The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission, is the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters. Established in 1990, the commission has played a leading role in the adoption of constitutions that conform to the standards of Europe's constitutional heritage.
18/12/2007 ::
When established in 1990, it was a partial agreement between 18 Coucil of Europe Member states. In February 2002 however, the Commission became an enlarged agreement, allowing non-European states to become full members. Not only the set up but also the functioning of the Commission has changed. Initially, it was conceived as a tool for emergency constitutional engineering, but now the commission has become an internationally recognised independent legal think-tank.
It contributes to the dissemination of the European constitutional heritage, based on the continent's fundamental legal values while continuing to provide “constitutional first-aid” to individual states. The Venice Commission also plays a unique and unrivalled role in crisis management and conflict prevention through constitution building and advice.
The Venice Commission is composed of “independent experts who have achieved eminence through their experience in democratic institutions or by their contribution to the enhancement of law and political science” (article 2 of the revised Statute).
The members are senior academics, particularly in the fields of constitutional or international law, supreme or constitutional court judges or members of national parliaments. Acting on the commission in their individual capacity, the members are appointed for four years by the participating countries.
Member states
All Council of Europe Member states are members of the Venice Commission; in addition, Kyrgyzstan joined the commission in 2004, Chile in 2005, the Republic of Korea in 2006, Morocco and Algeria in 2007. The Commission thus has 52 full members in all. Belarus is associate member, while Argentina, Canada, the Holy See, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, the United States and Uruguay are observers. South Africa has a special co-operation status similar to that of the observers.
The European Commission and The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) participate in the plenary sessions of the Commission.
Activities of the Commission
The work of the European Commission for Democracy through Law aims at upholding the three underlying principles of Europe's constitutional heritage: democracy, human rights and the rule of law - the cornerstones of the Council of Europe. Accordingly, the Commission works in the following four key-areas:
Currently, the Commission is working towards a possible cooperation program with the Union of Arab Constitutional Courts and Councils. Norway fully supports these efforts.