At its 97th plenary session (11-12 October 2013, Venice), the Commission

• -      

  The Commission

  -          Paid tribute to the late Mr Peter Schieder, former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe;

  -          Elected Mr Peter Paczolay, former member in respect of Hungary, as Honorary President of the Venice Commission;

  -          Adopted the opinion on legislation pertaining to the Protection from Defamation of Azerbaijan, following its consideration by the Sub Commission on Fundamental Rights on 10 October 2013;

  -          Adopted the amicus curiae brief for the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the compatibility with the non-discrimination principle of the selection of the Republic Day of the Republika Srpska, following its consideration by the Sub Commission on Fundamental Rights on 10 October 2013;

  -          Held an exchange of views with Ms Tinatin Khidasheli and with Mr Ako Minashvili, Members of Parliament of Georgia, and adopted the opinion on the draft constitutional laws amending two constitutional laws amending the Constitution of Georgia;

  -          Held an exchange of views with Mr Vitaliy Bilous, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and with Mr Andriy Kozhemiakin, Head of the Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement of the Verkhovna Rada, and endorsed the joint opinion by the Venice Commission and the Directorate for Human Rights on the Law on the Public Prosecutor's Office;

  -          Held an exchange of views with Ms Inna Yemelyanova, First Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine and adopted the joint opinion by the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR on draft amendments to the law on the election of the People's Deputies and other related laws of Ukraine;

  -          Held an exchange of views with Mr Larbi Abid, Second Deputy Speaker of the National Constituent Assembly of Tunisia, and with Mr Habib Kheder, General Rapporteur, and adopted the opinion on the final draft constitution of Tunisia;

  -          Adopted the joint opinion by the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR on the draft law amending the law on non-commercial organisations and other laws of the Kyrgyz Republic;

  -        Endorsed the opinion on draft amendments to three constitutional provisions relating to the Constitutional Court, the Supreme State Prosecutor and the Judicial Council of Montenegro, previously transmitted to the national authorities;

  -       Adopted amendments to its Rules of Procedure and took decisions aimed at improving its working methods;

  -          Endorsed the compilations of Venice Commission opinions concerning Freedom of Religion and belief and concerning Political Parties;

  -         Held an exchange of views with representatives of the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe;

  -  Was informed on follow-up to :
  

  • the opinion on the Draft Law on the Courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina;

• the Amicus curiae brief for the Constitutional Court of Moldova on the immunity of judges;

• the Opinion on the draft law on the amendments to the Constitution strengthening the independence of Judges and

• the opinion on changes proposed by the Constitutional Assembly to the Constitution of Ukraine;

- Was informed on :

• -       the results and conclusions of the meeting of the Joint Council on Constitutional Justice, held on 8-9 October 2013;

• -       the process of constitutional reform in Romania and on the Commission's involvement in this process;

• -       progress in the preparation of the opinion on the so-called laws on "foreign agents" and on "treason" of the Russian Federation, requested by the Parliamentary Assembly;

• -       the progress of the preparation of the study on the protection of Children’s rights in Constitutions, as a contribution to the Council of Europe programme “Building a Europe for and with children”;

• -       constitutional developments in Armenia, Cyprus and Kazakhstan and on co-operation with Morocco;

- Confirmed the dates of its final 2013 session on 6-7 December 2013 and fixed the dates for the 2014 sessions as follows:

• 21-22 March 2014;

• 20-21 June 2014;

• 17-18 October 2014;

• 12-13 December 2014.