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OSCE ODIHR and international /regional human rights law and related case-

law

Tina Gewis, Chief of Rule of Law Unit, ODIHRStrasbourg, 20 October 2015

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OSCE Commitments & human rights OSCE is a regional security organisation with 57 participating

States, 10 of which are not member states of the Council of Europe (US, Canada, Belarus, 5 Central Asian states, Mongolia, Holy See)

ODIHR is mandated to assist OSCE participating States in the implementation of OSCE human dimension commitments (including human rights)

OSCE commitments reflect major international and regional (European) human rights law & standards

Concept of “politically binding commitments”, adopted by consensus

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ODIHR Legislative Guidelines

Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Freedom of Association (2014 rev.) – jointly with CoE

Venice Commission On the Legal Personality of Religious or Belief

Communities Guidance for policy and law-makers, containing

reference to ECtHR, UN HRC and IACtHR case-law and intl/reg human rights standards

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ODIHR Legal Reviews - Opinions Upon request by participating States Analysing draft or existing legislation on “human

dimension” topics, often jointly with CoE Venice Commission

Assessing compliance with OSCE commitments and intl/reg human rights obligations, as applicable

Offering recommendations to authorities If non-CoE member states: ECHR and ECtHR case-law

as “useful and persuasive reference documents”

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OSCE ODIHR Trial Monitoring

Assessing the compliance of court practice with national legislation and international fair trial standards (incl ECtHR case law, UN HRC)

Providing recommendations to national authorities and other judicial stakeholders on how to improve the respect for fair trial rights, both in law and practice

Also looks at reasoning of judgments and reference to intl/reg human rights law and case-law

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ODIHR tools on Trial Monitoring

- Legal Digest of International Fair Trial Rights (2012, EN/RUS/FR)

- Trial Monitoring: A Reference Manual for Practitioners (rev.2012, EN/RUS/FR)

- Handbook for Monitoring Administrative Justice (2013, EN/RUS)

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Monitoring the Freedom of Assembly

Initiated upon invitation by participating States Monitoring public events / assemblies Assessing compliance with intl/reg freedom of

assembly standards and best practices Reference to relevant ECtHR case-law So far, 2 public reports (2012, 2014), third round

currently ongoing

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Thank you very much for your attention !

More info & resources on: www.osce.org/odihr/rol

www.legislationline.org or contact

tina.gewis@odihr.pl