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Home Events Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM) - Access to Justice as a Key Element of the Rule of Law
Events

Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM) - Access to Justice as a Key Element of the Rule of Law

When

16 November 2017 (All day) - 17 November 2017 (All day)

Where

Vienna, Hofburg

Organized by

The Austrian OSCE Chairmanship, the OSCE Office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
A Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM) on the topic of Access to Justice as a Key Element of the Rule of Law will take place in Vienna on 16 and 17 November 2017. The meeting is co-organized by the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM).

The meeting will provide a forum to identify the main current legal and practical challenges in the area of access to justice in the OSCE region, to exchange relevant information and identify good practices in addressing these challenges and, finally, to articulate recommendations for OSCE participating States on improving access to justice as a key element of the rule of law.

This Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting will focus on best practices from across the OSCE region in the following key areas:

  • current trends, challenges and opportunities in the area of access to justice;
  • access to justice and conflict prevention;
  • gender, diversity and access to justice.

The meeting will be attended by representatives of OSCE participating States and other relevant actors, including civil society and international organizations. Recommendations may be addressed to participating States, OSCE institutions, including ODIHR, OSCE executive structures, the OSCE at large and other inter-governmental or civil society actors in OSCE participating States.

Participants

Representatives of the 57 OSCE participating States, OSCE institutions and executive structures, representatives of inter-governmental organizations, civil society and academics from the participating States that have relevant experience in the topic are invited to participate in the SHDM. The Partners for Co-operation are invited to attend and contribute with respect to their co-operation and links with the OSCE in the field.

Participation in the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting is free of charge, although all travel and accommodation costs should be borne by participants. Participants are kindly requested to make their own travel and hotel arrangements. You can find a list with a selection of hotels in Vienna below.

Civil society organizations can find more information in the document titled “Information for Civil Society”.

Registration

Participants wishing to attend the meeting are requested to register online at http://meetings.odihr.pl by the deadline of Wednesday, 8 November 2017 (12:00 CET). Important note: registration after this date will be closed and on-site registration will not be available.

Modalities & Logistics

The modalities of the meeting are set out in accordance with the decision of the Permanent Council (PC.DEC/476, 23 May 2002).

The meeting will take place in the Hofburg Congress Centre. The meeting will start on Thursday, 16 November, at 15:00, with an opening session followed by three working sessions. The closing session will conclude on Thursday, 17 November, at 17:00. For details please see the General Information and Agenda documents.

The side events can be organized on Thursday, 16 November, between 13:00 and 14:45 and on Friday, 17 November, between 12:00 and 13:45 – for details please check the Side Events Schedule to be posted on this page prior to the meeting.

Interpretation will be provided into the six official OSCE languages: English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish.

More information on organization of the sessions, seating, guidelines for debate, display and distribution of documents, logistics, etc., is available in the General Information document.

Side events

Side events may be held over the course of two days during the SHDM. To book a side event, please register first through the ODIHR Registration System (http://meetings.odihr.pl.) and then proceed to side event booking. The booking system will be open from 12:00 (CET) on Wednesday, 25 October, until 23:59 (CET) on Monday, 30 October. Detailed information on side event booking is available in the Side Events Information document.

In case of any questions, please contact:

Overall co-ordination of meeting: Ms. Kamila Czerwinska at kamila.czerwinska@odihr.pl, Tel: +48 22 5200 657

Programme matters: Ms. Carolyn Hammer at Carolyn.Hammer@odihr.pl or +48 22 5200 632

Coordination of side events: Mr. Ireneusz Stepinski at Ireneusz.Stepinski@odihr.pl  or +48 22 5200 658

Registration of participants: Ms. Anna Sierant at hdmeetings@odihr.pl or +48 22 5200 627