Democratization kk Migration and freedom of movement: Increased population mobility has become a major characteristic of OSCE participating States. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the arrival of full freedom of movement within the European Union, and increased global migratory pressures have all made this an even greater issue. As people move both within and between countries, migration patterns are becoming ever more complex. Regulated migration can be a positive factor contributing to democratization trends, bolstering economic and social development in both host and home countries. Activities ODIHR democratization work continues to be informed by regular consultations with international experts and human dimension staff from OSCE field operations, and by a renewed focus on institutional memory and lessons learned. During the course of 2008, ODIHR significantly developed its capacity for the provision of expertise and technical assistance in the following fields: trial monitoring, torture prevention, consolidation of the legal profession, democratic lawmaking, capacity-building for war crimes tribunals, population registration and, most recently, legislation pertaining to political parties. ODIHR’s democratization programmes can be broken down into four basic areas, corresponding to the main issues, listed above, with which they deal: kk Rule of law and legal reform kk Democratic governance and participation kk Gender equality and women’s participation kk Migration and freedom of movement I. Rule of law and legal reform oDIHR’s rule of law activities may be grouped into three clusters: (1) supplying policy makers with the information and tools necessary to ensure better implementation of OSCE commitments; (2) working with legal communities 20 Annual Report 2008 and other actors to strengthen the rule of law; and (3) co-operating with OSCE field operations, international organizations and NGOs on advancing the rule of law by sharing strategies, methodologies and good practices. ODIHR provides legislative assistance to participating States, usually in the form of reviews of draft legislation to ensure compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards. The Office also maintains a free-ofcharge online database (www.legislationline. org), which contains more than 5,000 pieces of domestic and international legislation related to the human dimension, in areas such as human rights, elections, gender and rule of law. Also available in a full Russian-language mirror version, this has become an important source for lawmakers throughout the OSCE region. ODIHR also encourages transparent and inclusive legislative processes that enable all relevant stakeholders to provide input. In addition to its programmatic work, ODIHR organized two mandated meetings in 2008 dealing specifically with rule of law and legislative issues: a human dimension Seminar on “Constitutional Justice” and a Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on “Democratic Lawmaking”. Advancing criminal justice reform The OSCE participating States have committed