The Office, in co-operation with the OSCE/ODIHR, also held a number of events devoted to criminal proceedings, with the main focus on pre-trial rights. Legal opinions on the amendments to the criminal procedure code and the concept of the new code were provided. The Office supported the elaboration of the fair trial manual for judges and the commentaries to the decisions of the Cassation Court. On 27 April, the Office, in co-operation with the ODIHR, organized a seminar on the reform of pre-trial proceedings. Discussions were based on the findings of the OSCE/ODIHR trial monitoring report on Armenia. In November, a seminar on the provisions and new conceptual issues of the new criminal procedure code was organized. Police Educational Reform Within the framework of the Police Reform assistance programme, the Office supports yet another systemic breakthrough in the policing area – the modernization of the police educational system, both the structure and content, to bring it in line with international standards. This highly demanding task has been realized by a think-tank of police and OSCE experts. As a result a new six month basic police training programme was designed. The structure and content of the new basic police training programme was positively assessed by the Working Group members and also by police practitioners from regions during the special meeting at Police Training Centre in Kanaker on 14 October. The basic teaching materials (lesson plans, power-point presentations, materials for practical exercises, different supportive informational materials etc.) on 28 new training topics, which had been included in the new basic police training programme, were compiled and provided to the Armenian Police Training Centre. The first draft of a new two-year Armenian police educational programme has been analyzed and reviewed. At the end of 2010 the designated Working Group was working on a police educational programme for a bachelor degree. Community Policing In Armenia initial experience in introducing community policing (CP) was gained through the OSCE-supported pilot project in the Arabkir district of Yerevan launched in 2007. The aim of the project was to tailor the CP model to the Armenian context. As a result, when in 2010 the Government geared to a comprehensive reform of the Police, one of its cornerstones was the establishment of community and service-oriented policing. The Office was recognized as one of the main partners in supporting the introduction of democratic policing practices in Armenia. According to the reform timeline, the cascading of CP was to start in the Arabkir pilot zone to cover the entire territory of Yerevan, and to be expanded thereafter to the provinces of the country. However, the lack of understanding of the new CP model made it necessary to conduct a series of provincial awareness-raising round tables to “prepare the ground” for the upcoming changes. It was agreed with the Armenian Police to start with the awareness-raising activities in four of the provinces in 2010. By the end of 2010, five round tables were held in Lori Marz, town of Vanadzor (27-28 August); Shirak Marz, town of Gyumri (22-23 October); Vayots Dzor Marz, town of Jermuk (19-20 November); and Armavir Marz, Armavir (0-11 December). The round tables focused on familiarizing the attendees with the principles of democratic policing; the application of those principles in the community policing format; and lessons learned from the CP pilot project in Arabkir. 79