Democratization Gabriela Knaul, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, discusses ways to enhance cooperation in the strengthening of judicial independence in the OSCE region with Ambassador Janez Lenarcˇicˇ, the Director of ODIHR, at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, Warsaw, 26 September 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma) along with other international standards and recommendations on judicial independence. Building on conclusions from country-specific discussions, ODIHR offers specialized technical assistance to participating States in relation to the independence and accountability of judges. On 30 March in Bishkek, ODIHR and the OSCE Centre in Bishkek published a report on the Selection of Judges in the Kyrgyz Republic and International Standards on Judicial Independence, outlining conclusions from the 2011 training event organized for members of the Council for the Selection of Judges. The report offers recommendations on further reform of the system for selecting judges, to bring it in line with international standards and good practices on judicial independence. ODIHR hosted a workshop on reform of the performance-evaluation system for judges with the OSCE Mission to Moldova on 21 and 22 November in Chisinau. The workshop brought together judges from various levels, members of the Superior Council of Magistrates and other stakeholders in judicial reform from Chisinau and the regions. It resulted in recommendations for concrete amendments to two draft by-laws regulating the evaluation of judges’ performance in Moldova. On 26 September, Gabriela Knaul, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, addressed the 2012 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting. Likewise, she participated in a meeting with ODIHR and OSCE field missions’ representatives to exchange information and discuss enhancing co-operation in the strengthening of judicial independence in the OSCE region. Trial Monitoring OSCE commitments assign importance to trial observation as a confidence-building measure to promote transparency in the justice sector and, ultimately, improve adherence to the rule of law. ODIHR and OSCE field operations conduct trial monitoring to obtain first-hand information about fair-trial issues in individual cases, to gain a general understanding of trends in justice systems, and to contribute to judicial reform and the development of better functioning justice systems consistent with OSCE commitments. With the purpose of maximizing OSCE expertise in monitoring trials, as a contribution to the sustainability of OSCE trial monitoring programs and to enhance the substantive and methodological skills of NGOs, ODIHR finalized and launched two methodological tools ODIHR Annual Report 2012 23