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Election-related Legal Opinions and Comments
Legal books line the shelves of ODIHR's Elections Department. (OSCE/Agnieszka Rembowska) Photo details
Joint Opinion on the Electoral Code of "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"
On 13 November 2012, the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe asked for the opinion of the Venice Commission on the Electoral Code adopted by the Parliament of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” on 13 November 2012 (CDL-REF(2013)013).
Joint Opinion on the Draft Amendments to the Laws on Election of People's Deputies and on the Central Election Commission and on the Draft Law on Repeat Elections of Ukraine, 17 June 2013
On 5 April 2013 the Minister of Justice of Ukraine, Mr Oleksandr Lavrynovych, requested the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR to comment on the text of the draft Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Particular Laws of Ukraine as regards
Improvement of Law on Issues of Holding Elections” (hereinafter, the “draft electoral law”) and the draft Law “On the Repeat Elections of People’s Deputies (Members of Parliament) of Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Ukrainian Parliament) of the VII Convocation in Particular Single Mandate Constituencies in Relation to the Impossibility to Establish Trustworthy the Vote Returns and Results of People’s Deputies of Ukraine Elections on 28 October 2012” (hereinafter, the “draft law on repeat elections”), CDL-REF (2013)025).
Joint Opinion on Draft Amendments and addenda to the Law "On Elections to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan" and "On Elections to the Regional, District and City Councils (Kengesg) of People's Deputies of Uzbekistan", 17 December 2012
On 16 August 2012 the Deputy Speaker of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan requested the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) to provide an opinion on draft amendments and addenda to the laws of Uzbekistan “On elections to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan” (Election Law) and “On elections to the regional, district and city Councils (Kengash) of People’s Deputies” (Law on Local Elections). On 28 September 2012 the same request was received by the Venice Commission. The Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR decided to provide a joint legal opinion on the draft amendments and addenda.
OSCE/ODIHR opinion on the Draft Law "On Establishing an Independent Election Management Body of the Republic of Tunisia"
This opinion reviews and comments on the Draft Law “On Establishing an Independent Election Management Body of the Republic of Tunisia” (hereafter “Draft Law”). This opinion was prepared on the basis of an invitation from the Tunisian Embassy in Vienna, as received by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) on 29 October 2012. This opinion is part of an OSCE/ODIHR project on promoting democratic structures among OSCE’s Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation and is the first opinion provided by the OSCE/ODIHR on draft or final election-related legislation in Tunisia.
Turkmenistan, Assessment of the Electoral Legislation
This assessment of the electoral legislation of Turkmenistan is provided by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), upon the request of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat. This assessment is based on unofficial English translation of the Constitution, amended on 26 September 2008, and other laws, primarily the Mejlis Election Law (MEL), adopted on 10 October 2008, the Presidential Election Law (PEL), adopted on 21 May 2011, and the Halk Maslakhaty and Gengesh Election Law (HM/GEL), adopted on 31 March 2012. In addition, the legal framework for elections includes the Law on Guarantees of Electoral Rights of the People of
Turkmenistan of 22 April 1999 and the Law on the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of 21 May 2011. Relevant provisions from the Civil Procedure Code, Law on Public Association, and Law on Media have been taken into consideration as well for the purposes of this assessment.
Joint Opinion on the Act on the Elections of Members of Parliament of Hungary
On 20 January 2012, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary requested the European Commission for Democracy Through Law (“the Venice Commission”) of the Council of Europe for an opinion on several pieces of legislation recently revised, notably Act CCIII on the Elections of Members of Parliament of Hungary (official translation into English received by diplomatic channels on 7 March 2012; CDL-REF(2012)003; hereafter “the new Elections Act”). Following this request, the Venice Commission and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) have prepared the present draft opinion on the Act.
Joint Opinion on the Electoral Law and the Electoral Practice of Albania
On 24 August 2011, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe asked the Venice Commission to provide an opinion on the question of which improvements should be made to electoral legislation and practice in Albania in the light of recent experience. The present Opinion has been prepared jointly by the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR on the basis of comments by Mr Pieter van Dijk (member of the Venice Commission, the Netherlands), Mr Oliver Kask (member, Estonia), Mr Konrad Olszewski (expert of the Venice Commission, Poland) and Ms Marianna Skopa (expert, OSCE/ODIHR).