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Venice Commission plenary session
The June plenary session of the Venice Commission took place on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 June. The constitutional law experts adopted opinions on the Media Law of Azerbaijan, the Independence of Judicial Courts of Lebanon, amendments to electoral legislation in Türkiye, the vetting of judges and...
Tackling the risks for democracy of digital political campaigning: Council of Europe issues guidelines
The Council of Europe has issued a set of guidelines to its 46 member states to address the challenges to the fairness and legitimacy of electoral processes created by new digital political communication techniques. These challenges include the possible abusive use of microtargeting, personal...
Council of Europe bodies observe national and local elections in Serbia
On 3 April 2022, presidential and early parliamentary elections were held in Serbia, observed by international observers, among them the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. On the same day, local elections in Belgrade and 12 other municipalities were held; they were observed by the...
Congress 42nd Session: situation in Ukraine; local democracy in Germany, Luxembourg, Turkey and the UK; fake news, threats and violence against mayors in the current crises in Europe
The 42nd Session of the Congress will take place from 22-24 March. A debate on the situation in Ukraine will take place on Tuesday afternoon, March 22nd. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to address the Congress by video conference and the Congress will adopt an...
Information and communication technologies in elections: Council of Europe adopts new guidelines
The Committee of Ministers has adopted a set of guidelines on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the electoral process which aim at ensuring the integrity of the electoral process and therefore enhancing citizens’ trust in democracy. Prepared by the European Committee...
Congress concludes election observation mission to Denmark
An eight-member delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities has concluded its first ever electoral mission to Denmark following the observation of local and regional elections held in the country on 16 November. On election day, four Congress teams, deployed to the Copenhagen...
2 October vote: a missed opportunity for local democracy in Georgia, says Head of Congress delegation
The Congress concluded its mission to observe the local elections held on 2 October in Georgia. David ERAY (Switzerland, EPP/CCE, R), Head of the delegation, underlined the extremely polarized political environment in the country as well as an increase in verbal aggression, hate speech and fake...
Georgia Election Code Reforms: Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR call for “more holistic approach”
In a joint urgent opinion the Venice Commission and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (“ODIHR”) acknowledge that revised draft amendments to the Election Code of Georgia have been prepared in close cooperation between the ruling party and several opposition parties....
Ukraine: Venice Commission publishes two urgent opinions
The rationale behind the draft legislation in Ukraine aimed at the establishment of an Ethics Council to assist the process of election (appointment) of the High Council of Justice (HCJ) members is welcomed, as it intends to urgently address the previously raised issue of integrity and ethics of...
Georgia: Venice Commission opinions on Election Code and election of Supreme Court judges
Proposed amendments to the Election Code of Georgia include some positive changes but raise some new concerns which add to long-standing fundamental issues that remain unaddressed, said the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR in their joint urgent opinion on draft amendments to the Election Code...
Armenia: electoral legislation amendments welcomed but further improvements needed
The Council of Europe’s body of constitutional legal experts, the Venice Commission, and the OSCE/ODIHR have published an urgent joint opinion on amendments to the Electoral Code and related legislation of Armenia. Having examined the conformity of the procedure of their development, as well as...
Belarus is urged to carry out comprehensive reform of its electoral system
PACE has urged Belarus to comprehensively reform its electoral system to bring it into line with international standards for democratic elections. Approving a resolution and recommendation based on a report by Lord Blencathra (United Kingdom, EC), the Assembly said that the current failed...
Informal exchange of views with representatives of civil society organisations on their role in electoral processes during the Covid 19 crisis
At an informal meeting on 13 April 2021, delegations from the Council of Europe’s 47 member States held an informal exchange of views with civil society representatives operating in the area of electoral assistance. The aim was to find out more about civil society’s work on the ground during the...
Venice Commission publishes opinions on 10 countries
The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission is publishing 13 opinions this week, which were adopted during its plenary session this past Friday and Saturday, on Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Spain, Russia, Ukraine. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were also on the agenda. Held...
