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The Council of Europe – Commission on Democracy Through Law (“the Venice Commission”) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) received a request from the Parliament of Montenegro to conduct a review of a working version of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament (hereinafter the draft Law), prepared by a multi-party working group. This request was submitted on 23 March 2010. The joint assessment below takes into consideration previous findings and recommendations made by the OSCE/ODIHR in its final reports from election observation missions in Montenegro as well as progress made by authorities and political parties in Montenegro in their endeavors to improve the legal framework for elections and meet Council of Europe and OSCE commitments and other international standards.

The research for this report was carried out in the second half of 2009 in all regions of the Republic of Armenia among 1205 respondents.

OSCE Mission in Kosovo Report 4/2009 on the monitoring of the Assembly of Kosovo, 1 July- 30 September 2009

The proposed amendments to the Election Code (hereinafter “the Code”) were drafted by the Government of the Republic of Moldova in March 2010. Following an official request from the Moldovan authorities forwarded to the Venice Commission on 10 March 2010, and in line with standard practice, the OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission have undertaken a joint expert review of the proposed amendments. The present opinion should be read in conjunction with the Joint Opinions of the OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission on the Election Code of Moldova of 2006, 2007 and 2008. The draft amendments are assessed for their compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections. This opinion focuses on the extent to which the proposed amendments address previous recommendations.

Decision on forwarding a Draft Ministerial Council Decision to the Ministerial Council

Decisions No. 900, 901. Address by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Vygaudas Usackas. Report by the Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Robert Bosch. Presidential elections in Romania, to be held on 22 November 2009.

Introductory speech made at the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Gender Balance and Women's Participation in Political and Public Life, Vienna, 6-7 May 2010.

Closing remarks made at the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Gender Balance and Women's Participation in Political and Public Life, Vienna, 6-7 May 2010.

Opening remarks made at the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Gender Balance and Women's Participation in Political and Public Life, Vienna, 6-7 May 2010.

The present report follows a request addressed to the Venice Commission by the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 18 March 2010. It provides an assessment of these amendments, which were submitted for information in Russian language to the OSCE/ODIHR in January 2010 by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. The OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission experts have made their assessment based on an unofficial English translation of the Russian original.