December 4th, an agreement of cooperation between Norway and the Venice Commission (The European Commission for Democracy through Law) was signed by Norwegian ambassador to the Council of Europe Torbjørn Frøysnes and Secretary of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio. The agreement stipulates a contribution of €180.000 over a three year period to cover expenses related to the implementation of an agreement between the Venice Commission and the Union of Arab Constitutional Courts and Councils (UACCC).
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The Union has a total of 13 member states: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauretania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunis and the Palestinian Authority. The agreement they have made with the Venice Commission aims at promoting peace and stability in the region through dialogue with the Supreme Courts and Constitutional Courts and Councils. The dialogue will be based on the principles of human rights and rule of law.
The Venice Commission plays a particularly important role when it comes to ensuring that the principles of rule of law, democracy and human rights are respected in the laws of new democracies. The agreement will thus play an important role in strengthening these aspects in the Arab countries, in addition to being a valuable contribution to the dialogue between the Arab countries and Europe.
In the agreement, now financed by Norway, the judicial system cooperation between Europe and the Arab countries will be strengthened by, for instance, integration of the Arab countries in the case-law database of the Venice Commission and the setting up of a distribution system for human rights literature. Representatives from the courts in the Arab countries will in addition be invited to participate in Venice Commission meetings, a special cooperation program for the Supreme Court in the Palestine Authority region will be developed and seminars and conferences on human rights, rule of law and democracy will take place.