Publications

International Legal Standards, Regional Criminal Legislation, Application and Measures for Improving Protection of Victims’ Rights

This factsheet explains the purpose of the Limited Election Observation Mission to Poland's 2023 Parliamentary Elections.

Research results: The presence of principles and policies of gender equality in political life in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from support for female candidates, through appointments to the representation of women in legislative governmental bodies after the 2022 General Election and to visible and invisible obstacles during their term of office.

This guide helps journalists to report more effectively from courts in a professional manner and in line with codes of journalism ethics and conduct, and related court reporting sensitivities, protection of privacy, legal and normative frameworks while upholding ethical standards and appropriate context by holding institutions of justice to account. With an overall aim to provide the journalists with a solid guide that facilitates their reporting from the institutions of justice and the media with a solid foundation to shape public discourse and foster policy change, the guidelines include an overview of the relevant legal framework, institutions of justice, and court reporting. The guide is available in Albanian, Serbian, and English.

This publication has been developed to guide trainers leading 4-day in-person training courses for prison staff designed by the OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Penal Reform International (PRI) in partnership with the Swedish Prison and Probation Service (SPPS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

In line with its mandate and relevant OSCE commitments, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Mission) supports Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in improving governance of its defense and security sectors by strengthening democratic control and parliamentary oversight of the BiH Armed Forces (AF BiH) as well as of the security and intelligence agencies in BiH. To this end, the Mission assists the authorities, civil society and other stakeholders in sustainably increasing their capacities for overseeing the overall performance of the sectors’ actors, advance accountability, and promote transparency. This particularly includes support to State-level parliamentary oversight bodies in their work on setting the legal parameters, adopting the budget, overseeing security activities, and protecting human rights of the AF BiH service members.

The Mission supports Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in ensuring open and secure borders. This includes attaining an integrated border security and management system that effectively prevents all forms of cross-border crime and threats while still enabling the unhindered movement of persons, goods, services and commerce. Such assistance is framed by the OSCE Border Security and Management Concept which entails a whole-of-government approach and promotes co-operation among all relevant agencies as well as international co-operation.

Organizing elections and referenda is indisputably a challenging task. Bodies in charge of administering elections and referenda (EMBs) have the demanding function of ensuring that many complex election- and referenda-related processes are managed efficiently, impartially and transparently. The work of the EMBs has a direct impact on the quality and integrity of electoral and referendum processes and is one of the keys to ensuring the rights of voters and contestants. The EMBs are therefore one of the main guardians of democratic elections, and their activities are central to fostering public confidence.

Security Sector and Governance Reform (SSG/R) is a nationally led process of improving the provision, governance and oversight of security and justice, principally in terms of ensuring democratic control, accountability, rule of law, and respect for human rights and gender equality. It complements parallel political, economic, and social developments within the broader context of stabilization and democratization. By increasing the capacity of a society to deal with complex threats to national and human security, and by garnering public trust and confidence in the legitimacy and ability of institutions and decision makers, such good governance engenders peace and stability

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Mission) facilitates a comprehensive and co-operative approach to counterterrorism (CT) as well as to prevention and countering of violent extremism and radicalisation that lead to terrorism (P/C VERLT). The Mission provides policy guidance and expertise, conducts tailored capacity building, and facilitates the exchange of best practices. It also promotes and applies human rights-based and whole-of-society approaches to strengthen co-operation, non criminal interventions, and rehabilitation and re-integration programmes.