identifying local resources and ensuring sustainability, the seminar was delivered mostly by national experts from the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, the Union University Faculty of Law, the Ombudsman’s Office Council for the Protection of Rights of Persons Deprived of their Liberty and by staff of the MoI. In order to assist the MoI in ensuring that the procedure for resolution of complaints against the police and the mechanisms implementing the procedure are effective, transparent, and in line with accepted good practices, the LED and the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights jointly organized two workshops on the “Prohibition of Ill-treatment and the Complaints Resolution Procedure in the Ministry of Interior”. The event was held in September 2011 at the MoI Training Center “Avala” in Belgrade. The workshops aimed to enhance the effectiveness of the MoI Complaints Resolution Commissions and to advance the competencies of the Commissions’ members. Their performances must be in line with international standards related to the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including the right to an effective investigation of ill-treatment and right to an effective legal remedy and fair trial. Equipped with new knowledge and skills, the Commissions’ members were expected to contribute to reducing the number of complaints that have to be resolved outside the police, before national courts or international human rights treaty bodies. The workshops also intended to re-examine the effectiveness of the current police complaints procedure. The facilitation of workshops was entrusted to national experts from the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, the Union University Faculty of Law, the Ombudsman’s Office Council for the Protection of Rights of Persons Deprived of their Liberty, and to staff of the MoI. In October, the LED and the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights jointly organized two more workshops on the “Prohibition of Ill-treatment and the Complaints Resolution Procedure in the Ministry of Interior”. The training covered issues, such as: the right to an effective investigation of ill-treatment; the right to an effective legal remedy and fair trial; and reinforcing the fundamental procedural safeguards which can contribute towards the prevention of ill-treatment of persons in contact with or detained by the police. The workshops also served to provide guidelines on how the police service in Serbia should make the complaint procedure an effective legal remedy in line with accepted international standards and good practices, as defined in the European Court of Human Rights case-law. In November, assistance was provided to the MoI to gather relevant input that will be used for drafting a Custody Rule Book. The Department and the MoI Internal Affairs Division jointly organized a workshop on Handling of Persons in Police Custody in November. It brought together 27 police managers responsible for pre-trial detention facilities throughout Serbia along with other colleagues responsible for internal and external police oversight, such as representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office, the Serbian MoI’s Commission for the Prevention of Torture, and the MoI Internal Affairs Division. This group exchanged knowledge and experience, and shared input on the provided draft custody intake forms. Ultimately, the workshop identified potential members of a working group that would be responsible for developing a draft proposal for the adoption of a MoI Custody Rule Book which would meet European best practices. It was expected that this would improve custodial standards for pre-trial detainees. Community Policing In 2011, the LED continued to assist the MoI in developing and sustaining community policing practices. The focus was on an increase in interaction between the police and the public. One example in this area are Municipal Safety Councils (MSCs), which represent a powerful tool for the police to exchange information with the citizens and major governmental and non-governmental stakeholders at the local level. MSCs represent a form of partnership at the local level and are expected to be one of the pillars of the future Community Policing Strategy. The LED continued to support the expansion of the model at the national level by 65