The Venice Commission's primary task is to give legal advice to individual
countries on laws that are important for the democratic functioning of
institutions. Generally, the request for an opinion is made by the state itself.
The Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress of Local
and Regional Authorities of the Council Europe and the Secretary General, or any
international organisation or body participating in the Venice Commission’s work,
may also make a request for an opinion.
The working method
The working method adopted by the Commission when providing opinions is to
appoint a working group of rapporteurs (primarily from amongst its members)
which advises national authorities in the preparation of the relevant law. After
discussions with the national authorities and stakeholders in the country, the
working group prepares a draft opinion on whether the legislative text meets the
democratic standards in its field and on how to improve it on the basis of
common experience. The draft opinion is discussed and adopted by the Venice
Commission during a plenary session, usually in the presence of representatives
from that country. After adoption, the opinion becomes public and is forwarded
to the requesting body.
Non-directive approach
Although its opinions are generally reflected in the adopted legislation, the
Venice Commission does not impose its solutions, but adopts a non-directive
approach based on dialogue. For this reason the working group, as a rule, visits
the country concerned and meets with the different political actors involved in
the issue in order to ensure the most objective view of the situation.
Conflict resolution by providing legal advice
A political agreement settling a conflict should be supported by a viable
legal text. It may also be possible for an agreement on a legal text to foster a
political solution. For this reason the Venice Commission pays particular
attention to countries which are going through or have gone through
ethno-political conflicts.
In this context, at the European Union’s request, the Venice Commission has
played an important role in developing and interpreting the constitutional law
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Serbia
and Montenegro as well as that of the province of Kosovo. It has also been
involved in efforts to settle the conflicts on the status of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia in Georgia and Transnistria in Moldova.
