Elections and referendums, political parties
Since its creation in 1990, the Venice Commission has been active in the electoral field, through the adoption of opinions on draft electoral legislation (more than 160 by the end of 2022), as well Codes of good practice, guidelines and documents of a general character (70 by the end of 2022), organisation of annual Conferences of Electoral Management Bodies, Scientific Electoral Expert Debates and pre- or post-election seminars. The Commission also provided legal advice to members of the Parliamentary Assembly who carried out observation missions.
The Commission co-operates closely with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR). Most opinions relating to electoral legislation are drafted jointly by these two organisations.
Among the States that have co-operated regularly with the Commission in the electoral field one can cite such countries as Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The Commission has also been active in a number of other States, including the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, Croatia, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, the Swiss cantons, as well as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Mexico. Since 2020, its opinions have dealt with legislation concerning elections, referendums and political parties in Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Hungary, the Republic of Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Mexico, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The Venice Commission also works on questions pertaining to referendums, both from a general point of view and in specific instances. For example, it was involved in Montenegro regarding the referendum on independence and in the Italian Autonomous Province of Trento, and, recently, in Iceland, Serbia and Ukraine.
In order to give electoral laws stability and to further the construction of the European electoral heritage, the Venice Commission and the Council of Democratic Elections developed the principles of the European electoral heritage, in particular by drafting the “Code of good practice in electoral matters" and the “Code of good practice on referendums”. These are reference documents of the Council of Europe, approved by the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and supported by the Committee of Ministers. They are widely referred to in Venice Commission opinions and in reports of other international organisations as well as in judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. They have a significant impact on national legislation and its implementation, in Europe and beyond. Indeed, the fact that several non-European countries have become full members of the Commission and that co-operation programmes have been developed with other countries, in particular in Central Asia, Southern Mediterranean and Latin America, has contributed to spreading the standards and expertise of the Venice Commission all over the world.
The Commission organises the Conferences of Electoral Management Bodies, as well as comparative seminars. In 2016, it launched the Scientific Electoral Expert Debates, jointly with the Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania. A second edition of these debates took place in 2018. The third edition took place in 2021, on the accessibility of the electoral process. The Commission organises seminars for electoral management bodies, before and after elections, to assist these administrations in the preparation of the elections, respectively to draw lessons from them.
The Commission also provides legal advice to the Parliamentary Assembly’s electoral observation missions. For example, in 2022, it took part in three electoral observation missions, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Serbia.
The Commission’s work in the field of elections is governed by the Council for Democratic Elections - the only tripartite body of the Council of Europe, consisting of representatives of the Venice Commission, PACE and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
In addition to its electoral activities, the Venice Commission is also working on the question of functioning of political parties, which play a fundamental role in democratic life. As their role is essential in ensuring the proper functioning of democracy, political parties should benefit from a number of guarantees. Therefore, the Commission adopted several crucial documents on these issues.
More information on the Venice Commission’s activities in the electoral field:
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* The VOTA database provides access to the electoral legislation and relevant constitutional provisions of all Venice Commission members, observers and other States which participate in the Commission’s work. It also includes basic Venice Commission documents, opinions and studies in the electoral field. Documents are available in English, French or Spanish. VOTA offers an additional tool in the form of the systematic thesaurus, which makes it possible to search the database under specific topics, such as electoral systems or election funding. VOTA was created by the Venice Commission Secretariat and is maintained in co-operation with the Mexican Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF).