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> Who We Are & What We Do > Regional and National Networks > Regional and International Organizations > Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

• Organizations
  
  • Commonwealth
  • Non-Aligned Movement
  • African Union (AU)
  • African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP)
  • Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
  • Monetary and Economic Community of Central Africa (CEMAC)
  • The Indian Ocean Commission (Commission de l’Océan Indien)
  • Andean Community
  • Organization of American States (OAS)
  • Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
  • Rio Group
  • Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
  • Pacific Islands Forum
  • South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
  • Council of Europe
  • European Union
  • Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
  • Gulf Cooperation Council
  • League of Arab States

While the OSCE has no mandate over the International Criminal Court (ICC), its different institutions, e.g. the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and the OSCE field offices, have a great potential in furthering the fight against impunity for serious international crimes.

A resolution on the ICC was adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE in July 2003, which recognises the Court as an instrument of “vital importance not only for accountability and lasting justice, but also for peace and security” and which calls on the OSCE participating states to make their ratifications meaningful by incorporating into national laws “the most progressive definitions of all crimes under international law”.

The ODIHR is the principal institution responsible for the promotion of human rights and democracy in the OSCE region. Since the year 2000, the European office of the CICC has participated in ODIHR annual Human Dimension Implementation meetings to raise awareness on the ICC and to address the importance for OSCE participating states of full adherence to and support of the ICC. This forum has also provided the occasion to organize side events on the ICC, which have always attracted many country delegates and NGO representatives.

Through its field missions spanning crucial regions of the world, the OSCE seeks to promote the rule of law, inter alia by training of judges, prosecutors, lawyers, police and correctional officers, as well as through projects on criminal justice reform and legislative review, seeking to bring domestic laws in line with OSCE commitments and other recognized international standards. The CICC has repeatedly made calls upon the OSCE and the ODIHR to work in close cooperation with governments, regional organizations, non-governmental organizations and other interested actors to incorporate in their daily work the implementation of the Rome Statute into national law, as part of its mandate to strengthen domestic judicial systems.