24/06/2020
In May 2020, the Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Mr Dmytro Razumkov requested an opinion of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe on the draft Law on democracy through all-Ukrainian referendum.
In the framework of preparation of the draft opinion, experts from the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR participate in consultations with the Ukrainian stakeholders from 19 to 25 June 2020. On June 24, 2020 experts met with deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, chairmen of profile Committees of the Verkhovna Rada and members of the working group on drafting the Law. The meeting took place online (videoconference).
In April 2018, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine had declared the previous Law on the all-Ukrainian referendum of 2012 unconstitutional. This decision created a legal gap as to regulation of all-Ukraine referendums foreseen in the Constitution of Ukraine. On 9 June 2020, the President of Ukraine, Mr Volodymyr Zelensky, introduced a draft Law of Ukraine "On Democracy through an All-Ukrainian Referendum" to the Parliament. Already on 18 June it was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in first reading.
It is planned that the opinion prepared by experts from the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the OSCE (ODIHR), was approved in urgent procedure and sent to the Ukrainian Parliament before the second reading scheduled for the second half of July.