News and press releases

ASTANA, 20 June 2016 – An OSCE-supported training seminar for some 30 prosecutors and defence lawyers from different regions of Kazakhstan on plea bargaining and the role of procedural prosecutors in criminal procedure began today in Astana...

SARAJEVO, 16 June 2016 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina today published the report of Judge Joanna Korner CMG QC on war crimes processing at the state level in Bosnia and Herzegovina...

Human rights and fair trial standards, as reflected in recent decisions of the Armenian Cassation Court, the country’s highest judicial instance for all except constitutional matters, were the focus of an OSCE-supported training workshop held on June 11 and 12 in Dilijan, Armenia. The workshop aimed at promoting transparency and predictability of justice and a unified application of the law...

WARSAW, 3 June 2016 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), expressed concern today over yesterday’s sentencing by a court in Dushanbe of two leaders of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party (IRPT) to life imprisonment, and 11 other high-ranking party officials to jail terms ranging from two to 28 years...

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO / BRČKO DISTRICT, 27 May 2016 – The use of videoconferencing for interviewing witnesses at remote locations was the focus of a two-day peer-to-peer meeting the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina organized for judges and prosecutors who are working on war crimes cases in courts and prosecutors' offices at the entity level and Brčko District...

VIENNA, 26 May 2016 – Addressing the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna today Estonia’s Foreign Minister and Chair of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers Marina Kaljurand underlined her country’s strong support for Europe’s fundamental values – human rights, democracy and the rule of law – and called for mutual efforts and co-operation in addressing the unresolved protracted conflicts...

SHKODRA, Albania, 25 May 2016 – The OSCE Presence in Albania, USAID and the Austrian Development Co-operation launched a new phase of the ‘Justice without delays’ initiative today in Shkodra, Albania, with the aim of increasing the efficiency of court proceedings by reducing unnecessary hold ups...