Recent and Current Events
20/11/2019 - 22/11/2019
Council of Europe, Strasbourg – The Venice Commission is invited to participate in the Octopus Conference 2019: "Cooperation against Cybercrime" organised by the Council of Europe department in charge of the action against cybercrime.
The Venice Commission co-organises Workshop No. 5 dedicated to "Cybercrime, “fake news” and election interference", where several representatives will intervene on behalf of the Commission.
20/11/2019 - 21/11/2019
Warsaw – A representative of the Venice Commission will participate in the 14th annual Implementation Meeting of the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation. The event is hosted by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
The meeting will host a High Level Panel on new trends in elections and how to observe them, followed by six thematic sessions focusing on:
• the follow up to electoral recommendations,
• citizen observation of elections,
• the use of technology in elections,
• the role of social me... read more
17/11/2019
Minsk - A delegation of the Venice Commission accompanied the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) election observation delegation to advise on the legal framework of the of the early parliamentary elections held on 17 November 2019 in Belarus.
The delegation observed the opening, voting and counting processes of the elections.
PANAMA – Electoral issues
13/11/2019 - 14/11/2019
Panama City – The Venice Commission is invited to participate in the XIVth Inter-American Meeting of Electoral Management Bodies. The event is co-organised by the Electoral Tribunal of Panama and the Organisation of American States. A representative of the Venice Commission will intervene on good practices in electoral reform processes.
11/11/2019 - 12/11/2019
Kyiv - In the framework of the preparation of the opinion on recent amendments to the legal framework in Ukraine governing the Supreme Court and judicial self-governing bodies, a Venice Commission delegation participated in a series of meetings which took place in Kiev, from 11 to 12 November 2019.
This opinion will be discussed at the December 2019 Plenary session of the Commission (6-7 December 2019, Venice).
07/11/2019 - 08/11/2019
Sofia - a delegation of the Venice Commission visited Sofia to discuss with the authorities and other stakeholders the draft amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and the Judicial System Act concerning criminal prosecutions against the Prosecutor General and two chief judges.
The draft opinion is on the agenda of the plenary session of December 2019.
06/11/2019 - 08/11/2019
Los Cabos - A delegation of the Venice Commission participated in the 3d Plenary Assembly of the Global Network of Electoral Justice debating on mechanisms of representation, equal access to electoral justice and democracy and corruption.
05/11/2019
Tunis - The Venice Commission organised a meeting with representatives of Tunisian independent bodies on the presentation of the independent bodies' diagnosis by independent experts Ms Neila Chaabane and Mr Chafik Sarsar.
This meeting was an opportunity to discuss some issues related to the finalisation of the normative framework of the bodies as well as their establishment and operation, analysing the achievements, lessons learned and recommendations. The question of independence and especially the budgetary issues was discussed in the light of the new texts related to independent... read more
04/11/2019 - 06/11/2019
Amman - The Venice Commission, in cooperation with the Prime Ministry of Jordan /Institutional Performance and Policy Department and the General Personnel of Palestine*, organised the 10th UniDem Med Regional Seminar entitled "Leading Innovation in the Civil Service : from Rule of Law Standards to Leadership ".
This seminar brought together senior officials and experts from Europe and five Southern Mediterranean partner countries (Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine* and Tunisia) to exchange best practices in terms of innovation and leadership in the civil service based on the resp... read more
BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA – forthcoming opinion – country visit
04/11/2019 - 05/11/2019
Sarajevo – a joint delegation of the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR paid a visit to Sarajevo to discuss with the authorities and other stakeholders the legal framework governing the right to freedom of assembly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in its two entities and Brčko district.
The draft joint opinion is on the agenda of the plenary session of December 2019.
31/10/2019
Strasbourg – The President of the Constitutional Court of Korea and the President of the Venice Commission discussed bi-lateral co-operation as well as co-operation between the Secretariat for Research and Development of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and the Venice Commission.
30/10/2019 - 30/10/2019
Council of Europe, Strasbourg - The President of the Commission Mr Buquicchio presented the Venice Principles on the ombudsman institutions at the plenary session of the Congress of the Council of Europe.
The statement was followed by a debate and a vote on the draft resolution CG37(2019)15. The Congress subsequently endorsed the Commission's text.
30/10/2019
Council of Europe, Strasbourg - the Deputy Secretary of the Venice Commission met with a high-level delegation of the Philippines to exchange views on possible cooperation.
29/10/2019 - 29/10/2019
"I have been closely following the situation in Armenia for several months already.
I am very preoccupied about the open conflict between on the one side the Government and Parliament and on the other side the Constitutional Court.
The quick succession and mediatisation of recent events do not contribute to a serene settlement of the problems.
In a Democracy, the parliament is the depositary of popular sovereignty and thus enjoys the highest democratic legitimacy. The constitutional court is a safeguard institution, entrusted with upholding constitutional values.... read more
28/10/2019 - 29/10/2019
Strasbourg - The Venice Commission, in co-operation with the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) and the European Commission for the efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) organised the 7th Intercultural Workshop on Democracy on " The High Councils for the Judiciary and the independence of the judiciary”.
This regional event was organised under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and it was opened by Mr Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Venice Commission.
The 7th Intercultural Workshop on Democracy was held in... read more
24/10/2019 - 25/10/2019
Kiev – A delegation of the Venice Commission travelled to Kiev in the framework of the preparation of the draft opinion on the Law on Ensuring the Functioning of Ukrainian as the State Language.
The delegation exchanged views with representatives of the Ukrainian authorities and different political parties represented in Parliament as well as civil society and international community.
The draft opinion, requested by the Chairperson of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, is on the agenda of the December plenary session.
24/10/2019
Council of Europe, Strasbourg - The President of the Commission met with the Speaker of the Moldovan parliament to discuss recent developments in the country as well as future collaboration.
24/10/2019
Council of Europe, Strasbourg - the President of the Commission met with the President of the Verkhovna Rada and discussed the current situation in Ukraine and some pending reforms in the country.
23/10/2019 - 24/10/2019
Rabat - The Venice Commission organised in cooperation with the Ombudmsan Institution of the Kingdom of Morocco, along with the Association of Ombudsman and Mediators of the Francophonie (AOMF) as well as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie, a conference on “Children’s rights, a priority for parliamentarians and ombudsman of the Francophonie”.
The conference was an opportunity to present the Venice Commission’s report on children’s rights in constitutions, the Lanzarote convention and the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe CM/Rec(2019)1... read more
16/10/2019
By letter of 7 October 2019, M. Turcan, the President of the Constitutional Court of Moldova, requested an amicus curiae opinion of the Venice Commission concerning a pending application which challenges the constitutionality of some provisions of the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office.
11/10/2019 - 12/10/2019
Venice, Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista - The Commission
- Held an exchange of views with Mr Taulant Balla, member of the Assembly of Albania, and with Ms Ilda Zhulali, Adviser to the President of the Republic of Albania, and adopted the opinion on the scope of the power of the President to set the dates of elections, previously jointly examined by the Sub-Commissions on Democratic Institutions and on Latin America as well as by the Council for Democratic Elections on 10 October 2019;
- Held an exchange of views with Ms Klothilda Bushka, member of the Assembl... read more
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