TIRANA, 21 November 2002 - A regional discussion on the monitoring of criminal trials brought legal personnel from the six OSCE field missions across south-eastern Europe together in Tirana this week. The conference, held on 18 and 19 November, was hosted by the OSCE Presence in Albania together with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). It was aimed at sharing information between legal personnel from the missions about their trial monitoring activities, with a view towards developing best practices across the whole south-eastern European region. The discussion also focused on ODIHR support to the missions' activities, through co-ordination of regional technical level meetings, regional and mission-specific training, as well as by the creation of a centralised database. As well as representatives of the Presence in Albania, the meeting attracted personnel from the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, the OSCE Mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the OSCE Mission to Croatia, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje. While recognising the different mandates and resources of the six missions, the participants concluded that identifying and focusing training on best practices throughout the region would help all of them to promote the protection of the fundamental human right to a fair trial. In addition, the participants identified the need for attention to cross-border monitoring through inter-mission co-operation for cases and trials transferred between countries, especially for war crimes. As part of the conference, the group took a tour of the Tirana District Court led by its Chairman, Sokol Çomo. The group was favourably impressed with the new facilities and computerised docket system, as well as an informative discussion on the Albanian judicial system led by which he led. For further information, please contact: Dinka Zivalj Press and Public Information Office OSCE Presence in Albania Rr. Donika Kastrioti, Vila 6 Tirana Albania GMT +2 Tel.: +355-4 23 59 93 ext. 123 Fax: +355-4 23 59 94 E-mail: oscespok@icc-al.org Latest news from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) - http://www.osce.org
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