Venice Commission: Completing procedure for appointing international members of evaluation commissions does not contravene international standards

The completion of the procedure for appointing international members of evaluation commissions with a mechanism to unblock the process does not contravene international standards. The opinion was expressed by the Venice Commission, which commented on the legislative amendments concerning the appointment of international members to the commissions for evaluating judges and prosecutors.

According to the new provisions, if the draft decision on appointing the international members does not obtain the votes of 3/5 of the MPs, during the same session the legal committee on rules and immunities re-examines the proposed candidates and selects those with the highest number of votes. If the same candidates are selected again, the legal committee drafts the Parliament’s decision, accompanied by a report, which is then debated in the plenary of the legislature and adopted by a majority of the elected MPs. The Venice Commission noted that this approach appears justified, given the temporary nature of the relevant legal provisions, the urgency underlying the reform process, and the need to prevent unjustified delays.

The Venice Commission recommended that a separate draft decision on the appointment be prepared for each proposed candidate, as well as the introduction of a sufficient time interval between the first vote, which requires a 3/5 majority, and the second vote, which requires the votes of a majority of the elected MPs. In this way, the parliamentary majority and opposition have the opportunity to negotiate and seek a possible consensus.

Regarding the other recommendation, the legal committee refers to the phrase “within the same session” in the law. Since a session lasts between 4 and 6 months, there is a mechanism that encourages dialogue and stimulates the actors involved to make the necessary efforts to reach a consensus within a predictable and reasonable time frame, thus contributing to the efficiency and continuity of the decision-making process.

The positive opinion regarding the amendments to the procedure for appointing international members to the evaluation commissions for judges and prosecutors was approved during the 147th plenary session of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission).