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Calendar of Events
Recent and current events | Programme | Archives

Recent and current events

Finland – Seminar on "Constitutional Design"   21/05/2012 - 22/05/2012

Helsinki - The Venice Commission, the Helsinki Faculty of Law and the International Association of Constitutional Lawyers (IACL) organise a seminar on "Constitutional Design"

Asia - Constitutional Justice   20/05/2012 - 24/05/2012

Seoul - Inaugural Congress of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions on Present and Future of Constitutional Justice in Asia"

OSCE/ ODIHR – Political parties   17/05/2012

Warsaw - Representatives of the Venice Commission participate in the annual meeting of the OSCE/ ODIHR in the field of political parties

Ibero-American Conference of Constitutional Justice   16/05/2012 - 19/05/2012

Cadiz, Spain - IXth Ibero-American Conference of Constitutional Justice on "Presidentialism and parliamentarism in constitutional jurisprudence".

Countries of Portuguese Language - Constitutional Justice (attention, dates changed!)   15/05/2012 - 16/05/2012

Maputo, Mozambique - Conference of Constitutional Courts of Countries of Portuguese Language.

Hungary – forthcoming opinion on the Act on the rights of nationalities – country visit   16/05/2012

Budapest - A delegation of the Venice Commission went to Budapest as part of preparation of a legal opinion on the Act on the rights of nationalities, requested by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The delegation met with representatives of competent authorities within the executive and legislative branches as well as with the representatives of national minorities in Hungary.

The adoption of the opinion by the Venice Commission is on the agenda of the June plenary session (Venice, 15-16.06.2012).

International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL) - Round Table   04/05/2012

Belgrade - The President of the Venice Commission takes part in a Round Table at the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL) on "main developments in constitutionalism and constitutional law between 1981 and 2011".

Armenia - Parliamentary elections - Legal assistance to the observation mission of the Parliamentary Assembly   03/05/2012 - 07/05/2012

Yerevan - At the request of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Venice Commission ensures legal assistance to the Election Observation Mission of PACE in the context of the parliamentary elections of 6 May 2012.

A 24-member delegation of the PACE, headed by Baroness Nicholson (United Kingdom, ADLE), observes the conduct of these elections, together with observers from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE.

The delegation meets with heads of political parties concurring in the elections or their representatives, the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, civil society and media representatives, before observing the ballot on 6 May.
Composition of the delegation

Serbia - Parliamentary, presidential and regional elections - Legal assistance to the observation mission of the Parliamentary Assembly   03/05/2012 - 07/05/2012

Belgrade - At the request of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Venice Commission ensures legal assistance to the Election Observation Mission of PACE in the context of the parliamentary and presidential elections of 6 May 2012.


A 20-member delegation of the PACE, headed by M. Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco), observes the conduct of these elections.

Russia - Consultation meeting of the Venice Commission Rapporteurs with representatives of the authorities of the Russian Federation with regard to the Federal Law on the Federal Security Service and the Federal Law on Extremism of the Russian Federation.   27/04/2012

Paris - At the request of the Chair of the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, the Venice Commission is currently finalising its legal assessment of the above-mentioned laws. The two draft opinions will be submitted for adoption to the Venice Commission’s 91st plenary meeting in June 2012.

Turkey - Constitutional Justice   25/04/2012 - 26/04/2012

Ankara - The Venice Commission will participate in the Symposium on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of Turkey.

Azerbaijan - Presentation of the opinion of the Venice Commission on the Law on the NGOs of Azerbaijan   19/04/2012 - 20/04/2012

Baku - A conference is organised in order to present the Opinion prepared by the Venice Commission and the Expert Council of OING on the Law on the NGOs in Azerbaijan.
Text of the opinion

Morocco - Visit of the President of the Venice Commission   17/04/2012 - 18/04/2012

Rabat - The President of the Venice Commission will be on an official visit. Mr Buquicchio is meeting with the Secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several high officials to discuss future cooperation activities.

Constitutional Justice   13/04/2012 - 14/04/2012

Yerevan - Conference of Secretaries General of Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Bodies on two themes: (1) Procedural time-limits and (2) the reaction to the negative critique of court judgments

Hungary - forthcoming opinion on the legislation on the prosecution service - country visit   04/04/2012

Budapest – A delegation of the Venice Commission visited Budapest in preparation of an opinion on the legislation on the prosecution service, requested by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The opinion is expected to be adopted at the 91st plenary session of the Venice Commission (15-16 June 2012).

