Principles and Standards

The Assembly Standards are related to the following guiding principles:

1. Democracy is for everyone.
2. The process should be organised in a fair and credible way.
3. In a democracy, people are the sovereign.
4. The aim of democracy is to improve the quality of life.
5. The purpose of a citizens’ assembly is to achieve high quality, well thought-out decisions.

The Assembly is organised in accordance with the following standards:

1) random selection of Assembly Members – random selection is carried out in two stages: the first is inviting randomly selected residents to participate, and the second is selecting at random the final group of participants, including alternates. Every member of the population of Mostar who is eligible to take part in the Assembly can potentially receive an invitation;

2) demographic representativeness of the Assembly – the composition of the Assembly should broadly match the demographic profile of Mostar. The aim is to create a microcosm of the city. The size of the group allows for inclusion of a wide diversity of views. A stipend is provided to all Assembly Members;

3) independence of the Coordinating Team to lead the Assembly – the Coordinating Team has the final call regarding process decisions, provided they are in accordance with these Assembly Standards;

4) Assembly Members can decide to invite additional Experts and Witnesses;

5) the widest practical range of perspectives (opinions) is included in the learning phase of the Assembly – if there are diverse solutions and perspectives on a subject, ideally all of them should be presented during the learning phase of the Assembly (by Expert speakers and/or Witnesses). A method of combining perspectives due to time constraints or other practical considerations may be applied. Presentations may take the form of a video stream, a recording, a written note or other medium;

6) inclusion of all Stakeholders in the Assembly – any organisation, state or local government, informal group or institution whose area of work and expertise is related to the topic of the Assembly has the right to present its opinion to the Assembly Members. The role of the Coordinating Team is only to verify whether the Stakeholders meet the criteria laid out in the Rulebook, in which case they are accepted automatically. Due to limited time and a potentially large number of Stakeholders, a method of choosing their representatives (by the Stakeholders themselves) may be used. In this case, a diversity of perspectives should be taken into account;

7) the Assembly Program includes deliberation by Assembly Members – discussions which include listening to others mindfully and weighing options are a key element of the Assembly. The Program should involve discussions in small groups as well as in plenary sessions to maximise opportunities to speak and to be heard. The deliberation phase should be prepared and run by skilled facilitators;

8) openness – all Mostar residents are able to provide input to the Assembly in the form of written comments, proposals or suggestions;

9) sufficient time for reflection by Assembly Members – providing a sufficient amount of time for reflection is necessary to achieve well thought-out decisions. Assembly Members should be able to prolong their meetings – their length and number – if they choose to do so (subject to budgetary limits and the required number of Assembly Members available to participate);

10) transparency – all presentations during the learning phase are transmitted live and are recorded. All materials presented to the Assembly are made available online. After the Assembly is finished, a report presenting details of the methodology used for organising the Assembly is provided and published by the Coordinating Team;

11) visibility – residents of Mostar are informed that the Assembly is taking place. Information on how they can get involved and follow it is provided.