Venice Commission :: Council of Europe

The Commission
- Paid tribute to the victims of the terror attack on Algeria of 11 December;
- Elected Mr Jan Helgesen, member in respect of Norway, as President of the Commission for a term of 2 years from the present session;
- Adopted the opinion on the draft law on “freedom of religion, religious organisations and mutual relations with the State” of Albania;
- Endorsed the comments on article 301 of the criminal code of Armenia;
- Held an exchange of views with Messrs Fuad Alesgerov and Chingiz Askarov, Administration of the President of Azerbaijan, and adopted the opinion on the draft amendments to the law on freedom of assembly of Azerbaijan;
- Was informed on the progress of work on the draft opinion on the Constitution of Bulgaria;
- Adopted the opinion on the constitutional situation in Kyrgyzstan;
- Adopted the opinion on the revised electoral code of Moldova ;
- Adopted the opinion on the draft law on conflict of interest in Moldova;
- Adopted the opinion on the Constitution of Montenegro;
- Was informed about the Commission’s contribution to the preparation of the Law on the Judicial Council of Montenegro;
- Examined the rapporteurs’ comments on the draft law on prohibition of discrimination in Serbia and asked the secretariat to prepare the opinion and send it to the Serbian authorities;
- Was informed about constitutional developments in Kosovo;
- Adopted the opinion on the electoral law of the United Kingdom;
- Adopted the questionnaire on the cancellation of election results;
- Was informed on follow-up to: the comments on the draft opinion of the Consultative Council of European Judges on judicial councils; the opinion on legislative provisions concerning early elections in Ukraine; the amicus curiae opinion on the law on legalisation, urban planning and integration of unauthorised buildings of the Republic of Albania; amicus curiae comments on the conformity of certain provisions of the Statute of the International Criminal Court with the Constitution of Moldova;
- Was informed on the progress in the preparation of the draft report on the democratic control of armed forces;
- Was informed about the project to study the situation of constitutional justice in Latin America;
- Was informed on the joint Meeting of the Enlarged Bureau with the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe;
- Held an exchange of views with Ms Dorit Beinisch, President of the Supreme Court of Israel on constitutional developments in that country;
- Held an exchange of views with Mr Gonzalez Oropeza on electoral reform in Mexico.