The six areas addressed are Human Resource Management, Conflict of Interest, Access to Information, Public Procurement, Whistleblowers’ Protection and Improper Superior Orders. The information is based on the comparative study and the underlying methodology developed by the Institute of Comparative Law from Belgrade, Serbia* and Mr. Zhani Shapo (Director, Shapo Consulting - Policy & Research Consultants) from Albania. The comparative study takes into account the relevant legal frameworks (constitution, primary and secondary legislation), without going into the actual practices which, naturally do not depend solely on the quality of the legal framework, but perhaps even more so on the social context and political culture of each country.

The scope and depth of information collected and presented is influenced by the fact that CIDS in its work focuses primarily on the Building Integrity efforts in the context of national defence and security sector reforms, but also on comparing the state of play in the security sector with the reformatory efforts and achievements in the general civil service, in order to facilitate and promote their mutual alignment and foster the observance of integrity standards across the public sector. 

The data presented represents CIDS’ contribution to a better understanding of the issues, challenges, achievements and, overall, dynamics within the defence and security sector reforms in the so-called transitional countries. 

We hope that the wealth of data provided here will benefit, first and foremost, those who make decisions in the mentioned fields but also groups such as defence/security professionals, analysts, academic researchers, and students. 

* Throughout the inputs developed by the Institute of Comparative Law, the designation of Kosovo was used  without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence