STRENGTHENING JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE AND PUBLIC ACCESS TO JUSTICE IND

The Human Dimension Seminar on Strengthening Judicial Independence and Public Access to Justice (Warsaw 17-19 May 2010) provided a forum for representatives of the participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), experts, and civil society actors to address some of the key issues related to judicial independence and public access to justice, including: judicial administration with a special focus on judicial councils; selection of judges, criteria and procedure; accountability of judges; and public access to justice.

Judicial independence and public access to justice are important requirements for the rule of law in the human dimension. Seminar participants shared their experiences, discussed many challenges, and proposed solutions to help address these challenges.

The keynote speaker, introducers and moderators of the working group sessions made a particularly valuable contribution to the discussions.