Venice Commission :: Council of Europe

Endorsement of the Joint Assessment of the Revised Draft Election Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan of 28 November 2002 by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE and the European Commission for Democracy though Law (Venice Commission, Council of Europe)

Joint assessment

ECHR

14/12/2002

Adoption of the Opinion on the Implementation of the Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights

Opinion

Kyrgyzstan

14/12/2002

Adoption of the Opinion on the Draft Amendments to the Constitution of Kyrgyzstan

Opinion

Liechtenstein

14/12/2002

Adoption of the Opinion on the Amendments to the Constitution of Liectenstein Proposed by the Princely House of Liechtenstein

Opinion

53rd Plenary Meeting of the Commission (Venice)

13/12/2002 - 14/12/2002

The Commission, following a request from the Parliamentary Assembly, examines the constitutional situation in Liechtenstein where two initiatives for amending the Constitution have been launched, one by the Princely House and the other by a citizens’ initiative.
Following a request from the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Commission will also examine the constitutional amendments proposed for Kyrgyzstan.
Other issues include future co-operation with Ukraine and Serbia and Montenegro on revising their constitutions and the draft law on national minorities of Croatia. The Comm... read more

2nd Meeting of the National Co-ordinators of UNIDEM Campus (Strasbourg)

06/12/2002 - 06/12/2002

UniDem Campus

06/12/2002

Meeting of national co-ordinators
Strasbourg

Photo of the podium

Latvia

04/12/2002

At a Conference on the Judicial System in Latvia, sponsored by the Latvian Ministry of Justice and UNDP, Mr. Lavin (member, Sweden)) presents the Commission’s Opinion on the Draft Law on Judicial Power and Corresponding Constitutional Amendments (Riga)

Opinion of the Venice Commission

Photo of Mr. Lavin presenting the opinion

Constitutional justice -Romania

29/11/2002 - 30/11/2002

Seminar on "Relations between the Constitutional court end the Parliament".

This activity is organised in co-operation with the Romanian fundation for democracy through law and the Constitutional court of Romania.

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Hungary, Members

28/11/2002

Reappointment of Mr Lászlo SÓLYOM as member and Mr Péter Paczolay as substitute member of the Commissioni in respect of Hungary

Conférence sur "La Cour constitutionnelle, garant du respect de la Constitution : problèmes et perspective" (Tirana)

25/11/2002 - 25/11/2002

Constitutional Justice - Albania

25/11/2002

Colloquium on "The Constitutional Court as a guarantor of the Respect of the Constitution: Problems and Perspectives" at the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Court (Tirana)

Opening speech by Mr G. Buquicchio

photo of the President of the Constitutional Court of Albania

photo of participants

Electoral issues - Albania

22/11/2002 - 23/11/2002

Round table on complaints and appeals in electoral matters, co-organised with OSCE/ODIHR. This round table implied the bipartisan commission which works on electoral matters and then allowed a dialogue between the various political groups

Electoral issues

21/11/2002 - 22/11/2002

The Council for Democratic Elections and the Venice Commission were represented at the meeting of national correspondents on e-voting which was held in Strasbourg

Constitutional justice - Kyrgyzstan

21/11/2002 - 22/11/2002

Seminar on the protection of human rights; in co-operation with the Constitutional Court (Bishkek)

Meeting with the President of Kyrgyzstan

Photo of the Photo of participants

Presidium

Constitutional Justice

15/11/2002 - 16/11/2002

Seminar on "The impact of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights on the activity of the Constitutional Courts of Central and Eastern Europe" organised by the Research Group on the Law and Transition in Eastern Europe of the University of Clermont-Ferrand (GRDT). Judge Klucka, Slovak member of the Venice Commission, presents a report on the Commission's activities relating to the abolition of the death penalty. A cooperation agreement between the GRDT and the Commission with the objective to publish opinions of the Commission in the Revue de Justice constitutionnelle est-européenn... read more

Constitutional Justice

14/11/2002 - 15/11/2002

19/10/2002

Adoption of the Opinion on the Code of Good Practice in Electorial Matters: Guidelines and Explanatory Report

Opinion

52nd Plenary Meeting of the Commission (Venice)

18/10/2002 - 19/10/2002

The Commission will examine draft opinions on recent amendments to the Constitution of one of the two Entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republika Srpska, on the electoral laws of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Croatian law on protection of minorities, the draft Law on the Judicial system of Latvia, the Ombudsman law of Luxembourg as well as several laws of Moldova. It will also discuss proposals to amend the constitutions of Mexico and Romania and the proposed Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro.

