OSCE holds workshop on criminal justice system reform

A workshop on reform of the Kyrgyz criminal justice system was organised by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Friday to present its findings and recommendations to the Kyrgyz authorities. "The focus of the event was on how to develop better human rights safeguards for Kyrgyz citizens and strengthen the rule of law in the country through the reform of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code laws," Dmitry Nurunov, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) rule of law coordinator for Central Asia, told IRIN from the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The meeting, held in Bishkek, brought together local government officials, parliamentarians and lawyers together with ODIHR officials to discuss recommendations proposed by experts commissioned by the ODIHR on proposed amendments to Kyrgyz criminal law. "ODIHR will present findings and recommendations of its experts who reviewed the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code of Kyrgyztan and drafted amendments to these Codes," ambassador Markus Muller, Head of the OSCE centre in Bishkek, said during the opening of the meeting. The workshop is relevant as it represents one more step in the ODIHR Legislative Assistance project to make the legislative system of this ex-Soviet republic more transparent, humane and further in line with international standards. "We encourage our Kyrgyz counterparts to take further steps to implement their commitments and ensure fairness, professionalism and adherence to human rights standards at every stage of the criminal process," asserted Muller. Monika Plated, a professor at Warsaw University and one of the experts commissioned, noted that the proposed changes and amendments to the Criminal Code reflected an overall positive approach to the development of criminal legislation, according to the ODIHR report. "The changes and amendments echo the idea that wide-scale use of imprisonment is associated with unjustified social and financial burden on the society and that differentiation of the available criminal sanctions is necessary to achieve the goals of fair justice," said the report. In addition, three more experts from Russia and the US reviewed the Criminal Procedure Code. From their findings, ODIHR prepared a summary highlighting the issues to which ODIHR would like to draw the attention of the policy makers in Kyrgyztan such as the lack of judicial control during investigation. "The proposed amendments introduce a mechanism to appeal [against] pre-trial detention orders to a judge. This is a welcome development but the issuance of pre-trial detention orders by law enforcement, and not by judicial authority, falls short of the requirements of international human rights norms, including Art. 9 (3-4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)," said the report. During his opening speech, Muller remarked: "a comparative analysis based on international standards and 'best practices' provides a constant reference for any country that embarks on criminal justice reform and sincerely strives to make this reform successful. In addition, I believe that regular open and professional discussions like today greatly help to map out plans for continuation of the reform."