In order to secure the rule of law principles, it is necessary to establish not only modern state constitutions but also to implement additional measures on a level subordinate to constitutional law. In this context, the procedural law (civil, criminal and administrative procedural law), in particular, is of vital importance. Its ability to secure the fundamental rights has not yet been acknowledged by all the south-eastern European transformation countries.

 

The promotion of criminal procedural law based on rule of law principles is among the target work areas of the RLP SEE as it is directly related to the guarantees of fundamental rights and securing those rights, as well as to the guarantees of the European and universal Human Rights Conventions.

 

Administrative procedural law, like criminal procedural law and constitutional procedural law, is indispensable for the establishment and consolidation of a democratic constitutional state, because it has a function of safeguarding fundamental rights and thus the rule of law. The development of the administrative procedural law is a task which applies to all the countries in the region. Administrative procedural law is underdeveloped in all the post-communist countries. This is based on the understanding or non-understanding of the relationship between the individual and the state in these countries during the communist regime. A totalitarian state is unfamiliar with the concept that the individual may claim individual rights in front of the state. During the communist regimes in the countries of the region, administrative procedural law did not exist as a means to enforce the rights of the citizen against the state. The RLP SEE seeks to create awareness of this important function of administrative procedural law and to promote possible approaches to reform.

 

Apart from this, the greatest deficits lie with the citizen’s access to the judicial bodies, the duration of the proceedings as well as the efficiency of the law courts. Technical institutions of development cooperation make a big effort to support the countries of the region in basing the infrastructural grounds for efficient court and administrative proceedings. The RLP SEE accompanies these institutions with measures for promoting transparency and efficiency in court and administrative proceedings, the fight against corruption, and for an intensified civil participation.