Constitutional Justice - Armenia

04/10/2002 - 05/10/2002

Seminar on "International Experience and Perspectives of Human Rights Protection before the Constitutional Court"; in co-operation with the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (Yerevan)

Constitutional Justice - Romania

03/10/2002 - 05/10/2002

10th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of Romania (Bucharest)

Romania - constitutional revision

01/10/2002 - 02/10/2002

The working group of the Venice Commission on the constitutional revision in Romania will meet in particular with Ms Rodica Stanoiu, Minister of Justice, Mr Valer Dorneanu, President of Parliament, and the members of the Commission for the revision of the Constitution. (Bucharest)

Constitutional Justice - Estonia

27/09/2002 - 29/09/2002

Seminar "Continuity of the Estonian Constitution over the Past Ten Years"; organised in co-operation with the Ministry of Justice of Estonia

The Ministry of Justice of Estonia organises this conference on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Estonian Constitution. The first part of the event will deal with the evolution of the constitutional institutions; the second part will open a debate on possible developments of the main legal text of the country.

10 years ago the Venice Commission provided its expertise on the first draft of the Constitution of Estonia. Tt... read more

Electoral issues

26/09/2002 - 28/09/2002

Annual Conference of the Association of Central and Eastern European Election Officials (ACEEEO) on "International legal standards and practice in Europe in the domain of elections".

This 11th annual conference is organised by ACEEEO, the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation and the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES).

Remodeling of the existing European electoral standards in a single international document seems to be in full conformity with the political spirit of nowadays. Such a text could represent a fresh impetus to the efforts to... read more

UniDem Campus - Trieste

23/09/2002 - 27/09/2002

Seminar on "Human Rights protection in Europe: the Council of Europe, the EU, the OSCE and the UN systems"

The UNIDEM campus in Trieste is meant for civil servants of 9 countries of South-East Europe. Each country sends 3 legal professionals, working in areas that will be dealt within the framework of the seminar. This session is devoted to different mechanisms of protection of fundamental rights and will focus on their complementary character as well as on their implementation on the national level.

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Electoral issues

17/09/2002 - 18/09/2002

The Venice Commission is represented at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, more precisely in the discussion regarding the current status of international standards for democratic elections. (Warsaw)

Democratic institutions - Azerbaijan

16/09/2002 - 17/09/2002

Seminar on the Importance of the creation of the institution of Ombudsman in Azerbaijan and its role in the general mechanism of the Azerbaijani democracy; in co-operation with the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (Baku)

Electoral issues

14/09/2002 - 17/09/2002

Global workshop on universal electoral rights of the handicapped (Sigtuna, Sweden)

Handicapped people are among the most politically, economically and socially marginalized in the world. This workshop seeks to identify clear guidelines articulating the universal voting rights of citizens with disabilities.

The event is co-organised by the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). It is sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and is carried out ... read more

Serbia and Montenegro

30/07/2002

Representatives of the Venice Commission held an exchange of views with members of the Constitutional Commission charged with drafting the Charter for the future union of Serbia and Montenegro. The Charter is being elaborated under the March 2002 agreement between the FRY's two entities. The initial draft, prepared by the Venice Commission following the EU's request, has already been accepted as one of the basic texts for the Constitutional Commission's work. The first exchange of views took place on 16 July this year.

The Commission played an important role in developing the cons... read more

05/07/2002 - 06/07/2002

Electoral issues

03/07/2002

2nd meeting of the Council for Democratic Elections (including representatives of the Venice Commission, the Parliamentary Assembly and the CLRAE) (Italy, Venice)

The Council for Democratic Elections will be invited in particular to adopt guidelines in electoral matters, realising the European electoral heritage.

Constitutional Justice - Moldova

17/06/2002 - 18/06/2002

Seminar in co-operation with the Constitutional Court on "The Competencies of the Constitutional Court and its Role in Society" (Chisinau)

The Venice Commission is organising this seminar in co-operation with the Constitutional Court of Moldova. A key element of the seminar will be the discussion on the new Draft Law on the Constitutional Court of Moldova and corresponding constitutional amendments on the basis of comments by the rapporteurs of the Venice Commission. The results of the seminar will be presented to the plenary session of the Commission on 5-6 July in Venice.

