Strasbourg, 14 October 2013 - Following its plenary meeting last weekend, the Council of Europe’s international body of constitutional and legal experts, known as the Venice Commission, has published a series of opinions on Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Tunisia and Ukraine.

In a joint opinion with the Council of Europe’s Directorate for Human Rights, the Venice Commission concludes that the draft law on reforming the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ukraine is a good basis for long-awaited reform of the prosecution service. In a separate opinion, the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR welcome a series of inclusive round tables on electoral reform organised by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, however, there is still a need for comprehensive changes in this area.

Concerning Azerbaijan, the Venice Commission states that that the country’s draft law on defamation is, in many respects, not in line with freedom of expression principles under the European Convention on Human Rights. The commission finds it “worrying” that defamation is still associated with excessive criminal sanctions in Azerbaijan, and that the scope of anti-defamation legislation has recently been extended to cover online sources of information.

The Venice Commission has also published opinions the final draft constitution in Tunisia, proposed constitutional changes in Georgia and Montenegro and various draft laws in Kyrgyzstan, as well as an amicus curiae brief for the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Venice Commission website