The Diplomat
The Venice Commission, a body dependent on the Council of Europe, will publish an opinion on the Amnesty Law that the PSOE agreed with Junts and ERC to ensure the investiture of Pedro Sánchez “no later than March 2024”, sources from the European body informed Europa Press, a decision taken in plenary session in response to the request made by the Senate last week.
The Commission, whose official name is the European Commission for Democracy through Law, issues legal opinions on draft laws and constitutional reforms presented by member countries. It was created in 1990 and is based in Venice, Italy, hence the short name by which it is also known.
Its role is to advise on the consistency of proposals with European standards on fundamental rights, democratic principles and the rule of law.
Although the Venice Commission has no binding power, its technical opinion and prestige help to influence the development and improvement of democratic institutions in Europe.
The Senate Bureau sent the request to the Secretariat of the Commission last Wednesday, after the request registered the same day by the PP, which has a guaranteed majority in the Upper House, was approved.
The Senate requested an urgent opinion with the aim of having the Venice Commission’s assessment in time for the debate to be held in this chamber on the amnesty law.
The decision to accept the request was taken by the Venice Commission at its plenary session last Friday and Saturday, although its conclusions were not made public until Monday, when the synopsis of the meeting was published.
In this way, the European body concludes that it will prepare its opinion on the draft parliamentary law “on amnesty for the institutional, political and social normalisation” of Catalonia “at the latest for the plenary session in March 2024”.
Before that, the institution will have to appoint a working group of international constitutional experts.
The plenary has decided to heed a second request, this one presented by the president of the Council of Europe’s own parliamentary assembly, the Dutch Socialist Tiny Kox, to prepare a more general study on “the requirements of the rule of law that an amnesty must meet” that should also be ready “at the latest” by March of next year.
It is precisely these standards that the European Commission evokes in its recommendations on the rule of law when it calls on Spain to urgently renew the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) and to undertake, immediately afterwards, a reform of the system for electing members so that at least half of them are elected by the judges.
The European Commission, which is composed of independent experts in constitutional law, and whose main objective is to provide advice and assistance to member states of the Council of Europe on issues related to democracy, the rule of law and human rights, especially in the constitutional field, is also examining the law agreed by the PSOE with Junts and ERC, but the legal services in Brussels will not issue their opinion until the law has completed its parliamentary processing and adopts its final form, including the amendments.