UniDem - Italy

14/06/2002 - 15/06/2002

Seminar on "The Resolution of Conflicts between the Central State and Entities with Legislative Power by the Constitutional Court" in co-operation with the Constitutional Court of Italy (Rome)

The unitary state is becoming less and less a conventional model and federalism and regionalism are thus high on the agenda of the Commission. So too are the issues of constitutional justice, without which any Constitution would today be considered a lex imperfecta. In federal and regional states and other states comprising entities with legislative powers (autonomous regions), the Constituti... read more

Minorities

07/06/2002 - 08/06/2002

International colloquium on the protection of national minorities by their kin-State (Greece, Athens).

Experts from several countries, where legislation on kin-minorities exists, as well as representatives of institutions such as the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Advisory Committee for the Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, have discussed this sensitive issue together with members of the Venice Commission in the course of a two-day colloquium. The event came as a follow-up to the Venice Commission's report on the same topic, adopted in Oct... read more

Report

Cyprus - New members

06/06/2002

Appointment of Mr Panayiotis KALLIS as member, and of Mr Petros CLERIDES as substitute member of the Commission in respect of Cyprus

Georgia

03/06/2002 - 04/06/2002

Seminar in co-operation with the Constitutional Court of Georgia on basic problems of constitutional control - organisation and procedure (Batumi)

Constitutional Justice

31/05/2002

19th meeting of the Sub-Commission on Constitutional Justice (Larnaca)

The Venice Commission held the 19th meeting its Sub-Commission on Constitutional Justice together with liaison officers from constitutional courts and equivalent bodies on 31 May in Larnaca hosted by the Supreme Court of Cyprus. The main topics of the meeting have been the co-operation with constitutional courts in other regions (francophone countries, Southern Africa, Latin America), the publication of the Bulletin on Constitutional Case-Law and the evaluation of a new, expanded version of the Commission's CODI... read more

Bosnia and Herzegovina

23/05/2002 - 24/05/2002

Conference in co-operation with the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on "Effective remedies for the protection of human rights : the role of the constitutional court" (Sarajevo)

Belgium - Member

23/05/2002

Reappointment of Mr Jean-Claude SCHOLSEM as member of the Commission in respect of Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina

17/05/2002

Publication of the Opinion on the Status and Rank of the Ombudsman Institution in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, based on the comments of the rapporteurs

Opinion

Electoral issues

16/05/2002 - 17/05/2002

Participation in a round table on Electoral Legislation Reform in Armenia, organised by the OSCE, the Council of Europe and National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) (Yerevan). Please see document CDL-AD(2002)7.

Georgia - new substitute member

16/05/2002

Nomination of Mr Konstanitn KORKELIA as substitute member of the Commissioni in respect of Geogia

Germany - Members

15/05/2002

Reappointment of Mr Helmut STEINBERGER as member and Mr Georg NOLTE as substitute member of the Commission in respect of Germany

Austria - new substitute member

14/05/2002

Nomination of Mr Christoph GRABENWARTER as substitute member in respect of Austria

Austria - Member

14/05/2002

Reappointment of Mr Franz MATSCHER as member of the Commissioni in respect of Austria

Lithuania - New substitute member

13/05/2002

Nomination of Ms Živilė LIEKYTE as substitute member of the Commission for Lithuania

Lithuania - Member

13/05/2002

Reappointment of Mr Kęstutis LAPINSKAS as member of the Commission in respect of Lithuania

Iceland - New substitute member

10/05/2002

Nomination of Mr Magnus K. HANNESSON as substitute member of the Commission in respect of Iceland

Iceland - Member

10/05/2002

Reappointment of Mr Hjörtur TORFASON as member of the Commission in respect of Iceland

Electoral issues

10/05/2002 - 11/05/2002

Participation in a conference" E-voting and European Parliamentary Elections", organised by the European University Institute and the University of Geneva (Florence)

Ireland - New Substitute member

06/05/2002

Nomination of Mr James HAMILTON as substitute member of the Commission in respect of Ireland

Ireland - New Member

06/05/2002

Nomination of Ms Finola FLANAGAN as member of the Commission in respect of Ireland

Albania - Member

05/05/2002

Reappointment of Mr Luan OMARI as member of the Commission in respect of Albania

Turkey - New substitute member

02/05/2002

Nomination of Mr Erdal ONAR as substitute member of the Commission in respect of Turkey

Turkey - Member

02/05/2002

Reappointment of Mr Ergun ÖZBUDUN as member of the Commission in respect of Turkey

Romania - New members

30/04/2002

Nomination of Ms Rodica-Mihaela STĂNOIU as member and of Mr Alexandru FARCAŞ and Mr Bogdan AURESCU as substitute members of the Commission in respect of Romania

