Experts of the Venice Commission will prepare a juridical conclusion on the Law on Freedom of Assembly in Azerbaijan, which will be discussed at the plenary session to be held in Venice on 13 - 14 October, Sergey Kuznetsov, an expert of elections and Reforms Department of the Venice Commission, Sergey Kuznetsov, told Trend in an exclusive interview.
Kuznetsov noted that after the adoption of the document, it is planned to organize several meetings for an exchange of opinions amongst experts of the Venice Commission and representative of the Azerbaijani authorities. We hope that the recommendations by the Commission will be taken into consideration in the process of development of changes into the Law on Freedom of Assembly he stated.
Kuznetsov also noted that the Venice Commission is currently studying the changes to the Elections Code, proposed by the Azerbaijani Government. He added that it is planned to hold a meeting with the authors of the draft document shortly. The recommendations and juridical conclusion, adopted in 2004 and 2005, fully state the position of the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR on the important issues such as the composition of election commissions, appeals on the resolution by the elections bodies, use of special inking. Experts of the commission hope that further joint work over the draft document will promote adjusting the Code to the CE Standards regarding the holding of democratic elections, Kuznetsov said.