the application of local laws, including assessing these practices in relation to international fair-trial standards. Similar to comprehensive reviews, thematic reports are not concerned with the prosecution of specific types of cases, but more broadly with the procedure and the functioning of the justice system. However, as opposed to comprehensive reviews, thematic reports are more narrowly focused on the functioning of a discrete aspect of the system. Thematic reports may focus on specific institutions, specific types of proceedings, or components of the criminal justice process. In general, thematic reports should be considered for discrete areas of the justice system that may be viewed as particularly problematic or are sufficiently distinct to benefit from special treatment. Thematic reports have the advantage of focusing the reader on the specific issue and providing in-depth treatment of a problem. Another advantage to issuing a thematic report is that they may be completed in less time than comprehensive reports. However, despite the limited scope of thematic reports in terms of subject matter, conclusions and recommendations may still be relevant to a wide range of actors. Therefore, wide dissemination is often appropriate for thematic reports as well given that even very specific issues and themes will often be applicable to a wide range of legal actors and institutions. Examples of thematic reports by the OSCE 1) “Themes: Independence of the Judiciary, Detention, and Mental Health Issues”, LSMS, OSCE Mission in Kosovo (2002) 2) “The Administration of Justice in the Municipal Courts”, LSMS, OSCE Mission in Kosovo (2004) 3) “Crime, Detention, and Punishment”, LSMS, OSCE Mission in Kosovo (2004) 4) “Plea Bargaining”, OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (2005) 5) “The Presumption of Innocence Report”, OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (2007) 8.1.3 Reports on specific types of cases A third type of report is designed to address particular types of prosecutions, crimes, or cases. The common denominator among such reports is the focus on a discrete type of case or cases related to a particular type of crime or event. Despite this commonality, the wide difference in purpose and focus of such reports in the context of specific programmes makes further generalizations difficult. In the past, OSCE reports on specific case types have addressed issues such as the application of substantive criminal law, enhancing victims’ rights, witness-protection issues, and statistics and information generally regarding prosecutions and sentencing of the specific crime at issue. Often, where reporting focuses on specific types of cases, it is because, in the particular domestic context, such cases are important from the perspective of transitional justice or relate to broader security-related interests. For instance, in the OSCE such reports have involved war-crimes prosecutions related to conflicts in South-Eastern Europe during the 1990s. Such reports often provide statistical or comparative analysis regarding specific cases. This may include comparative case analysis of differing standards of criminal accountability in charging, trying, and sentencing different ethnic or 106 Trial-Monitoring: A Reference Manual for Practitioners