Finland - Members

30/04/2002

Reappointment of Mr Kaarlo TUORI as member and of Mr Matti NIEMIVUO as substitute member of the Commission in respect of Finland

Luxembourg - New member

30/04/2002

Nomination of Ms Lydie ERR as member of the Commission in respect of Luxembourg

France - New members

29/04/2002

Appointment of Mr Olivier DUTHEILLET DE LAMOTHE as member, and of Mr Alain LANCELOT as substitute member of the Commission in respect of France

Norway - Member

29/04/2002

Reappointment of Mr Jan HELGESEN as member of the Commission in respect of Norway

Switzerland - Member

26/04/2002

Reappointment of Mr Giorgio MALINVERNI as member of the Commission in respect of Switzerland

Switzerland - New substitute member

26/04/2002

Nomination of Mr Heinrich KOLLER as substitute member of the Commission in respect of Switzerland

Spain - New substitute member

25/04/2002

Nomination of Mr Pedro GANZALEZ TREVIJANO as substitute member of the Commission in respect of Spain

Spain - Member

25/04/2002

Reappointment of Ms Carmen IGLESIAS CANO as member of the Commission in respect of Spain

Greece - Members

24/04/2002

Nomination of Mr Dimitri CONSTAS as member and Ms Fani DASKALOPOULOU LIVADA as substitute member in respect of Greece

Italy - Members

April 2002

Reappointment of Mr Antonio LA PERGOLA as member and of Mr Sergio BARTOLE as substitute member of the Commission in respect of Italy

Sweden - Members

12/04/2002

Reappointment of Mr Rune LAVIN as member and of Mr Hans-Heinrich VOGEL as substitute member of the Commission in respect of Sweden

UniDem

05/04/2002 - 06/04/2002

Seminar on "The Post-Communist State : the Construction of an Idea" (Paris)

Programme

Romania

18/03/2002 - 19/03/2002

Meeting of the Working Group on the revision of the Romanian Constitution (Bucharest)

Lithuania

15/03/2002 - 16/03/2002

Baltic-Nordic regional conference on "Interpretation and Direct Application of the Constitution" (Vilnius)

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Serbia and Montenegro

14/03/2002

On 14 March 2002 the President of Yugoslavia, Mr Kostunica, the Prime Minister of Serbia, Mr Djindjic, the President of Montenegro, Mr Djukanovic, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Mr Vujanovic, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia, Mr Labus, signed "Proceeding Points for the restructuring of relations between Serbia and Montenegro". This documents contains the main principles for transforming the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into "Serbia and Montenegro". The signing was witnessed by EU High Representative, Javier Solana, who initiated the negotiations and had a key role for ensuring... read more

Test of the document

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Ukraine

09/03/2002

Adoption of the Opinion on the Resolution on the Principles of the State Policy of Ukraine in the Sphere of Human Rights Adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 17 June 1999

Opinion

Bosnia and Herzegovina

09/03/2002

Adoption of the Opinion on the Draft Law on Civil Service in Governmental Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Opinion

Croatia

09/03/2002

Adoption of the Consolidated Opinion on the Law on the Election of Members of the Representative Bodies of Local and Regional Self-Government Units of Croatia

Opinion

Belgium

09/03/2002

Adoption of the Opinion on Possible Groups of Persons to which the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities could be applied in Belgium

Opinion

50th Plenary Meeting of the Commission (Venice)

08/03/2002 - 09/03/2002

The Venice Commission has invited European Commission President Romano Prodi to participate in its 50th session. On 9 March, he will give a speech on cooperation between the two institutions and on the future European Constitution. The participants will examine in particular the situation of minorities in Croatia, in the presence of the Deputy Justice Minister, as well as recent developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Moldova.

Electoral issues

07/03/2002

First meeting of the working group on electoral issues (Venice)

Bosnia and Herzegovina

01/03/2002

Meeting on Minority protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Paris)

Statute

21/02/2002

Adoption of the Revised Statute of the European Commission for Democracy through Law by the Committee of Ministers

Revised Statute

Slovenia - Member

19/02/2002

Reappointment of Mr Peter JAMBREK as member of the Commission in respect of Slovenia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

30/01/2002

Request for an opinion by the Ombudsman of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the rank and status of the ombudsman

Constitutional Justice

25/01/2002 - 27/01/2002

Meeting of the Presidents of the courts members of the Association of Constitutional Courts Using the French Language - ACCPUF. Signature of the Protocol to the Co-operation Agreement between the Venice Commission and ACCPUF (Djibouti).

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