Shortly after our delegation returned from Bishkek, we were delighted to welcome a return visit: from 21 to 23 May 2025, a group of high-ranking officials and experts from the Kyrgyz Republic, including Minister of Justice Ayaz Baetov, visited Vienna.

The study trip took place as part of the JUST4ALL project, was accompanied by the project team and began with a visit to the LBI-GMR premises. A warm welcome from our Scientific Director and Professor of Fundamental and Human Rights at the University of Vienna, Michael Lysander Fremuth, and our Administrative Director, Patricia Mussi-Mailer, was followed by a professional exchange with the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office. The programme also included meetings with representatives of the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) in Laxenburg and with probation service experts from the Neustart association. A pleasant evening at a traditional wine tavern rounded off the programme.

The highlight was a presentation of the JUST4ALL project on 23 May 2025 during the 34th session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ). Speakers included UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly, the Minister of Justice, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and the Deputy Prosecutor General of Kyrgyzstan, as well as Patricia Mussi-Mailer. The speakers unanimously emphasised the pioneering role that Kyrgyzstan now plays in Central Asia in terms of justice reform and highlighted the central role of the JUST4All project.

The project “Supporting Justice Reform in the Kyrgyz Republic: Promoting Probation and Integrated Justice Information Management (JUST4ALL)” is a four-year project co-funded by the European Union and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and implemented by the UNODC in partnership with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR). It promotes the humanisation of the criminal justice system in the Kyrgyz Republic and aims to improve the country’s capacity to implement its criminal justice reforms in line with international standards and norms as well as European best practices. The two main components of the project concern the following areas of criminal justice reform: probation and information management.