Leadership of Ministry of Justice met with delegation of Venice Commission

The Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denys Maliuska and his deputy Oleksandr Banchuk met with the delegation of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) headed by its President, Ms. Claire Bazy Malaurie.

The purpose of the delegation's visit to Ukraine was to hold consultations with national partners on the reform of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, de-oligarchisation and implementation of the Venice Commission's recommendations on national minorities.

During the meeting, the leadership of the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice discussed with representatives of the Venice Commission the draft laws developed to implement the recommendations of the European Commission's Opinion on Ukraine's application for membership of the European Union, which were/are being examined by the Venice Commission.

Thus, the Venice Commission is currently reviewing three draft opinions related to the recommendations of the European Commission's Opinion on Ukraine's application for EU membership, namely:

• "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Improving the Procedure for the selection of candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on a Competitive Basis";
• "On National Minorities (Communities) of Ukraine";
• "On Prevention of Threats to National Security Related to Excessive Influence of Persons Who Have Significant Economic and Political Weight in Public Life (Oligarchs).

Background

The Venice Commission is an advisory body to the Council of Europe on constitutional matters. The role of the Commission is to provide legal advice to member states and, in particular, to assist states wishing to bring their legal and institutional structures in line with European standards and international experience in the areas of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Over the years, the Venice Commission has prepared more than 150 opinions and expert assessments on draft laws and laws of Ukraine.

An important contribution to the formation of the international legal position on the non-recognition of russia's illegal annexation of part of Ukraine was made by the Venice Commission's decisions on the following issues:

• inconsistency with constitutional principles of the decision of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to organise a so-called "referendum" on joining russia;
• inconsistency with international law of the draft amendments to the federal constitutional law on the procedure for accession to the russian federation and the formation of a new federal subject within it.

Thus, the Commission defended the principles of international law and criticised both of these documents.