The Venice Commission: How It Works?

• 10.24.2015, 20:46
•  Info

At the 104th Plenary Session of the Venice Commission, which took place on October 23-24, the opinions on Constitutional amendments in Armenia based on the comments of Venice Commission members were unanimously approved. In their comments the experts welcomed the work of the commission on constitutional reforms and noted that due to "open dialogue with the Venice Commission" important changes were made in the text of the reforms, adding that the document is in line with international democratic standards. 

The Venice Commission, officially called the European Commission for Democracy through Law, is an advisory body of the Council of Europe on constitutional law, created in 1990. Despite the fact that its permanent secretariat is based in Strasbourg (France), at the headquarters of the Council of Europe, its plenary sessions are being held in Venice (Italy) – from here comes the name of the Commission. Sessions are held four times a year - in March, June, October and December. 

As it is written on the official website of the Council of Europe, The Commission has 60 member states: the 47 Council of Europe member states, plus 13 other countries (Algeria, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Mexico, Peru, Tunisia and the USA). Associate member of the Commission is Belarus, observers are Argentina, Vatican, Canada, Uruguay, Japan. The Commission is also working with the Palestinian Authority, the European Union and South Africa. The European Commission and OSCE/ODIHR participate in the plenary sessions of the Commission.

Each participating country appoints an expert for the Commission with a term of four years. The Commission works in three areas:

• Democratic institutions and fundamental right
• Constitutional justice and ordinary justice
• Elections, referendums and political parties.

The Venice Commission’s primary task is to assist and advise individual countries in constitutional matters in order to improve functioning of democratic institutions and the protection of human rights. The document can be submitted to the committee by the State concerned, another State with the consent of the country that receives the document, as well as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The conclusions of the Commission are widely used by the PACE as a reflection of "European standards" in the sphere of democracy.