“ODIHR’s guidance is having a positive impact on the development of Bulgarian democracy. The legal opinion reminds us of the fundamental principles of democracy and justice; and played an important role in the parliamentary debate on political party finance.” — Kristian Vigenin, Vice-President, National Assembly of Bulgaria Despite differences in the political and legal contexts, lawmaking processes face many similar problems throughout the OSCE, including legislation adopted through unnecessarily hurried processes or without regard for potential adverse impacts. In this context, ODIHR produced a preliminary lawmaking assessment for Uzbekistan, and has laid the groundwork for an assessment requested by Armenia. To address common issues arising in legislative processes throughout the OSCE region, ODIHR has embarked on an ambitious initiative to gather international standards and good practices and consolidate these into clear guidelines on good lawmaking and high-quality public consultation. These guidelines, which are being drafted in consultation with a broad range of experts, will provide the benchmarks that lawmakers need to make their processes more effective, inclusive, consultative, accountable and transparent. They will build on ODIHR’s capacity in democratic governance, particularly in support of parliaments, citizen advocacy, promoting women’s participation in public and political affairs, and the inclusion of Roma and Sinti. The guidelines focus on crucial aspects of legislative processes, namely policymaking, impact assessments, public participation and law drafting, and will thus act as a catalyst for the adoption of quality, human rights-compliant laws. ODIHR 2019 11