Recent and Current Events
16/03/2024
Venice - The 21st Bureau meeting of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ) convened on 16 March 2024, in Venice, alongside the 138th plenary session of the Venice Commission.
The WCCJ Bureau consists of ten regional and linguistic groups of constitutional courts and courts of equivalent jurisdiction, four courts representing the continents of Africa, the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe, as well as the host courts of the previous and the next WCCJ Congresses (Article 4(b)(1) of the WCCJ Statute).
The members of the WCCJ Bureau held an exchange of views ... read more
16/03/2024
At its 138th Plenary Session, following an exchange of views with Mr Pedro Rollán Ojeda, President of the Senate of Spain, and with Ms Isaura Leal Fernández, Second Secretary of the Bureau of the Congress of Deputies, the Venice Commission adopted the Opinion on the rule of law requirements of amnesties, with particular reference to the parliamentary bill of Spain “on the organic law on amnesty for the institutional, political and social normalisation of Catalonia”.
15/03/2024 - 16/03/2024
Venice, Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista - On 15 and 16 March 2024 the Venice Commission held its plenary session in Venice.
It had on its agenda in particular six draft opinions concerning: Bosnia and Herzegovina on certain questions relating to the functioning of the Constitutional Court; Bulgaria on the Code of Ethical Conduct for Judges and on the Code of Ethical Conduct for Prosecutors and Investigators; Hungary on the Act LXXXVIII of 2023 on the Protection of National Sovereignty; Lebanon on the draft law on the administrative judiciary; Spain on the rule of law r... read more
15/03/2024 - 16/03/2024
At its 138th Plenary Session, the Venice Commission held an exchange of views with Mr Adam Bodnar, Minister of Justice of Poland, about the restoration of the rule of law in Poland and the future cooperation with the Venice Commission. On the other hand, at the request of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission will prepare an opinion on the draft law amending the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary.
05/03/2024 - 06/03/2024
Rabat - The Venice Commission organised a training seminar on the evaluation of laws by the parliamentary institution in Rabat on 5-6 March 2024 in collaboration with the Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
By developing the capacities of parliamentarians and civil servants of the two Houses of Parliament in law evaluation, the seminar aimed to contribute to the development of quality legislation. The event brought together members of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco, academics, national and international experts and... read more
26/02/2024 - 27/02/2024
Warsaw - On 26 and 27 February, the Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, Mr Christos Giakoumopoulos and the Secretary to the Venice Commission, Ms Simona Granata-Menghini met with the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Poland, Mr Adam Bodnar, and with Ms Henryka Mościcka-Dendys, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss the rule of law reforms in preparation in Poland, notably in the context of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
Justice Minister Bodnar will participate in the 138th Plenary Session of the ... read more
23/02/2024
Tashkent/online - On 23 February 2024 the Venice Commission participated online in the Conference organised by the Ombudsman institution of Uzbekistan on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the foundation of the institute of the Authorised Person of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights (Ombudsman), on “Human Rights an important factor of the sustainable development of States”.
Ms Adele Matheson Mestad, substitute member of the Venice Commission in respect of Norway, intervened in Session 1 on the topic: ”Collaboration of national institutes on human ri... read more
21/02/2024
On 21 February 2024, a delegation of the Venice Commission conducted on-line meetings, in preparation of its draft Opinion on certain questions relating to the functioning of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This Opinion was requested by the President of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 19 January 2024.
The delegation met on-line with the President of the Constitutional Court and representatives of the EU, the Office of the High Representative and academia.
The draft Opinion is prepared under the Expertise Co-ordination Mechanis... read more
16/02/2024
Strasbourg, France – The upgraded CODICES database of the Venice Commission is now online. This comprehensive resource for constitutional case law boasts a user-friendly design, improved search functionalities, and streamlined features for academics, legal professionals, and the public alike.
While retaining its extensive repository of over 12,000 summaries (précis) of judgments submitted by courts worldwide, the upgraded CODICES introduces several key improvements:
• Intuitive interface: users can now explore the database with ease thanks to a modern and streamlined de... read more