OSCE Centre summer course discusses criminal justice in Turkmenistan

ASHGABAT, 30 July 2010 - Twenty-five law-enforcement officers from across Turkmenistan took part in an OSCE summer course on international human rights standards in the administration of criminal justice which concludes today in Ashgabat.

Organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat in co-operation with the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, the one-week course for judges, prosecutors, prosecutorial and police investigators and defence lawyers aimed to further enhance their understanding of international human rights documents related to criminal justice and mechanisms for translating them into the national legal system.

"The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat is committed to supporting the host country in implementing its human dimension commitments in the area of human rights and rule of law," said Ambassador Arsim Zekolli, the Head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat.

"This summer course presents a unique forum for sharing best practices in the area of criminal justice and discussing effective mechanisms for implementing international human rights standards in the national legal system."

During the course, a team of leading experts from Belarus, Canada, Kazakhstan, Portugal and Russia spoke about human rights standards related to arrest, detention, trial and the post-trial stage of criminal procedure. The course participants also discussed alternatives to criminal prosecution and punishment, and the rights of foreigners in criminal proceedings.

Aleksandr Smirnov, a Counselor of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the director of the course, said: "The course addressed the interaction between universally recognized international standards and Turkmenistan's new Criminal Procedure Code in criminal proceedings and law enforcement practice as well as the identification of potential problems in the process and ways to solve them."