Democratization Marta Achler, the Chief of ODIHR’s Legislative Support Unit, addresses participants at the annual meeting of the OSCE/ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly as Neil Jarman, the Panel’s Chairperson, listens, Warsaw, 9 May 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma) to OSCE participating States and institutions to strengthen these freedoms. Improving Legislative Efficiency and Transparency As outlined in relevant OSCE commitments, democracy on a practical level requires an open and transparent, participatory and efficient legislative process. Since 2005, ODIHR has been applying a methodology of legislative assessments to address cases where lawmaking processes do not function adequately. According to this methodology, assistance is provided upon request, through preliminary and/or comprehensive assessments of the legislative process in a participating State, to gain a detailed understanding of the specifics of the legislative system and tailor assistance to the needs identified. Following the 2010 “Preliminary Assessment Report on the Legislative System of the Republic of Serbia” and a 2011 request from the Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia that ODIHR carry out a comprehensive assessment of the country’s lawmaking process, the written assessment on law drafting and the legislative process in the Republic of Serbia was launched in February 2012, and followed by two workshops in Belgrade on specific topics pertaining to democratic lawmaking in Serbia. The first workshop, held on 26 and 27 March, focused on measures to increase transparency and public participation in the lawmaking process, while the second, held on 19 and 20 November, discussed the role of parliamentary oversight in lawmaking. The entire process, including both the written assessment and ensuing workshops and events, served to promote a home-grown, comprehensive reform process for national decision-makers in the field of lawmaking. ODIHR also provided expertise to the international conference “Ensuring Good Quality, Consistent and Accessible Legislation through Uniformed Nomotechnical Rules and Standards”, organized by the OSCE Mission to Skopje on 21 November. Guidelines for Legislators ODIHR assists legislators and other stakeholders from OSCE participating States based on guidelines that outline how to regulate specific and, often, complex human dimension issues. These guidelines offer requisite advice and expertise based on universal and regional human rights instruments, good state practice and general principles of law, all of which are recognized by OSCE participating States in their human dimension commitments. ODIHR Annual Report 2012 29