VENICE COMMISSION: THE DRAFT ARMENIAN CONSTITUTION NEEDS DRASTIC CHANGES

STRASBOURG, MAY 30. ARMINFO. The Council of Europe’s Commission for
Democracy through Law (“Venice Commission”) has assessed the draft
constitutional amendments, as adopted by the Armenian National Assembly
in a first reading on 11 May 2005.

The CE press service reports that the members of the Venice
Commission’s Working Group on constitutional reform in Armenia
expressed their deep dissatisfaction with this text, as most of the
Commission’s comments (*) have not been taken into consideration,
notably those concerning the balance of powers between the President
and the Parliament – which implies a stronger role of the National
Assembly -, the independence of the judiciary and the election of
the Mayor of Yerevan (instead of his/her appointment by the President).

“The draft constitutional amendments need to be drastically revised
before they undergo the second reading” said Kaarlo Tuori, member
of the Venice Commission in respect of Finland. The members of the
Working Group also stated that if the text does not fully reflect the
Venice Commission’s opinions, the whole constitutional reform process
would fail to bring Armenia closer to European values and attain the
aim of further European integration.

Representatives of the Working Group will visit Armenia on 2 June to
discuss these issues with the Armenian authorities.