This document lists over 150 NGOs working in the field of access to justice in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan who have joined the EBL network.

The EU Strategy for Central Asia was introduced in 2007 to upgrade the EU’s cooperation with the five states of the region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Concerns in the EU over energy security and the war in Afghanistan dominated the political context at that time. But the strategy sought to take a broad and comprehensive approach, with priority actions addressing political dialogue, education, economic development, energy and transport links, human rights and the rule of law, drug trafficking, environmental sustainability and water, among other matters.

Into EurAsia – Monitoring the EU’s Central Asia Strategy offers the first assessment of this ambitious plan, undertaken by independent analysts from the EU and Central Asia within the context of the EUCAM project. The role of Russia, China, the US, Turkey, Iran and the other major players, as well as the current state of politics and economics in the region are all analysed through the prism of the EU Strategy.

In 2008, in line with its ‘Strategy for a New Partnership’ with Central Asia, the European Union agreed with the Republic of Kazakhstan to establish an annual human rights dialogue, and its first round was held on 15 October 2008 in Astana. An agreement was also reached that prior to the second round of the official dialogue a civil society human rights seminar will be held in Kazakhstan, and as planned, the European Commission organized it on 29-30 of June 2009 in Almaty. The Seminar was well attended by 95 persons, comprised of 65 civil society participants and 30 observers, including representatives of six various state agencies and the judiciary of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The topics discussed during the Seminar related to the law on administrative responsibility in Kazakhstan, the judicial system, conditions of detention and the use of alternatives to imprisonment. During a lively and constructive discussion, participants addressed international standards, European best practice, national laws and their practical application. The Seminar provided an opportunity for an exchange of views between European and Kazakhstani civil society representatives, academics and state officials.

The Seminar resulted in elaboration of detailed recommendations to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on legislative and practical changes needed in order to ensure full compliance with international and national standards relating to the topics of the Seminar.

The report presents an overview of the situation in the country using the results of the most significant research and analysis conducted in Kyrgyzstan over the last five years in areas related to the well-being of children.This report is the product of a desk review of key reports, studies, surveys and evaluations produced between 2005 and 2010 in the area of child rights in Kyrgyzstan by UNICEF and development partners.Kyrgyzstan has had mixed results in its efforts to meet its commitments envisaged in the Millennium Development Goals and the Millennium Declaration. In 2009 it was reported that target benchmarks had already been reached for some indicators for the MDGs, including those for reducing extreme poverty, though a series of shocks in recent years threaten to reverse these achievements.

The report offers an overview of juvenile justice in Cental Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. The report found there is a lack of data on juvenile justice due to lack of transparency and poor data collection. The minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) is generally set suitably high (at 14–16 years).The period between arrest and conviction is a ‘twilight zone’, due to the lack of clear information about children arrested and held in police custody or pre-trial detention. Although the use of alternative community-based sentences is being increasingly reported, the placement of children in ‘protective custody’ is a sign of a failing system of care. While awareness is growing for the need for prevention and rehabilitation, action is limited. The common approach of giving children the same type of adult sentences, but shorter – often deemed to be showing ‘leniency’ – is not necessarily in the best interest of the child. In every country in Eastern Europe and Central Asia the juvenile justice systems need to be reformed, if not created. Despite these shortcomings the authors are confident that the juvenile justice systems can be reformed.

A report on the conditions within Kyrgyz prisons. The report covers numerous aspects of human rights including prison conditions, medical services, capital punishment and the use of torture. The report makes the following recommendations:
1. The transition from the barracks-type camp conditions of holding convicts to the cell placement principle should be established as a strategic direction of development for the penitentiary system.
2. A considerable scale of financial abuse and corruption is one of the most important factors subject to consideration in restructuring the system and establishing priorities and volumes of efficient donor assistance.
3. Although the penitentiary system needs a dramatic increase of funding in order to prevent its professional destruction, demoralization and physical demolition it should be borne in mind that many problems can and should be resolved without attracting additional funds, by way of improving the quality of management at the local level.
4. In parallel with ensuring higher norms of living space for respective categories of individuals deprived of freedom it is necessary to declare this in the Programme and to secure legally internationally accepted minimum standards of living space per prisoner.

Although the Kazakhstani judiciary labors under a negative Soviet legacy, the support for reform within the rank and file of the judiciary is notable in Central Asia. All too often, Central Asia is viewed as a monolith. But in recent years especially, the five Central Asian republics have each moved in their own separate directions. Though Kazakhstan is by most measures developing far faster and successfully than its neighbors, it continues to struggle with the challenge of how best to develop judicial capacity that can meet the needs of its citizenry and those of the increasing number of foreign investors.

At the 2008 Helsinki Ministerial Council Meeting, the OSCE participating States adopted a Decision on Further Strengthening the Rule of Law in the OSCE Area" (MC.DEC/7/08). Proposed by Germany and a number of other participating States, it called for a particular engagement with this topic as well as for contributions to projects and programmes in a total of thirteen areas relating to the rule of law.

This working paper was commissioned by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. It describes the gradually evolving definition of rule-of-law promotion in the OSCE from 1973 to the present day and describes relevant OSCE structures. It also presents the results of a survey carried out by CORE among those responsible for the rule of law in the field operations in April and May 2009. It ends with conclusions and recommendations on the OSCE's promotion of the rule of law in terms of events, personnel questions, topics, and guidelines.

This brief paper describes the varied means by which countries have granted legal recognition to customary property rights and institutions, which is part of a growing recognition that colonial land systems failed to remove customary practices. Specifically, it describes the governing legislation and experiences implementing relevant provisions of those laws for seven sub-Saharan African countries: Botswana, Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, and Mauritania. The paper further illustrates the adoption of customary dispute resolution systems in the Kyrgyz Republic. Rather than conducting a review of the theoretical debates on the interface between customary and statutory tenure, this briefing note builds on new empirical evidence from recent experience.

International Legal Alliances – Microjustice for All (ILA) is an international network organization, registered in The Netherlands, with a supporting back office in The Hague. This handbook presents lessons drawn from ILA programs and presents best practices from Bolivia, Peru and Serbia. The report presents ILA's vision of access to justice for the world's poorest billion, it's strategy and methodology for achieving this.