The Venice Commission has published a number of opinions this week that had been adopted at its third plenary session of the year in Venice on 11 and 12 October. Highlights include two rule of law opinions on Poland:
- Opinion on draft amendments to the Law on the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Poland
- Joint Opinion of the Venice Commission and the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law on “European standards regulating the status of judges in Poland
Polish Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar, who participated in the plenary session on Saturday, had requested both opinions.
The Venice Commission also has published three opinions on Armenia that focus on draft amendments to the Judicial Code of Armenia (regarding judicial evaluations) – see press release – draft amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code concerning the collection of evidence without consent in criminal investigations, as well as draft laws amending and supplementing the Law on Mass Media and the Civil Code.
The opinions regarding Armenia, on the evaluation of judges and on the Criminal Procedure Code, were prepared under the Quick Response Mechanism (QRM) in the framework of the European Union and the Council of Europe joint programme Partnership for Good Governance, co-funded by the Council of Europe and the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe.
Among other opinions published are two on Kyrgyzstan focusing on Law No 72 amending the Law on non-profit organisations, and on the draft amendments to the Criminal Procedural Code concerning bail and videoconferencing in criminal proceedings.
