EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION / Alla Tymofeyeva (ed.)

CHAPTER XI. VENICE COMMISSION AND THE COURT

The ECHR and the ECtHR are usually considered the “crown jewels” in the system of the Council of Europe. Yet, over the years, the Council has adopted many other treaties which have developed human rights beyond the traditional core of civil and political rights contained in the ECHR. The Council has also established several monitoring bodies, mostly of an advisory nature, tasked to monitor the compliance with such instruments and to help Member States in the implementation of their international legal obligations. One of those bodies is the European Commission for Democracy through Law. 1. VENICE COMMISSION The European Commission for Democracy through Law – better known as the Venice Commission (VC) as it meets in Venice – is the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters. The Venice Commission was established in 1990 by 18 Council of Europe Member States. In 2021, it has 62 member states – 47 Member States of the Council of Europe, Kosovo and 14 non-European States (including Canada, Mexico, Peru, and the US). There are also 4 observer countries and 1 associate member. Representatives of the political organs of the Council of Europe and of several international organizations (OAS, EU, OSCE/ODIHR) participate in the plenary sessions of the Commission. Although established by an inter-state agreement, the Venice Commission is composed of individual expert members . Each Member State is represented by one expert member and one or several substitute members. Expert members are selected from university professors of constitutional and international law, supreme and constitutional court judges, members of national parliaments and civil servants. Members and substitute members are appointed by their States for a period of four years, renewable an unlimited number of times, but they act in their individual capacity. The secretariat of the Venice Commission is located in Strasbourg, France. Its plenary sessions are held in Venice , Italy, at the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, four times a year (March, June, October, and December). In 2020, the Commission held all sessions online. The Venice Commission has its own organs. It is headed by the President who is elected from its members by its members. Since 2009, Gianni Buquicchio from Italy has been President of the Commission. The President is assisted by two or three Vice-Presidents and the Bureau of the Venice Commission – Vice-Presidents and members of the Bureau are elected by members of the VC for two years. The Commission has also established various sub-commissions, such as the Sub-Commissions on Fundamental Rights, on Democratic Institutions, on Judiciary, on the Rule of Law, and on International Law. The role of the Venice Commission is to provide legal advice to its Member States and, in particular, to help States wishing to bring their legal and institutional structures into line with European standards and international experience in the fields of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It also helps to ensure the dissemination and consolidation of a common constitutional heritage , plays a unique role in conflict management and provides “emergency constitutional aid” to States in transition. The Commission deploys its activities in three inter- connected fields, namely: a) democratic institutions and fundamental rights, b) constitutional justice and ordinary justice, and elections, c) referendums and political parties. The Czech Republic joined the Venice Commission in 1994. Since then, it has been represented by Mr. Cyril Svoboda (1994-2010) and Ms. Veronika Bílková (since 2010). There has never been any opinion requested by, or focusing on, the Czech Republic.

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