Kazakhstan - Study visit for staff of the Central and Regional Electoral Commissions of Kazakhstan to the Council of Europe   03/04/2012 - 05/04/2012

Council of Europe, Strasbourg - A study visit for staff of the Central and Regional Electoral Commissions of Kazakhstan to the Council of Europe on "The Council of Europe standards in the field of elections and recent developments related to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights on elections", organised by the Venice Commission.

The participants will follow closely the work of the Venice Commission, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and other bodies and services of the Council of Europe in the field of electoral standards.

This activity is organised in the framework of a joint project “Support to the election process in Kazakhstan” funded by the European Union and implemented by the Venice Commission.

Tunisia – study visit by members of the NCA   29/03/2012 - 30/03/2012

Strasbourg / Karlsruhe - A delegation of 12 Tunisians from the National Constituent Assembly came to Strasbourg for discussions at the Council of Europe, followed by meetings in Karlsruhe, Germany, at the Federal Supreme Court and the Federal Constitutional Court.

This study visit took place within the framework of Tunisia’s constitutional reform.

Morocco - Intercultural Workshop on Democracy   29/03/2012 - 30/03/2012

Marrakech - 1st Intercultural Workshop on Democracy with the Moroccan Association of Constitutional Law, the International Association of Constitutional Law and the Constitutional Council of Morrocco on "Constitutional Processes and Democratic Processes, Experiences and Perspectives".
Programme and papers presented

Electoral issues – assistance to the Central Electoral Commissions – 3d Eastern Partnership Facility meeting   26/03/2012 - 27/03/2012

Kyiv - The Venice Commission co-organises with the Central Election Commission of Ukraine the third Eastern Partnership Facility meeting, financed by the European Commission.

The meeting is devoted to the voters' lists and registers management.

Albania - Roundtable on Election Administration   26/03/2012 - 27/03/2012

Tirana - The Venice Commission takes part in a Round Table on Election Administration organised by the Special Committee on Electoral Reform, which addresses the two following topics: New Voting Technologies and Election Administration.

Kazakhstan - Mission of assistance to the Central Electoral Commission of Kazakhstan   26/03/2012 - 29/03/2012

Astana - In the framework of a joint project "Support to the election process in Kazakhstan" funded by the European Union and implemented by the Venice Commission, an expert will take part in a meeting with the project partner, Central Electoral Commission of Kazakhstan, to prepare the proposals for the programmes of training of trainers’ seminars as well as a draft plan of the report on problems encountered during the early parliamentary elections of 2012.

Hungary – SG Jagland meets PM Orban – follow-up to the Venice Commission opinions   21/03/2012

Budapest - Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland is in Budapest for talks with the Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán. The Secretary General will also be meeting Tibor Navracsics, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration and Justice, and János Martonyi, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Secretary of the Venice Commission Thomas Markert will also participate in the visit.

The talks will focus primarily on the Venice Commission reports on the independence of the judiciary and religious freedom, and the Council of Europe assessment of media freedom in Hungary.

A press conference with Secretary General Jagland and Deputy Prime Minister Navracsics is scheduled for 4 pm in the Parliament building.

For media inquiries:

Daniel Höltgen
Spokesman of the Secretary General
Tel.: +33 3 90 21 50 20
Mobile: +33 6 68 29 87 51
Email: daniel.holtgen@coe.int
Opinion on the independence of the judiciary
Opinion on the freedom of religion

Tunisia - Seminar on the independence of the judiciary   21/03/2012 - 22/03/2012

Tunis - The Venice Commission and the Department for the independence and efficiency of Justice of the Council of Europe organised in cooperation with the Trade union of the Tunisian judges and the Union of the administrative judges, a seminar on the independence of the judiciary.

The participants had an opportunity to have in-depth discussions, in particular about
• the constitutional guarantees of the independence of the judiciary,
• the judiciary councils,
• the judges' career and
• statutory guarantees.

This seminar was organised in the framework of the European Union programme « Strengthening democratic reform in the Southern Neighbourhood »

Hungary - Request for opinion – Transitional Provisions of the Constitution   20/03/2012

Paris - the Monitoring Committee of the PACE decided on 13 March 2012 to request the Venice Commission’s opinion on the Transitional Provisions of the Fundamental Law of Hungary as adopted by the Hungarian Parliament on 31 December 2011.

