Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR to submit final opinion on fully adopted new Electoral Code of RA

On 10 June, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan participated in 107^th Plenary Session of the Venice Commission, during which the preliminary opinion of the Venice Commission with regard to the draft Electoral Code, adopted by the first reading, was discussed and approved.

Arpine Hovhannisyan expressed gratitude for the opinion, and in her speech she touched upon key recommendations of the Venice Commission implemented in the fully adopted Code, and at the same time she presented the grounds for failure to accept some of the recommendations.

Concluding her speech, the Minister of Justice asked the Commission to submit a new opinion on the version of the Electoral Code already adopted, taking account of the recommendations provided in the preliminary opinion and implemented by the state.

It is noteworthy that the Venice Commission stated in its opinion as follows:

“The Electoral Code was adopted on 25 May 2016 by the Armenian Parliament, with 102 votes in favour, 17 against and 3 abstentions. It entered into force on 1 June 2016. The Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR take note of the tangible efforts made by the authorities to take into account the recommendations in amending the Code on the basis of broad engagement with domestic stakeholders. The Armenian authorities requested a new opinion on the Electoral Code as adopted on 25 May. The Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR will therefore assess in this subsequent opinion the compatibility of the latest amendments to the Code with the recommendations formulated in the Preliminary Opinion.”