Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar will participate in the plenary session of the Venice Commission (VC), the advisory body of the Council of Europe on constitutional law. The agenda of the meeting in Venice included an exchange of views with the head of the ministry on the rule of law in Poland. Bodnar’s speech at the Commission forum is also planned.
This is the return of the representative of the Polish authorities to the meeting in Venice after several years, during which there were tensions in relations with the United Right government in connection with the Commission’s critical opinions on the situation in the Constitutional Court and on the reforms of the Polish legal system.
The Venice Commission is the shorter name of the European Commission for Democracy through Law. It consists of experts in the field of law, in particular constitutional and international law. It was founded in 1990 and was mainly related to the political changes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of communism. One of the basic tasks of the Electoral Commission was to guarantee assistance to these countries during the period of transformation and democratic reforms.
The number of Commission Member States has increased from 18 to 60 in thirty years. Poland has been a member since 1992. There are also observers and organizations with special status. The President of the Commission from 2021 will be Claire Bazy-Malaurie from France.
Suchocka’s leadership
Since 2016, the honorary chairman has been former Polish Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka. She was appointed two months after Beata Szydło’s government withdrew her from the electoral commission, in which she also served as first vice-president. Suchocka has been a member of the Commission since 1991.
This advisory body of the Council of Europe issues advice on, among other things, laws and constitutional reforms. They are drawn up on the basis of reports from Commission representatives. The opinions are then adopted during plenary sessions, which take place four times a year in the historic Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista.
The Commission’s opinions are not binding, but individual governments usually make use of its comments.
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Source: wPolityce