DUSHANBE, August 11, Asia-Plus - Open, informed and professional debates about different criminal justice systems in the OSCE region and studying experience of other countries in the OSCE region were aims of a week-long Summer School on Criminal Justice in Central Asia, which is ending in the Kazakh city of Almaty yesterday.

According to information from the OSCE Center in Dushanbe, 25 criminal justice practitioners from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan participated at this School.  The course provided them an opportunity to learn from leading criminal justice experts from Germany, the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.  The experts shared with the pariciaptns their views and debate key issues in criminal justice reform.

The School is concluding with a roundtable on "Criminal Justice in Central Asia: Current Trends and Prospects for Further Development" to debate key issues including prosecutorial reform, plea bargaining and restorative justice.

            The event was staged by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).  The course was held under financial support of Germany and the United Kingdom.