OSCE/ODIHR and OSCE Presence in Albania co-organize 2016 Annual Trial Monitoring Meeting in Tirana

Around 50 representatives, including 25 women, from 26 non-governmental organizations and seven OSCE field operations exchanged experiences in trial monitoring at a meeting co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Presence in Albania from 15 to 17 June 2016 in Tirana.  

During the Annual Trial Monitoring Meeting, the participants also discussed challenges related to trial monitoring, including the assessment of justice systems, fair trial standards, and fundraising for civil society organizations to ensure the sustainability of their trial monitoring activities.

"The Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s experience with one of the largest OSCE trial monitoring programmes has been instrumental in helping identify the best indicators in assessing the degree to which trials meet the relevant standards," said Francesco De Sanctis, Acting Head of the Rule of Law Section of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Participants of the Annual Trial Monitoring Meeting are keen to learn practical tools to help improve their assessments of the proceedings they monitor."

Robert Wilton, Acting Head of OSCE Presence in Albania, said: "Trial monitoring has been a powerful tool to design interventions to reform and improve the Albanian justice system, in particular with regard to efficiency and length of proceedings. In practice this means a more transparent and credible justice system for citizens."

During the meeting, ODIHR also shared its publications related to trial monitoring, including the Legal Digest of International Fair Trial Rights (2012), which provides a detailed description of fair trial rights and includes monitoring checklists; the Trial Monitoring: A Reference Manual for Practitioners (2012), which describes the various OSCE trial monitoring methodologies; and the Handbook on Monitoring Administrative Justice (2013), which serves to support monitoring activities in administrative proceedings.

ODIHR has been organizing these annual meetings for more than a decade, with the objective of establishing a platform for sharing good practices and challenges in the area of trial monitoring for legal professionals from OSCE field operations and civil society. This is part of the Office’s broader work to better assist participating States in developing justice systems that abide by the rule of law and respect the right to a fair trial.