Recent and Current Events
27.01.2022
The 7th coordination meeting of the UniDem project for the southern Mediterranean will take place via videoconference on 27 January 2022. This annual meeting gathers the coordinators of the following partners: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine* and Tunisia. The participants will take stock of the 2021 UniDem Med seminars and will discuss the priorities as regards the modernisation of the public administration in their respective countries. During the meeting the participants will determine the topics, dates and venues of the 2022 UniDem Med seminars.
The UniDem s... read more
24.01.2022
A representative of the Venice Commission participated in a meeting of the European cooperation network on elections, organised by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers. He intervened on the electoral standards during pandemics.
CHILE - request for opinion
24.01.2022
By letter dated 5 January 2022, the President of the Senate of Chile Ms Ximena RINCON GONZALEZ requested an opinion of the Venice Commission on certain questions related to the constitutional reform.
The draft opinion will be submitted for adoption by the March plenary session of the Commission (18-19 March 2022).
21.01.2022
By letter dated 18 November 2021, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine requested an amicus curiae brief on the limits of subsequent (a posteriori) review of Constitutional amendments by the Constitutional Court.
The draft opinion will be submitted for adoption during the 130th plenary session (17-18 March 2022).
18.01.2022
The Bureau of the Venice Commission has decided that the draft opinion on the Law on the prevention of threats to national security, associated with excessive influence of persons having significant economic or political weight in public life (oligarchs) will be submitted for discussion and adoption at its 130th Plenary Session (18-19 March 2022).
13.01.2022 - 14.01.2022
In the framework of the preparation of the urgent opinion on the draft law ‘ On local referendum”, the rapporteurs of the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR met online with the representatives of the following Ukrainian stakeholders:
- the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development and the Verkhovna Rada factions,
- the Institute of Legislation of the Verkhovna Rada,
- the Central Election Commission,
- representatives of the international community and NGOs.
The urgent opinion will be issued in due course... read more
12.01.2022
Strasbourg, Council of Europe – The newly elected President of the Venice Commission, Ms Claire Bazy Malaurie, paid a working visit to the Council of Europe on 12 January 2022.
In the course of the visit the President met with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ms Marija Pejčinović Burić. The dignitaries exchanged views on current democratic challenges faced by the Council of Europe’s member States and the assistance the Commission is providing to them.
08.01.2022
Tashkent - The President of the Venice Commission, Ms Claire Bazy Malaurie, sent a video message to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the occasion of its 30th anniversary.
In her address Ms Bazy Malaurie highlighted a very good level of the ongoing co-operation strands between Uzbekistan and the Venice Commission focusing on the strengthening and promotion of the rule of law principles in the process of modernising the country’s constitutional and legal framework.
03.01.2022
It is with deep regret that the Venice Commission announces the death of Mr Bernard Owen, a renown electoral expert.
From the beginning of the 1990s, Mr Owen was the first expert to work regularly with the Venice Commission on elections, and in particular on opinions relating to electoral legislation. He greatly contributed to the work of the Parliamentary Assembly, and then of the Venice Commission, which led to the drafting of the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, the Council of Europe's reference document in the field of elections, adopted by the Venice Commission, app... read more
30.12.2021
On 28 December 2021, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ordered the closure of Memorial International. Memorial International is an non-commercial organization which has operated in the Russian Federation since 1992 with a view to “studying political repressions in the USSR and in present-day Russia and promoting moral and legal rehabilitation of persons subjected to political repressions”. It is one of the most prominent civil society organisations active in the field of human rights protection in the Russian Federation. The closure of Memorial International appears to have been or... read more
21.12.2021
On 14 December 2021, the Chairperson of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr Michael Aastrup Jensen, requested an opinion of the Venice Commission on amendments to the Federal Law “On the Bar and the Legal Profession in the Russian Federation”.
21.12.2021
On 16 December 2021 the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Mr Karen Andreasyan, requested an opinion of the Venice Commission on the draft laws amending the Judicial Code and the Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court.
21.12.2021
On 14 December 2021 the Minister of Justice and Public of Administration of Croatia, Mr Ivan Malenica, requested an opinion of the Venice Commission on the draft law amending the Courts Act (the renewal of the security vetting of judges).
21.12.2021
On 16 November 2021, the Chairperson of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr Michael Aastrup Jensen, requested a comprehensive opinion of the Venice Commission on the constitutional and legal framework governing the functioning of democratic institutions in Serbia, taking into account the Venice Commission’s earlier opinion on the draft constitutional amendments on the judiciary.
13.12.2021 - 14.12.2021
Venice, Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista – The Special Representative of the Venice Commission Mr Gianni Buquicchio participated in the Conference of the Ministers of Justice - “Crime and criminal justice – the role of restorative justice in Europe”. The event was organised in the framework of the Italian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers.
11.12.2021
Venice/online – During the 129th plenary session the Enlarged Bureau of the Venice Commission held an exchange of views with the Presidential Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
The participants discussed the cooperation between two institutions.
10.12.2021 - 11.12.2021
Venice, Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista / online - Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 129th Plenary Session was held in a hybrid form, in Venice and online.
The Venice Commission:
- Held an exchange of views with Ms Klotilda Bushka Head of the Committee of Legal Affairs, Public Administration and Human Rights, Parliament of Albania, and adopted the opinion on the extension of the term of office of the vetting bodies for judges and prosecutors in Albania;
- Took note of a message from Ms Stephie Dracos Minister of Justice and Public Order of Cyprus (on... read more