OSCE ODIHR and international
/regional human rights law and
related case-law
Tina Gewis, Chief of Rule of Law Unit, ODIHR
Strasbourg, 20 October 2015
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OSCE Commitments & human rights
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OSCE is a regional security organisation with 57 participating
States, 10 of which are not member states of the Council of
Europe (US, Canada, Belarus, 5 Central Asian states,
Mongolia, Holy See)
ODIHR is mandated to assist OSCE participating States in the
implementation of OSCE human dimension commitments
(including human rights)
OSCE commitments reflect major international and regional
(European) human rights law & standards
Concept of “politically binding commitments”, adopted by
consensus
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ODIHR Legislative Guidelines
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Freedom of Peaceful Assembly
Freedom of Association (2014 rev.) – jointly with CoE
Venice Commission
On the Legal Personality of Religious or Belief
Communities
Guidance for policy and law-makers, containing
reference to ECtHR, UN HRC and IACtHR case-law
and intl/reg human rights standards
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ODIHR Legal Reviews - Opinions
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Upon request by participating States
Analysing draft or existing legislation on “human
dimension” topics, often jointly with CoE Venice
Commission
Assessing compliance with OSCE commitments and
intl/reg human rights obligations, as applicable
Offering recommendations to authorities
If non-CoE member states: ECHR and ECtHR case-law
as “useful and persuasive reference documents”
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OSCE ODIHR Trial Monitoring
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Assessing the compliance of court practice with
national legislation and international fair trial
standards (incl ECtHR case law, UN HRC)
Providing recommendations to national authorities
and other judicial stakeholders on how to improve
the respect for fair trial rights, both in law and
practice
Also looks at reasoning of judgments and reference
to intl/reg human rights law and case-law
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ODIHR tools on Trial Monitoring
- Legal Digest of International Fair Trial Rights (2012,
EN/RUS/FR)
- Trial Monitoring: A Reference Manual for Practitioners
(rev.2012, EN/RUS/FR)
- Handbook for Monitoring Administrative Justice (2013,
EN/RUS)
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Monitoring the Freedom of Assembly
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Initiated upon invitation by participating States
Monitoring public events / assemblies
Assessing compliance with intl/reg freedom of
assembly standards and best practices
Reference to relevant ECtHR case-law
So far, 2 public reports (2012, 2014), third round
currently ongoing
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Thank you very much
for your attention !
More info & resources on:
www.osce.org/odihr/rol
www.legislationline.org
or contact
tina.gewis@odihr.pl
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