Strasbourg 13 December/décembre 2019 CDL-PL-PV(2019)004* Bil EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW (VENICE COMMISSION) COMMISSION EUROPEENNE POUR LA DEMOCRATIE PAR LE DROIT (COMMISSION DE VENISE) 121st PLENARY SESSION Venice, Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista Friday, 6 December - Saturday, 7 December 2019 121e SESSION PLÉNIÈRE Venise, Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista Vendredi 6 décembre- Samedi 7 décembre 2019 DRAFT SESSION REPORT/PROJET DE RAPPORT DE SESSION *This document has been classified restricted on the date of issue. Unless the Venice Commission decides otherwise, it will be declassified a year after its issue according to the rules set up in Resolution CM/Res(2001)6 on access to Council of Europe documents / *Ce document a été classé en diffusion restreinte le jour de la diffusion. Sauf si la Commission de Venise en décide autrement, il sera déclassifié un an après sa publication en application des règles établies dans la Résolution CM/Res(2001)6 sur l'accès aux documents du Conseil de l'Europe http://www.venice.coe.int e-mail : [email protected] F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex Tel : + 33 388 41 30 48 Fax : + 33 388 41 37 38. CDL-PL-PV(2019)004 - 2 - TABLE OF CONTENTS/TABLE DES MATIERES 1. Adoption of the Agenda ..........................................................................................................................4 2. Communication by the President ...........................................................................................................4 3. Communication from the Enlarged Bureau ...........................................................................................4 4. Communication by the Secretariat .........................................................................................................4 5. Election of the President, 3 Vice-Presidents and 4 members of the Bureau as well as Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Sub-Commissions ............................................................................................................4 6. Co-operation with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe .............6 7. Follow-up to earlier Venice Commission opinions .................................................................................7 Principles on the Protection and Promotion of the Ombudsman Institution ("The Venice Principles") (CDL-AD(2019)005) ...................................................................................................................................7 Armenia, Joint Opinion on the Amendments to the Judicial Code on integrity and disciplinary liability of Judges (CDL-AD(2019)024) ......................................................................................................................7 Armenia, Opinion on the constitutional implications of the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) (CDL-AD(2019)018) ..............................................................................................................8 North Macedonia, Opinion on the Draft law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination (CDL- AD(2018)001) .............................................................................................................................................8 Republic of Moldova, Joint Opinion on the legal framework governing the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns (CDL-AD(2017)027) ..........................................................................................9 Ukraine - Final Opinion on the Law on Government Cleansing (Lustration Law) (CDL-AD(2015)012) .9 Uzbekistan - Joint opinion on the draft Election Code (CDL-AD(2018)027) .............................................9 Poland - Opinion on the Draft Act amending the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary; on the Draft Act amending the Act on the Supreme Court, proposed by the President of Poland, and on the Act on the Organisation of Ordinary Courts (CDL-AD(2017)031) .......................................................... 10 8. Report on the inclusion of a not internationally recognised Territory in a State’s Nationwide Constituency for Parliamentary Elections ................................................................................................... 10 9. Ukraine ................................................................................................................................................ 12 Draft Opinion on the Law on Supporting the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language ................................................................................................................................................ 12 Opinion on Amendments to the Legal Framework governing the Supreme Court and Judicial Governance Bodies ................................................................................................................................ 13 Draft amicus curiae Brief for the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the early termination of the mandate of Members of Parliament. ...................................................................................................... 15 10. Bulgaria ............................................................................................................................................... 15 11. North Macedonia ................................................................................................................................. 16 12. Republic of Moldova ............................................................................................................................ 18 Amicus curiae Brief on the the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office ............................................................. 18 Amicus curiae brief on the criminal liability of constitutional court judges .............................................. 19 13. Bosnia and Herzegovina ..................................................................................................................... 20 14. Information on constitutional developments in observer States ......................................................... 21 Argentina ................................................................................................................................................. 21 Japan ....................................................................................................................................................... 21 15. Information on constitutional developments in other countries .......................................................... 22 - 3 - CDL-PL-PV(2019)004 Spain ....................................................................................................................................................... 22 United Kingdom ....................................................................................................................................... 22 16. Co-operation with other States ........................................................................................................... 23 Georgia .................................................................................................................................................... 23 Kazakhstan ............................................................................................................................................. 23 17. Information on Conferences and Seminars ........................................................................................ 24 7ème Atelier interculturel de la Démocratie, Les Conseils supérieurs de la magistrature et l’indépendance du pouvoir judiciaire, Strasbourg, 28-29 octobre 2019 ................................................. 24 10th UniDem Med Regional Seminar, Leading Innovation in the Civil Service: from Rule of Law Standards to Leadership, Amman, 4-6 November 2019; ...................................................................... 25 XIVth Inter-American Meeting of Electoral Management Bodies, Panama City, 13-14 November 2019 ................................................................................................................................................................. 25 IXth International Congress of Comparative Law, Legal Values in the Comparative Law Focus, Moscow, 2-3 December 2019 ................................................................................................................. 25 18. Report of the meeting of the Council for Democratic Elections (5 December 2019) ......................... 26 19. Other business .................................................................................................................................... 26 20. Dates of the next sessions .................................................................................................................. 27 CDL-PL-PV(2019)004 - 4 - 1. Adoption of the Agenda The agenda was adopted without any amendment (CDL-PL-OJ(2019)004ann). 2. Communication by the President The President welcomed members, special guests and delegations, and informed the Commission about the newly appointed members and substitute members and presented his recent activities, as set out in document CDL(2019)044. He presented his condolences to Albania following the recent earthquake and to France following the fatalities of soldiers in Mali. The President informed the Commission that the Veneto Region had launched a fundraising campaign for