Mostar: Congress concludes remote observation procedure in advance of local elections
Welcoming the fact that, for the first time in over a decade, citizens of the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) will be able to vote at the local level on 20 December 2020, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe conducted a remote observation...
Congress Bureau greenlights report on remote election observation procedure concerning Ukraine
The Bureau of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe adopted, on 26 November, an information report on the remote observation procedure regarding the local elections held in Ukraine on 25 October 2020. "This report acknowledges the extraordinary circumstances in...
Managing elections, including during pandemics: Venice Commission draws conclusions
The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission has published conclusions to an online international conference it held last week on electoral management, addressing electoral law and electoral administration in Europe. Conference participants focused on two main issues: Holding elections during...
Ukraine: Congress concludes remote observation procedure regarding local elections
Welcoming the fact that, for the first time, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were allowed to vote in local elections in Ukraine, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe concluded its remote election observation procedure which was introduced as a temporary and...
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Congress conducts remote observation procedure for local elections on 15 November
In response to an invitation from the authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities will carry out a remote observation procedure on 29 and 30 October, for local elections set for 15 November. This new remote format has been introduced as a temporary procedure...
Ukraine: Congress conducts remote observation of local elections on 25 October
After receiving an invitation from the Ukrainian authorities, from 19 to 20 October the Congress will carry out a remote observation procedure for the local elections that will take place on 25 October. This new remote format has been introduced as a temporary procedure in exceptional situations,...
Congress President deplores yet another blow to local self-government in Turkey
“I am deeply concerned about continued arrests, over the last days, of democratically elected representatives from the opposition in Turkey, notably of Mr Ayhan Bilgen, Co-Mayor of the city of Kars in the south-east of the country, who is a member of our Congress. This morning, news arrived about...
Congress to organise remote meeting of the Statutory Forum
The Statutory Forum of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will hold a remote meeting on 28 September 2020 to examine, for adoption, several reports on the state of local democracy in Europe and on grassroots elections in major crisis situations, as well as its...
Commissioner: Human rights violations in Belarus must stop immediately
More than a month after the beginning of mass protests following the presidential elections in Belarus, the human rights situation in the country remains extremely worrying. Thousands of peaceful protesters have been arrested, and several individuals have been reported missing. Yet, non-violent...
International electoral standards must be respected in Belarus
Statement by Venice Commission President Gianni Buquicchio
Presidential election in Belarus: statement by PACE President
Following the Presidential election in Belarus, PACE President Rik Daems made the following statement: “I have been following closely the Presidential election in Belarus as well as the events of last night following the closing of the vote – I deeply regret that this election was far from being...
Ukraine: Venice Commission adopts an “urgent joint opinion” with ODIHR
The Venice Commission has adopted an “urgent joint opinion” with ODIHR (the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) on Ukraine’s Draft Law 3612 concerning Democracy Through All-Ukraine Referendum. The opinion, requested in May by the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s...
Mostar: Congress spokespersons welcome adoption of amendments to the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina
In a statement made on 9 July, the spokespersons of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities for the observation of local and regional elections, Jakob Wienen (Netherlands, EPP/CCE) and Stewart Dickson (United Kingdom, ILDG), commended the adoption of amendments to the Election Law of...
Webinar on involving under-18’s in civil participation and decision-making
The Council of Europe’s Elections and Civil Society Division is organising an international webinar on Wednesday 8 July to highlight the organisation’s standards in the field of youth participation in the decision-making process, specifically by children at local level. The event, which is part...
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Congress President welcomes significant developments paving the way for Mostar local elections
Welcoming the signatures between party leaders Bakir Izetbegović (SDA) and Dragan Čović (HDZ) who, last night, signed two agreements aimed at reinstating free and democratic suffrage in Mostar, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Anders Knape,...
Congress President: statement on local elections to be held on 21 June in Serbia
Taking note of the fact that the Republic Electoral Commission of Serbia had resumed preparations for local elections rescheduled for 21 June, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Anders Knape, expressed his confidence in the state authorities...
