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Revised Draft Const Amendments An Undeniable Improvement - Venice C.

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  • Revised Draft Const Amendments An Undeniable Improvement - Venice C.

    REVISED DRAFT CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ARE AN UNDENIABLE IMPROVEMENT,
    VENICE COMMISSION ESTABLISHES


    YEREVAN, JULY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. "The revised draft constitutional
    amendments are an undeniable improvement over the previous drafts
    commented by the Venice Commission," the draft final conclusion of the
    Venice Commission on the draft constitutional amendments in Armenia
    reads. In the Commission's opinion, "its passing in the second reading
    and then holding a successful constitutional referendum based on this
    text will provide a good basis for ensuring human rights respect,
    compliance of the Armenian Comstitution with European standards in the
    fields of democracy and rule of the law, and will pave the way for
    further European integration." Presenting the draft to reporters at
    the July 22 press conference, the Head of the Armenian delegation in
    the PACE, Chairman of the NA Ad Hoc Commission on European Integration
    Issues, NA Vice Speaker Tigran Torosian noted that prior to becoming a
    final document, the draft must be approved by the Commission at the
    sitting to be held in October, however, as a rule, the drafts prepared
    by experts are passed by the Commission without any amendments.

    According to the draft, the Venice Commission, appreciating the
    Armenian authorities' "efforts and good will", underlined the
    necessity of holding open and broad discussions on the final version
    and keeping the public informed with the aim of ensuring success at
    the referendum to be held in November. In this connection the
    Commission attached importance to extensive and fair coverage of the
    reforms by the media. The draft conclusion contains 36 points and in
    particular addresses the specific principal points of the revised
    version of the draft constitutional amendments. The Commission
    assessed positively the mechanism of electing the RA Ombudsman by
    three fifths of the National Assembly members, and the revised
    approach to the formation of government in the issue of the
    authorities' counterbalance and control. At the same time, in the
    opinion of the Commission, the government structure must be defined by
    law. The Commission also proposed to revise, in case of a successful
    referendum, all the laws of the judicial system by bringing them in
    line with European standards. The amendmends regarding the local
    self-government system were also deemed to be positive, particularly
    those establishing Yerevan as a community and making the post of
    Yerevan Mayor elective. 5 points referred to the freedom, independence
    and pluralism of the media. If by the previous version, the
    candidatures of the National Television and Radio Commission members
    were nominated by the RA President, by the current revised version,
    half of the Commission shall be appointed by the RA President and
    another half - by the National Assembly. The appointed persons must be
    nonpartisan - welcoming this amendment, the Venice Commission reminded
    that appointment must be professional merit-based. At the same time,
    the order of appointing all the members of the Public Television and
    Radio Company by the RA President was considered as a problem causing
    one. In the Commission's opinion, in case of keeping this order,
    transparent mechanisms of appointment must be ensured in order to
    avoid possible political speculations.
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