ANNUAL REPORT 2004 Democratization Legislative Support Activities Approach In 2004, the ODIHR’s activities focused on the follow- The ODIHR considers a number of factors when lending assistance in the area of legislative reform: ing areas:
Local ownership: this is crucial to the relevance and enforceability of the legislation considered; timeliness is essential to ensure that legislative reviews can be taken into consideration by parliaments or governments;
Assistance for legislative reform; and
Legislationline.
Responsiveness: providing notes, comments, or reviews during the legislative process, when it can still be influenced; 1. Assistance for legislative reform The ODIHR responds to requests from participating States to lend assistance in the development of legislation that is in line with OSCE commitments and other relevant international standards. Such assistance primarily consists of providing legal expertise to assess compliance with relevant standards, making recommendations to improve draft legislation, and sharing good practices that may help law drafters explore options other than those originally considered. In terms of sharing good practices, the ODIHR’s legislative database (www.legislationline.org) has developed into a powerful tool for all those involved in legislative reform. The ODIHR’s current approach to legislative reform stands in contrast to the first wave of democracy assistance in the early 1990s, when the focus was on writing new constitutions and new laws often with little understanding of the difficulties ahead in terms of implementation. Instead, the ODIHR provides direct assistance to lawmakers as the legislative process is ongoing. ODIHR experts work closely with local actors and make constructive recommendations that take into consideration the specifics of the domestic legal system. The process does not, however, end at the law-drafting stage. Due attention is given to following up on recommendations both to clarify them for legislators and other relevant parties and, if necessary, to help incorporate them into the draft legis-
Inclusiveness: supporting efforts to ensure that legislation is prepared and adopted as the result of an open and transparent process;
Constructiveness/access to law: providing access to precedents and practices developed in other countries, especially in areas where there are no or poor domestic precedents. Legislationline.org is now the most comprehensive database in the areas of the human dimension; it currently contains more than 5,400 legal texts, domestic legislation (primarily in English, but also in Russian and other OSCE languages), and international standards alike, supplemented with daily headlines highlighting legislative reforms across the OSCE region, as well as legal developments in international forums;
Holistic approach: taking into consideration the overall consistency of legal systems; looking at the broad picture, as the acts under review may affect, and may be affected by, other acts; providing access to precedents and practices developed in other countries;
Cross-dimensional perspective: looking at practical ways to incorporate a human dimension perspective into legislative measures considered in connection with the other dimensions of the OSCE’s comprehensive approach to security. The ODIHR gives priority to activities and areas of law where it can fill gaps and where it may add value to what other specialized institutions or agencies are doing. Since many OSCE countries are also member states of the Council of Europe, the ODIHR conducts legislative reviews in close co-operation with relevant Council of Europe departments and bodies, particularly the Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission). The ODIHR’s legislative-assistance work is conducted in such a way as to complement its rule-of-law activities. As a rule, the ODIHR acts upon official requests received, usually, through OSCE field missions, which are important partners in this area. With the exception of the ODIHR’s contribution to the draft Council of Europe anti-trafficking convention, all of its reviews in 2004 were conducted jointly, or in co-operation with, OSCE field operations. lation under consideration. 47