June 10, 2005 - 09:23 AMT
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN ARMENIA TO BE CONSIDERED ON VENICE COMMISSION SESSION
The Council of Europe Commission for Democracy through Law ("Venice Commission"), which this year marks its 15-th anniversary, will hold its 63-rd plenary session in Venice on 10 and 11 June. On the session agenda are the examination of a number of important legal texts from different countries, and the adoption of several opinions. The Commission will, for example, adopt its second interim opinion on constitutional reform in Armenia, and discuss the amendments to the law on the procedure for conducting rallies and demonstrations in this member country. An exchange of views is foreseen with Tigran Torosian, Vice-President of the National Assembly of Armenia. Joint opinions of the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR on the revised draft amendments to the electoral codes of Armenia and Azerbaijan will also be adopted. To remind, the Venice Commission expressed discontent with the draft constitutional amendments adopted in the NA first reading. It should be also noted that the decision on conducting extra discussions of the constitutional reform process during the next PACE plenary session scheduled for June 20-24 was taken by the PACE Bureau on June 6.