of OSCE participating States with relevant partners in those countries, including governmental structures and civil society.

The ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly was established in 2006. The Panel consists of up to twelve independent experts from OSCE participating States selected on the basis of their expertise, experience, integrity and objectivity. The Panel is an advisory and consultative body to ODIHR. It seeks to enhance the promotion and protection of the freedom of peaceful assembly in the OSCE region.

The scope of this Opinion covers only Article 235 of the Criminal Code, as submitted for review. The Opinion does not constitute a full and comprehensive review of the entire legal and institutional framework governing the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo conducts regular monitoring, reporting and advocacy for the full realization of the language rights of all communities in Kosovo. Analyzing practices at the local level, this report reveals that more than seven years after its promulgation, the Law on the Use of Languages remains only partially implemented due to insufficient human and financial resources, often accompanied by lack of sufficient understanding of obligations and/or lack of political will.

This Handbook on Promoting Women’s Participation in Political Parties aims at encouraging political party leaders, men and women alike, to support the integration of gender aspects into internal political party decision-making processes. It also seeks to develop the capacity of women politicians to advance their political careers. The key finding that has emerged during the development of this handbook is that internal party reform is critical to women’s advancement. A lack of internal party democracy and transparency, the absence of gender-sensitivity in candidate selection and outreach, as well as the failure to decentralize party decision-making processes, all inhibit women’s opportunities to advance as leaders within parties and as candidates for elected office. To this end, the handbook provides a valuable overview of voluntary measures that political parties can adopt to enhance gender equality within party structures, processes, policies and activities, as a means to provide both women and men equal opportunities to participate meaningfully in the political life of OSCE participating States.

In March 2014 the authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic asked the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) to provide an opinion on the draft law “On Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic” (hereinafter “the draft law”, CDL-REF(2014)014), giving particular consideration to the draft law’s compatibility with international standards and OSCE commitments in three areas: establishment of electoral districts under the proportional representation system, preference voting, and quotas for women and persons belonging to national minorities on lists of candidates. As these three areas have been specifically identified in the request for this joint opinion, they are addressed under the discussion on the electoral system for the distribution of parliamentary mandates. The OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission decided to provide a joint legal opinion on the draft Code.

The scope of this Joint Opinion covers only the Draft Amendments, submitted for review, and the legislation 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 status and disciplinary responsibility of judges in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Inside the magazine: Cyber/ICT security; When nature comes unbound: flood relief and disaster risk reduction; the OSCE in Ukraine: election monitoring, deploying the Special Monitoring Mission; the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration; Open Fun Football Schools; Interview with Madeleine Rees; Book review: Victor-Yves Ghebali’s history of the OSCE.

The scope of this Opinion covers only the Law on the selection, performance evaluation and career of judges of Moldova, submitted for review. Thus limited, the Opinion does not constitute a full and comprehensive review of the judicial system of Moldova.

This monograph by a group of authors under the title Prosecutorial Investigation – regional criminal procedure legislation and experiences in application, which is issued by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, addresses one of the most current issues relating to the process of the reform of criminal procedure laws, not only of the countries in the region (Serbia, BiH, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Montenegro), but in a much wider context.