1.1 Improving lawmaking and human rights-compliant legislation Legislation and lawmaking practices across the OSCE repeatedly fall short of international human rights standards and OSCE commitments. ODIHR’s legal expertise did not only assist participating States in meeting their commitments and international obligations, but also clearly revealed that the quality of the legislation adopted is often a direct result of the extent to which the process was open, inclusive, and consultative. Participating States frequently seek guidance on ways of strengthening their legislation and implementing better procedures for drafting and passing laws. To meet these needs, ODIHR both reviews individual pieces of legislation and issues comprehensive law-making assessment reports as part of its wider mandate to assist participating States in implementing their human dimension commitments, including those to ensure open and inclusive processes in lawmaking. In 2019, the Office published 19 legal reviews, which led to improvements in draft or already adopted legislation and resulted in more comprehensive engagement with stakeholders. ODIHR also prepared a number of opinions for Armenia in 2019, continuously engaging on the issues of equality before the law and political party legislation. Both pieces of legislation are expected to be stronger and more human rights-compliant following ODIHR’s support and feedback. 10 DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE The review of draft legislation on judicial appointments in Georgia, followed by six months of monitoring the appointment process itself, led to extensive and well-informed discussions on judicial reform, and sparked important public debates on democratic issues in that country. ODIHR’s legal reviews of amendments to political party legislation in Bulgaria and Mongolia resulted in better legislation on party funding and establishment practices and contributed to more pluralistic political environments. In Bulgaria, an agreement between the government and opposition improved the system of public financing as recommended by ODIHR. Following the Office’s advice, Mongolian lawmakers agreed to delay proposed constitutional amendments so that the issue could reconsidered. Multi-angle engagement with stakeholders was a key to successful legislative support in 2019. Supporting lawmakers from the very beginning of their discussions on changes to the legal framework and offering continuous engagement that ranged from reviewing existing legislation, through indicating areas for improvement, to examining the resulting draft laws, shows concrete impact. For example, in Mongolia, a member of ODIHR’s Core Group of Experts on Political Parties’ visit in September led the Office to offer multiple forms of legal analysis, some of which were referred to in parliamentary debate that led to the law’s reconsideration.