Venice Commission publishes conclusions on draft law on Constitutional Court reform

KYIV. Dec 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Venice Commission has published updated conclusions on draft law No. 7662 on the reform of the Constitutional Court, which the Verkhovna Rada adopted last week.

In the published document, the commission clarifies two points of the bill concerning the organization of the work of the Advisory Group of Experts, whose tasks include assessing the moral qualities and level of competence of candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court in the field of law.

According to the recommendations of the Venice Commission, the Advisory Group should include a seventh member from among independent international experts. The bill adopted by the Parliament provides for six members of the Advisory Group – three independent experts from international partners and three representatives of Ukraine. In addition, the existing bill does not allow the group to make decisions without votes from Ukrainian representatives. The seventh independent expert will allow leveling the political influence on the commission.

Also, the Venice Commission insists that the decisions of the Advisory Group must be binding, and candidates who have not passed the group’s check cannot be appointed judges of the Constitutional Court.

The Venice Commission at a plenary session also did not support the urgent opinion prepared by the Bureau of the Venice Commission, but approved a separate opinion. This is the second time in history that the commission has not supported an urgent opinion on Ukraine.