almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

Introduction
Each country chapter contains a concise introduction to the relevant security sector
and the dominant context of reforms. This includes an overview of key security sector
actors, focusing on descriptions of different security sector control and oversight
mechanisms existing in a country and the interactions among them. Authors were
asked to pay specific attention to identifying and explaining the place and functioning
of those oversight and control mechanisms that are seen to be unique within
the region in terms of their mandate, position, structure, or practice (e.g. Citizens
Council for Police Oversight in Montenegro or military ombudsperson in BiH) and the
mechanisms which are missing. This was followed by discussion of the emergence and
functioning of these mechanisms with reference to the specific national context and
legacies which framed SSR. Previously, the project partners had published separate
publications focusing on the analysis of the socio-political context within which this
reform had been carried out since the fall of Communism in 1989. 2
The authors were asked to provide streamlined analysis of the key patterns regarding
development and functioning of the democratic accountability mechanisms in their
respective country. The authors tried to describe and explain the current situation
regarding the performance of oversight mechanisms and the level of accountability
they produce. Special attention was paid to identifying gaps between policy and practice.
For that purpose, the authors critically reviewed the research findings collected
during the mapping phase of the project under the different mapping criteria 3 . They
were also encouraged to identify more specifically, with reference to the generic components
of the grading system (i.e. lacking or inadequate legislation, lack of administrative
and management capacity, inappropriate value system or under-developed
practice), the weakest aspects of reform. However, the authors did not attempt to
provide an exhaustive inventory of all findings for all research areas. Rather, the focus
remained on producing a coherent analysis that highlights only the most relevant and
notable findings related to security sector accountability in the state under consideration.
Therefore, the editors required from the authors to highlight features of security
sector governance, which seem to be persistent over time and any new/different patterns
of governance developed in recent years.
2 All partners also published their context analysis publications online. They are available at:
Albania: www.idmalbania.org/context-analysis-chronology-security-sector-reform-albania-1991-2009
BiH: http://css.ba/images/docs/context%20analysis%20of%20security%20sector%20reform%20in%20
bih.pdf
Croatia: www.imo.hr/node/1341
Kosovo: http://qkss.org/new/index.php?section=news&cmd=details&newsid=198&teaserId=11
Macedonia: http://www.analyticamk.org/images/stories/files/cassrm_mk.pdf
Montenegro: http://www.cedem.me/index.php?IDSP=1408&jezik=lat
Serbia: http://www.ccmr-bg.org/Books/3975/Context+Analysis+of+the+Security+Sector+Reform+in+Ser
bia+1989-2009.shtm
3 The different criteria analyzed during the mapping phase of the project were: the Legal State, Oversight
by Independent State Bodies, Judicial Review, Parliamentary Control and Oversight, Executive
Control and Oversight, General Transparency, Financial Transparency and Representativeness.
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Almanac on Security Sector Oversight in the Western Balkans