appropriate review and analysis. Here, confidentiality protects the integrity of a monitoring programme, ensuring that a programme speaks with one voice regarding its findings and conclusions. In this way, confidentiality serves as an internal operating rule that allows for the programme to best achieve its ends through the public release of findings and information in an organized and strategic manner. Examples of monitor codes of conduct related to confidentiality • Project monitors are not authorized to make comments to court officials, parties to a case, or any other third party on their observations or findings in relation to the procedure or substance of a case, or the criminal system in general. See “Confidentiality” in the “Guidelines for Trial Monitors” prepared for the OSCE Mission to Moldova’s Trial Monitoring Programme. • The observers are not allowed to give a statement of any kind of information related to specific cases to the media … [and] if such information is requested from them, they should refer the representative of the media to the project co-ordinator who will further direct them to the spokesperson of the Coalition. See “Confidentiality of Data” in the Code of Conduct of the coalition All for Fair Trials, a domestic observer group in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. While protecting against the premature release of case information, the duty of confidentiality does not prohibit monitors from providing information regarding the programme in general. Monitors should always be prepared to explain the purpose and methodology of the trial-monitoring programme, including its monitoring principles and code of conduct. Finally, as respects supervisory staff, the duty of confidentiality also applies to the information-sharing policy of the programme more generally.11 7.2 Monitoring instructions The purpose of monitoring instructions is to provide guidance to monitors and other staff on basic job responsibilities. Instructions help ensure adherence to common standards, thereby enhancing the consistency of monitoring methodology, and also establish a basis for monitor accountability. Monitoring instructions may be broken down into areas covering the different aspects of trial-monitoring operations. Many of these areas have already been covered previously in the manual. Overall, however, the basic areas where guidelines or instructions should be provided are as follows: • Case identification methodology and case selection criteria. These instructions identify who is responsible for identifying cases and provide guidance regarding the methodology of accessing information from relevant institutions and sources. Clear criteria should also be provided on selecting 11  The topic of information-sharing and the requirement that programmes develop information-sharing controls for the release of information are addressed in Chapter 8.5, “Other information-sharing and non-public reporting”. 90 Trial-Monitoring: A Reference Manual for Practitioners