Venice Commission
The Venice Commission (European Commission for Democracy through Law) is an institution of the Council of Europe that provides constitutional advice to states . According to its own information, it plays "a leading role when it comes to drafting constitutions in Eastern Europe that correspond to the norms of the European constitutional body".
founding
The Commission was set up on March 10, 1990 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe . In 1989 the Wall and the Iron Curtain fell; numerous Central European countries of the Eastern Bloc had achieved their independence from the Soviet Union ( revolutions in 1989 ).
Members
The commission has 61 full members. It is based on an expanded agreement of the Council of Europe, so that even states that do not belong to the Council of Europe can become full members. All 47 member states of the Council of Europe are members of the Commission, as well as Algeria , Brazil , Chile , Costa Rica , Israel , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , the Republic of Korea , Morocco , Mexico , Peru , Tunisia and the USA .
Belarus is associated, Argentina , the Holy See , Japan , Canada and Uruguay are observers, South Africa and the Palestinian Authority have special cooperation status.
The commission members are experts in constitutional and international law , constitutional judges, members of national parliaments and high officials. They are appointed by the member states for a term of four years. However, they act as independent experts and not on the direction of their national government.
activity
The Commission's activities include:
- Assessment of national draft constitution
- z. B. Georgia , Albania , Russia , Serbia , Ukraine , Hungary , the conflict over Transnistria and constitutional issues in Bosnia-Herzegovina ,
- Observing elections and referendums like in Georgia , Armenia and Moldova ,
- Cooperation with the constitutional courts as well
- Expert opinions, studies and seminars on constitutional law.
Publications
The Commission has published the Bulletin on Constitutional Case-Law since 1993 , which appears three times a year. It also operates a database of judgments from constitutional courts around the world (CODICES). In Venice on October 19, 2002, the Commission adopted guidelines for a code of conduct in elections. Among other things, the right to vote should not be changed for less than a year before an election.
literature
- Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem : "Soft Law" and "Soft Instruments" in the work of the Venice Commission: On the effectiveness of an advisory body . In: Festschrift for Brun-Otto Bryde . Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-16-152197-3 , p. 595-630 .
- Lauri Bode-Kirchhoff: Why the route from Luxembourg to Strasbourg leads via Venice: the Venice Commission as the link between the EU and the ECHR . In: Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou et al. (Ed.): Human Rights Law in Europe. The Influence, Overlaps and Contradictions of the EU and the ECHR . Routledge, London and New York 2014, ISBN 978-0-415-82599-3 , pp. 55-72 (English: Why the Road from Luxembourg to Strasbourg leads through Venice: the Venice Commission as a link between the EU and the ECHR .).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.venice.coe.int/site/main/presentation_GER.asp ( Memento from November 16, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Venice Commission: Member States. Retrieved December 3, 2018 .
- ↑ Comments on the election code an the electoral administritation ( Memento from January 19, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.codices.coe.int/
- ↑ Venice Commission: Code of Conduct for Elections .