ODIHR Legal Reviews, Assessments and Guidelines

Guidelines

In this section you can find all legislative guidelines developed by ODIHR to assist participating States in formulating legal frameworks that comply with OSCE commitments and other international standards. Guidelines provide good practice examples in their respective areas of specialization. Some of the Guidelines were prepared jointly with Council of Europe's European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission).

Guidelines on Political Party Regulation, 2nd edition (2020, subject to editorial changes)

These Joint OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission Guidelines on Political Party Regulation elaborates on a set of hard law an soft law standards, provides examples of good practices, assisting OSCE participating States and CoE Member States in formulating legal frameworks that regulate political parties. The Guidelines may serve public authorities, judiciary, legal practitioners, human rights defenders and others concerned with political party regulation, including political parties themselves. The Guidelines were prepared by the OSCE/ODIHRCore Group of Experts on Political Parties, together with the Council of Europe's (CoE) European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) and the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).

Making Laws Work for Women and Men: A Practical Guide to Gender-Sensitive Legislation (2017)

ODIHR’s Making Laws Work for Women and Men: A Practical Guide to Gender-Sensitive Legislation looks at the legislative process as a vital entry point for gender mainstreaming, while taking into account the direct and tangible impact of legislation on people’s lives. The Guide is primarily intended for members of parliament and parliamentary staff, and aims to offer practical guidance on what gender-sensitive legislation is, why it is important, what it consists of and how it can be integrated it into routine parliamentary work.

Joint Guidelines for Preventing and Responding to the Misuse of Administrative Resources During Electoral Processes (2016)

The Guidelines are aimed at assisting national lawmakers and other authorities in adopting laws and initiating concrete measures to prevent and act against the misuse of administrative resources during electoral processes. Therefore, they are not intended as a set of hard rules. The guidelines among others build upon the OSCE/ODIHR’s election observation findings and recommendations in respect of the misuse of administrative resources.

Guidelines on Freedom of Association (2014)

The joint OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission Guidelines on Freedom of Association aim to offer advice and expertise on how to legislate on freedom of association-related matters, in a manner that is compliant with international human rights standards and OSCE commitments. They also reflect evolving good state practices, and are intended to enhance awareness of the above right in general. They will offer a practical toolkit to legislators tasked with drafting laws which regulate or affect associations, but also to associations, members of associations and human rights defenders, to support advocacy in this field of human rights law.

Guidelines on the Legal Personality of Religious or Belief Communities (2014)

The purpose of these Guidelines is to ensure that those involved in drafting and applying legislation in the area of the freedom of religion or belief, including civil society representatives, have at their disposal a benchmark document containing minimum international standards in the area of recognition of religious or belief communities. The document does not seek to challenge established agreements between states and religious or belief communities but, rather, to delineate the legal framework that would ensure that communities wishing to do so have a fair opportunity to be granted legal personality, and that the criteria established are applied in a non-discriminatory manner.

Guidelines for Reviewing a Legal Framework for Elections (2013)

These guidelines detail the components of a legal framework governing elections and the relevant standards for democratic elections. They are intended to contribute to uniformity, reliability, consistency and accuracy in the review and preparation of electoral legislation. Therefore these guidelines can provide guidance to both reviewers of electoral legislation and to national authorities when they draft or amend election-related documents.

Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (2nd edition) (2010)

The Guidelines offer a practical toolkit for legislators and practitioners responsible for implementing laws by drawing on good-practice examples from national legislations in European and OSCE participating States and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights to illustrate the various legislative options used to regulate issues pertaining to the freedom of assembly.

Guidelines on Political Party Regulation (2010)

These Guidelines on Political Party Regulation have been created as a tool to assist OSCE participating States and Council of Europe Member States in formulating legal frameworks that comply with OSCE commitments and other international standards in facilitating the proper establishment, development and functioning of political parties.

Guidelines on the Implementation of the Law on Freedom of Assembly of the Republic of Azerbaijan (2008)

These Guidelines are primarily based on the OSCE/ODIHR Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (March 2007). However, they also draw upon recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights in relation to cases under both Article 11 and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights; on examples of good practice in relation to the regulation and policing of assemblies in a variety of countries; and on a number of reports that have been published in response to outbreaks of violence in relation to public assemblies.

Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (2007)

These Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly together with the Interpretative Notes were prepared by the Panel of Experts on Freedom of Assembly of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in consultation with the European Commission for Democracy though Law (the Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe.
The Document takes into account comments received from members of the Venice Commission who were consulted on an initial draft of these Guidelines.

Guidelines for Review of Legislation pertaining to Religion or Belief (2004)

These Guidelines for Review of Legislation Pertaining to Religion or Belief were prepared by the members of the Advisory Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion and Belief (Panel) of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in consultation with the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe.