Newsroom
OSCE welcomes foundation of regional bar association in Tajikistan
DUSHANBE 24 February 2003
DUSHANBE, 24 February 2003 - The Head of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe, Ambassador Marc Gilbert, welcomed the foundation of the new Regional Association of Barristers of the northern Sughd Province of Tajikistan.
Around 70 of the 120 barristers registered in the province convened on 22 February and decided to create the association.
"It is a significant measure to separate and reinforce the judiciary in Tajikistan," said Ambassador Gilbert at the opening of a conference dedicated to the foundation of the regional association.
Several barristers who attended the meeting noted that this would be the first step towards the creation of a National Association of Barristers of Tajikistan. This has been an initiative of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe as part of its efforts to strengthen the judiciary and the civil society.
Ambassador Gilbert said that the establishment of an association of barristers of Tajikistan "is an important step to reinforcing civil society in the country. It will also have a positive effect on the economy, as the existence of a coherent and powerful bar in Tajikistan will help to attract investors to the country."
The foundation of the Regional Association of Barristers is in compliance with the 1991 Moscow document of the Moscow Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE (1991) which says that the participating States will "recognize the important function national and international associations of judges and lawyers can perform in strengthening respect for the independence of their members and in providing education and training on the role of the judiciary and the legal profession in society."
Local authorities, the Open Society Institute, the American Bar Association and non-governmental organizations involved in the defence of human rights were represented at the conference, which was organized by the OSCE Field Office in Khujand and the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe.
Around 70 of the 120 barristers registered in the province convened on 22 February and decided to create the association.
"It is a significant measure to separate and reinforce the judiciary in Tajikistan," said Ambassador Gilbert at the opening of a conference dedicated to the foundation of the regional association.
Several barristers who attended the meeting noted that this would be the first step towards the creation of a National Association of Barristers of Tajikistan. This has been an initiative of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe as part of its efforts to strengthen the judiciary and the civil society.
Ambassador Gilbert said that the establishment of an association of barristers of Tajikistan "is an important step to reinforcing civil society in the country. It will also have a positive effect on the economy, as the existence of a coherent and powerful bar in Tajikistan will help to attract investors to the country."
The foundation of the Regional Association of Barristers is in compliance with the 1991 Moscow document of the Moscow Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE (1991) which says that the participating States will "recognize the important function national and international associations of judges and lawyers can perform in strengthening respect for the independence of their members and in providing education and training on the role of the judiciary and the legal profession in society."
Local authorities, the Open Society Institute, the American Bar Association and non-governmental organizations involved in the defence of human rights were represented at the conference, which was organized by the OSCE Field Office in Khujand and the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe.