Accordingly, ODIHR and its partners launched a project in 2008 to assess the capacity-building needs of national judicial systems with respect to adjudicating war crimes cases sent back from the ICTY. Following up on this research in 2009, ODIHR and its partners identified and shared with local jurisdictions a number of best practices, including the employment of practical exercises, such as moot courts, and organizing peer-topeer training for judges. The final report of project was launched in The Hague in September 2009. ODIHR has received funding from the European Commission for a project to help the national legal systems in countries of the region responsible for dealing with war crimes cases develop the skills they need to deal with them in an effective manner, particularly with respect to cases being transferred back to the region from the ICTY. The project, based on recommendations from the above-mentioned research, will be led by ODIHR and carried out jointly with the ICTY, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute and OSCE field operations in the region. Trial Monitoring Trial monitoring is another important activity in which ODIHR uses its position to facilitate the sharing of information among OSCE field operations. The Office also carries out trial monitoring operations both in its own right and jointly with field operations. ODIHR continues to organize annual inter-mission information exchanges on trial monitoring, with the fourth such meeting held in 2009. One result of this meeting was the re-affirmation of ODIHR’s role as the repository of the OSCE’s collective knowledge in this field. ODIHR is now working to establish an information and knowledge-management system, which will include an online discussion forum and can be applied throughout the OSCE region in trial-monitoring operations.. In addition, ODIHR launched a trial-monitoring project in Armenia following post-election violence in March 2008. The final report on this project will be published in 2010. It includes a list of recommendations to the Armenian authorities for reforms to address shortcomings identified, including the need for better protection against arbitrary detentions and further measures to improve the professionalism of judges. ODIHR stands ready to assist in the implementation of these recommendations. Prevention of Torture activities currently being implemented by field operations and proposes strategies to enable OSCE field operations and other organizations working on torture prevention to take a more systematic approach to the issue. In addition, the publication provides an overview of the latest developments with regard to the implementation in the OSCE region of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture. Criminal Justice Reform in Central Asia ODIHR has been assisting the states of Central Asia with reforms of their criminal legislation since the late 1990s, resulting in the gradual introduction of judicial authorization of arrest in criminal procedure codes, notably in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan; a wide-ranging consultative process before introducing jury trials in Kazakhstan; and legislative changes with respect to the right of the defendant to request a jury trial in Kazakhstan. Instrumental in all of ODIHR’s criminal justice activities in the region is the annual Expert Forum on Criminal Justice for Central Asia, the fourth of which was held in 2009. This is the only forum that brings together key actors from across the region specifically to discuss criminal justice reform through an exchange of opinions with policymakers, authoritative experts and academics. In addition to providing a unique platform for expert dialogue, the forum also helps ODIHR ensure that its rule of law priorities for the region correspond to real needs and address emerging issues. At the 2009 forum, held in Kyrgyzstan, nearly 60 participants from the region gathered to discuss a range of issues, including new developments in the reform of criminal procedure in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, judicial authorization of pre-trial detention in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and jury trials in Kazakhstan. ODIHR developed several follow-up projects to monitor and assess how some of these reforms were being implemented in the region and to develop recommendations for improvements. Results from these projects will be presented at the 2010 forum. 21 Other Priorities Independence of the Judiciary The year 2009 saw the completion of an important cycle of work on the prevention of torture, resulting in an online publication called The Fight against Torture: The OSCE Experience. It contains an overview of the ODIHR Annual Report 2009 Genuine judicial independence, a requirement of equality before the law, is one of the hallmarks of a democratic society. It is the fundamental element Democratization