Venice Commission publishes opinions on 10 countries

CoE/Venice Commission

The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission is publishing 13 opinions this week, which were adopted during its plenary session this past Friday and Saturday, on Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Spain, Russia, Ukraine. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were also on the agenda.

Held entirely online because of continued COVID-19 restrictions, a Venice Commission opinion recommends that Montenegro not “politicise” prosecutorial reforms currently underway.

Another opinion on the Constitutional Court reform in Ukraine welcomes certain improvements in legislation and encourages further progress.

The Venice Commission furthermore recommends that Spain reform the law on citizens’ security.

In two opinions on Georgia – jointly drafted with the OSCE/ODIHR – the Venice Commission says that reform for elections, political associations and parliament rules should be “reconsidered”. A further opinion concerning Georgia determines that electronic communications reform is not in line with European standards

The Venice Commission also determines that spontaneous peaceful assemblies are de facto banned and criminalised in Belarus.

The constitutional law experts adopted an opinion on constitutional amendments and the procedure for their adoption in the Russian Federation and an opinion concerning recommendations on draft amendments to the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina, among others.

These and other adopted opinions can be accessed on this page as they are published.

Please consult this page for more general media information about the Venice Commission.

Public Release. More on this here.