Democratization experience in trial-monitoring, and ODIHR has been instrumental in ensuring that that expertise is shared across the Organization through periodic trial-monitoring co-ordination meetings. As an outgrowth of these meetings and in an effort to collect, preserve, and share the OSCE’s experience in the area of trial-monitoring, ODIHR developed a trial-monitoring reference manual that will be published in 2008. The manual synthesizes the best practices and lessons learned from the trial-monitoring programmes conducted by ODIHR and 12 OSCE field operations, including experiences from monitoring war-crimes trials. It provides a resource for practitioners developing or running trial-monitoring programmes. The aim of the manual is to enhance the quality of such programmes and thereby strengthen compliance with fair-trial standards in participating States. Following the adoption of the law on the introduction of lay participation in criminal proceedings in Kazakhstan, ODIHR initiated a project in 2006 to monitor implementation of the law. Some 20 monitors were trained and then observed more than 30 jury trials throughout the country in 2007. Interim project reports, which were shared with the Supreme Court, contain a number of legislative, administrative, and organizational recommendations to improve the conduct of jury trials. criteria, judicial training institutions, disciplinary proceedings, and performance evaluation. Participants benefited from the experience of Dutch, French, Italian, Romanian, and Russian experts. The workshop was organized jointly with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the State Duma Committee to Combat Corruption. In July, ODIHR, in co-operation with the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, organized a roundtable on “Retroactive Application of Criminal Law in War Crimes Cases”. This meeting of more than 40 legal professionals and academics in Sarajevo focused on the implications of a recent Constitutional Court decision related to the retroactive application of current criminal law to war-crimes cases from the 1991-1995 conflict. The event emphasized the need to apply the same legal standards to war-crimes cases regardless of the court that tries them. Zhazira Krykbayeva of the International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law addresses a workshop for defence lawyers in jury trials in Almaty in March. ODIHR supports debates on policies and reform issues that affect the implementation of OSCE commitments. In doing this, ODIHR utilizes one of its main institutional strengths: its mandate to work across the OSCE area and to facilitate the exchange of experiences between the participating States. ODIHR addresses topical issues, makes debates open and inclusive, and enriches discussions with diverse expert participation. A workshop in Moscow in May on “Regulating Career Development and Professional Accountability of Judges” brought together high-ranking Russian judges and civil servants to discuss procedures for judicial appointments, promotion Tatyana Zinovich Supporting debate on legal policies and reforms Annual Report 2007 23