26  //  DEMOCRATIZATION Kristinne Grigoryan, Head of the International Legal Cooperation Department at the Armenian Ministry of Justice, participates in a roundtable discussion on good practices in lawmaking hosted by ODIHR. 19 June 2017, Warsaw. (OSCE) STRENGTHENING CAPACITY FOR LEGISLATIVE REFORM Legal reviews When requested by participating States, ODIHR reviews draft or existing laws to assess their compliance with international standards and OSCE commitments, and provides concrete recommendations for how they can be improved. In 2017, ODIHR published 13 legal reviews, more than half of which related to European Union or European Free Trade Area countries – including the first-ever ODIHR opinions for Bulgaria, Iceland, Spain and Switzerland. Barbara Jouan-Stonestreet, member of the ODIHR Core Group of Experts on Political Parties, speaking at an ODIHR-organized meeting on political party regulation. Warsaw, 3 November 2017. (OSCE/Maria Kuchma) Enhancing the openness, transparency, inclusiveness and efficiency of lawmaking processes ODIHR works in a number of countries to strengthen lawmaking processes to ensure that laws are developed and adopted as a result of an open, transparent and inclusive process. In 2017, ODIHR consolidated its work on this topic by hosting a regional roundtable event entitled “How to Make Good Laws? Sharing Solutions to Shared Challenges”, which provided a platform for exchanging good practices and identifying needs for future work. During the year, ODIHR released its Report on the Comprehensive Assessment of the Legislative Process in Georgia, organized a workshop on public participation in the lawmaking process in Georgia and supported the development of practical tools for officials conducting public consultations and human rights impact assessments of draft legislation in Ukraine. Guidelines and resources for legislators and other relevant stakeholders ODIHR continued work with its P ­ anel of Experts on Freedom of Assembly and Association, Core Group of Experts on Political Parties, and the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), to develop new editions of the Legislative Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and the Guidelines on Political Party Regulation. These guidelines are comprehensive toolkits to assist lawmakers in drafting human rights-compliant legislation.

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