Council of Europe Office in Ukraine

In May 2020, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Dmytro Razumkov, requested the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (European Commission for Democracy through Law) to provide an opinion on the draft Law on Democracy through an All-Ukrainian Referendum.

In the framework of preparation of this conclusion, experts from the Venice Commission and the OSCE (ODIHR) held a series of stakeholder consultations from 19 to 25 June 2020.

During this time, experts met with deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, chairmen of profile Committees of the Verkhovna Rada and members of the working group on drafting the Law, members of the Central Election Commission, representatives of some ministries, national experts, scientists and civil society. The meeting took place online (videoconference).

The following persons from the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the OSCE (ODIHR) took part in the meeting:

1. Josef Maria CASTELLA ANDREU (Doctor of Law, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Barcelona. Member of the Venice Commission since 2014)
2. Nikos ALIVIZATOS (Doctor of Law, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Athens. Member of the Venice Commission since 2013)
3. Marla MORRY (Expert of OSCE/ODIHR)
4. Olena LYTVYNENKO (Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine)
5. Serguei KOUZNETSOV (Head of the Neighbourhood Cooperation Department of the Secretariat of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe)
6. Sergiy TKACHENKO (Project Manager of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine)
7. Anna RUSU (Senior Election Advisor, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR))
8. Keara CASTALDO (Election Adviser, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR))
9. Anastasiia Devos (Project Assistant of the Venice Commission, Council of Europe Office in Ukraine).

In April 2018, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine had declared the previous Law on the all-Ukrainian referendum of 2012 unconstitutional. This decision created a legal gap as to regulation of all-Ukraine referenda foreseen in the Constitution of Ukraine.

On 9 June 2020, the President of Ukraine, Mr Volodymyr Zelensky, introduced a draft Law of Ukraine "On Democracy through an All-Ukrainian Referendum" to the Parliament. Already on 18 June it was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in first reading.