OSCE Rule of Law initiative

My Fulbright Award is "Rule of Law and Civil Society."  In addition to teaching courses in Constitutional Law and Democracy and Civil Society, I am learning more about initiatives underway to strengthen rule of law in Macedonia.

Recently I had the opportunity to meet with the Chief of the Rule of Law Unit for the OSCE.  She told me about the range of activities that her unit is working on -- anti-discrimination, hate crimes and hate speech, criminal law and prosecution, Roma, gender equality, good governance, independence of judiciary, and more.

Here you can learn more about the OSCE Rule of Law initiative. There are a number of reports and videos to learn more about their work:

http://www.osce.org/mission-to-skopje/rule-of-law

As described on the website, the mission of the OSCE Rule of Law Program is as follows:

"Key priorities in this area are to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and to assist the legal reform process. Promoting the participation of all ethnic communities in public life is an important tool to secure equal access of all citizens to justice, which in turn helps strengthen democratic progress in the country. The Mission organizes train-the-trainers courses and prepares educational materials, monitors the legislative process and offers technical comments to the judiciary, provides expertise to law makers to support the legislative drafting process and also makes legal resource material available. It monitors trials of high profile cases that might have an impact on the security situation or inter-ethnic relations in the country, and helps establish an objective and merit-based system to evaluate the work of public prosecutors."


Recently, Rezarta was featured on the US Mission to OSCE facebook page:


from the facebook post:

"As part of our Women in the OSCE tribute for #IWD2017, the Chief of Rule of Law Unit at the #OSCE Office in Skopje, Rezarta Schuetz, shares her experience working in the field of justice:

“When I decided to pursue a legal career, some people noted how non-female friendly the legal profession is. Somehow, the thought had never occurred to me as a young adult at the time. I was inspired by a popular television drama (featuring a male lawyer) and failed to see why gender would make a difference. Many years later, having worked for and with the judiciary and in rule of law institutional development for the OSCE, I am surrounded by strong women (and men) who have made justice their career. Women have made justice and rule of law institutions their "turf" and transformed the profession with it. I am amazed to experience these changes as much as I am thrilled to be part of an organization which advocates a world which is fairer and more accepting to all.”