Legislative support

Good laws should be fair, clear, easy to understand and applied equally. They should protect rights, reflect diversity, avoid discrimination and work in practice.

At the request of OSCE participating States, we review draft or existing laws to ensure alignment with international standards and OSCE human dimension commitments. ODIHR also looks at how laws are made and applied: from the initial concept, through the drafting process, to how they work in practice. Our legal reviews and lawmaking assessments flag issues, share examples of what works elsewhere and suggest steps for improvement.

ODIHR also develops legislative guidelines – often with the Venice Commission – that offer comprehensive advice to lawmakers on how to legislate on matters such as fundamental freedoms, political parties and elections.

The Core Group on Political Parties has been serving as an advisory and consultative body to ODIHR since its establishment in 2011, as part of ODIHR’s ongoing efforts to support OSCE participating States in developing and maintaining political party regulations and practices that align with OSCE human dimension commitments and relevant international and regional standards.  

It provides advice, guidance and recommendations to ODIHR, and through ODIHR to countries across the OSCE.

In this way, ODIHR helps ensure that legislation on political parties aligns with international human rights standards throughout the region.

Since 2004, ODIHR has carried out more than 500 legal reviews at the request of 37 OSCE participating States.

This infographic captures 20 Years of ODIHR Legislative Assistance in a nutshell.