Ukraine - electoral issues - new law on parliamentary elections   19/03/2012 - 20/03/2012

Kiev - The Venice Commission and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine organised a roundtable on the implementation of the new law on parliamentary elections in Ukraine. MPs, members of the Central Election Commission, the administrative court judges and NGOs met on this occasion. The participants discussed various issues including the organisation of territorial electoral commissions, constituencies, the election campaign and disputes.

Kyrgyzstan - Judiciary   19/03/2012 - 20/03/2012

Bishkek - A member of the Venice Commission participated in the Judiciary Dialogue and discussions with the Parliament's judiciary working group organised by the EU-UNDP Parliament project.

90th plenary session of the Venice Commission (Venice) 16/03/2012 - 17/03/2012

The Commission:

- adopted the joint opinion by the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR on the compatibility with universal Human Rights standards of the amended law on mass events in the Republic of Belarus;

- held an exchange of views with Mr Robert Repassy, Minister of State for Justice of Hungary, and adopted the opinion on the laws on the status and remuneration of judges and on the organisation and administration of Courts in Hungary, with amendments;

- held an exchange of views with Mr Csaba Latorcai, Deputy State Secretary for Minority and Non-govermmental Relations of Hungary, and adopted the opinion on Act CCVI of 2011 on Freedom of Conscience and Religion and the Legal Status of Churches, Denominations and Religious Communities of Hungary, with amendments;

- held a preliminary discussion on the draft Law on Free access to information and on the draft Law on amendments to the law on classified information of Montenegro;

- held an exchange of views with Mr Igor Kapyrin, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the Council of Europe, with Ms Natalia Ityguilova Chief Counsellor, Section of public associations and political parties, Department of non-profit organisations of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Ms Yulia Manakhova, Chief of Section, Constitutional Legislation Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, and adopted the opinions on
-
o the Federal Law on Election of the Deputies of the State Duma, with amendments;
o the Federal Law on Political Parties of the Russian Federation, previously adopted by the Council for Democratic Elections on 15 March 2012, with amendments;
o the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on meetings, rallies, marches and pickets, with amendments;

- Held an exchange of views with Mr Kapyrin, Ms Manakhova and Mr Maxim Musikhin, Chief of Section, Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and decided to postpone the examination of the draft opinions on the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the Federal Security Service (FSB) and on the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on Combating Extremist Activity until the June 2012 session, in order to clarify certain legal issues with the Russian authorities;

- Adopted the report on measures to improve the democratic character of elections in the Council of Europe member states, previously adopted by the Council for Democratic Elections on 15 March 2012;

- Noted that Mr Ciril Ribicic and Ms Dragica Wedam Lukic had been appointed as member and substitute member of Slovenia respectively, for a term of four years;

- Was informed on follow-up to the joint opinion by the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR on the draft law on amendments and additions to the organic law of Georgia on political unions of citizens (CDL-AD(2011)044rev), to the joint opinion by the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR on the draft election code of Georgia (CDL-AD(2011)043) and to the opinion on the concept paper on the establishment and functioning of a constitutional assembly of Ukraine (CDL-AD(2011)002);

- Was informed by
o Mr Hanafy Gebaly, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Constitutional Courts and Councils, on the reform process taking place in Egypt;
o Mr Malek Twal, Secretary General, Ministry of Political Development of Jordan, on the political reform process in that country and on possible co-operation with the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission;

- Heard an address by
o Mr Issam Sleiman, President of the Constitutional Council of Lebanon, on the constitutional situation in that country;
o Mr Rui Moura Ramos, President of the Constitutional Tribunal of Portugal, on recent constitutional developments in that country;

- Was informed on
o recent constitutional developments in Tunisia;
o the Meeting of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (Istanbul, 24 February 2012);
o the results and conclusions of the Conference on “the Rule of Law as a practical concept” (London, 2 March 2012);

- Adopted the annual report of activities for 2011;

- held an exchange of views with representatives of the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe;

- fixed the dates of the next sessions as follows: 15-16 June 2012; 12-13 October 2012 and 14-15 December 2012.
Adopted documents

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