Rules of Procedure of the Assembly (January 2023)
(Resolution 1202 (1999) adopted on 4 November 1999) with subsequent modifications of the Rules of Procedure*
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xviii. - Co-operation agreement between the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) (4 October 2004)
1. The aim of this
Agreement is to enhance co-operation between the Parliamentary Assembly
and the Venice Commission while fully respecting their respective
competences as stated in the Statute of the Council of Europe and
the Revised Statute of the Venice Commission.
I. Participation in their respective activities
2. Article 2 of the
Revised Statute of the Venice Commission states that representatives
of the Parliamentary Assembly may attend the sessions of the Venice
Commission. These representatives are appointed by the Bureau of
the Assembly. Assembly representatives may also be invited to attend
sessions of sub-commissions of the Venice Commission.
3. On request of
the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly, the Venice Commission
may allow an additional person to attend the sessions of the Venice
Commission for any expertise which may be required.
4. The Presidential
Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Enlarged Bureau of the
Venice Commission will meet every year in Venice on the occasion
of one of the sessions of the Venice Commission to assess co-operation.
5. The President
of the Venice Commission may, as appropriate, be invited to address
the Parliamentary Assembly in the framework of debates on issues
related to opinions adopted by the Venice Commission.
6. A
representative of the Venice Commission may be invited every year
to an exchange of views with the Committee on Legal Affairs and
Human Rights.
7. Representatives
of the Venice Commission may attend plenary meetings of Assembly committees.
In this respect, the Monitoring Committee may establish contacts
with the Venice Commission as provided in Resolution 1115 (1997).
II. General co-operation
8. The Assembly and
its committees will make use of the possibility provided by Article
3 of the Revised Statute of the Venice Commission to request its
opinion on issues related with its specific field of action as defined
in Article 1 of the Revised Statute.
9. The Bureau of
the Assembly may invite its committees to consult the Venice Commission whenever
they are examining an issue within the Commission’s competence;
this would concern in particular reports being prepared in the fields
such as constitutional reform; separation of powers; electoral rules;
conflict resolution/federalism and autonomy; national minorities
and fundamental rights.
10. Moreover, when
proposing to refer to a committee a motion on an issue concerning
one of the fields mentioned above, the Bureau could include in the
reference the proposal to ask the Venice Commission to give an opinion
on the legal aspects of the issue raised by the motion.
III. Standard-setting
11. The Assembly
welcomes the fact that the Council of Europe has developed comprehensive
standards in the field of human rights. However, considering that
minimum standards of democracy are less developed, the Assembly
and the Venice Commission decide to jointly reflect on areas in
which the definition of basic standards would seem useful.
12. In this context
and as first step, the Assembly, in close co-operation with the
Venice Commission, will prepare a report setting forth the core
values and standards of the Council of Europe.
IV. Co-operation in the electoral field
13. The Assembly
and the Venice Commission will continue to promote the work of the Council
for Democratic Elections.
14. In the future,
whenever a report of an Assembly election observation mission points
to problems related with the electoral legislation of the country
concerned, the Bureau of the Assembly may invite the Venice Commission
to examine ways to improve this legislation (in addition to the
already existing general mandate of the Council for Democratic Elections
given by Resolution 1320).
15. When the Bureau
of the Assembly decides to observe an election in a country in which electoral
legislation was previously examined by the Venice Commission, one
of the rapporteurs of the Venice Commission on this issue may be
invited to join the Assembly’s election observation mission as legal
adviser.
V. Information on their respective activities
16. Upon request,
members of the Venice Commission can be included in the mailing
lists for non-confidential documents of the Assembly.
17. The Assembly
will make use of the possibilities offered by the European Conference
of Presidents of Parliaments to circulate information about the
activities of the Venice Commission.
18. This Co-operation
Agreement enters into force on the day of the signature. It may
be suspended or annulled by one of the parties.