Legislative Support Good legislation does not necessarily make good gov- Main issues ernment, but good government cannot emerge without good laws. The conditions necessary for respect for human rights, democracy, and rule of law cannot im-
Domestic capacity: Numerous OSCE participating prove without an adequate legal basis. Legislation and States have been undertaking legislative reforms for more than a decade as part of their transition process- its implementation are therefore critical to the devel- es. In cases where countries lack domestic capacity for opment of democracy and the rule of law. Also, for drafting new laws, the ODIHR encourages them to democracy to function properly, laws have to be pre- avoid working in a vacuum and, instead, to build upon pared, drafted, discussed, and adopted through an the experiences of other countries – both developed open and transparent process that involves actors out- democracies and countries in transition – and to try to side parliament and government. gain a better understanding of international standards and their implications for domestic legislation. A number of OSCE participating States have undertaken legislative-reform efforts either as part of a broad
Access to law: Legislators often operate in a nar- transition to democracy or else in the face of emerging row legal space, and their work is sometimes impeded challenges that existing legislation is not adequate to by the scarcity of legal resources available locally. These handle. While the ODIHR has provided support and ex- constraints are compounded by the fact that most gov- pertise for such reforms for a number of years, it began ernments of the OSCE region now face challenges that taking a more structured approach in 2004 with the require new legislation in interdisciplinary or cross-cut- creation of a distinct Legislative Support Programme. ting areas of law (involving several components of the legal system, having a multinational/transnational di- The primary task of this programme is to respond to re- mension, etc.) where there are no or only poor prece- quests from participating States for legislative assis- dents and where they have little to no experience. tance and to ensure the consistency of such responses. Also, incorporating relevant international instruments Assistance generally involves a review of draft legisla- into domestic legal systems is still problematic, partly tion in areas covered by the human dimension to en- because of insufficient dissemination of international sure compliance with international standards, particu- standards. larly OSCE commitments. Assistance may also go beyond a mere review of draft legislation by providing
Legislative transparency: For democracy to func- states with best practices that have been culled from tion properly, laws have to be prepared, drafted, dis- years of experience of working with a number of coun- cussed, and adopted through an open and transparent tries. Such practices and sample legislation may serve as process that involves actors outside the parliament and a source of inspiration for law makers in other parts of the government. Increasing the transparency of the the OSCE region. It also manages a web-based tool, law-making process can improve confidence in the www.legislationline.org. legal system, and thereby the functioning of the government as a whole. 46