Opinion on the Qualification Assessment Procedure of Judges of Ukraine
The scope of this Opinion covers only the Qualification Assessment Procedure and Judicial Dossier Regulation, submitted for review. Thus limited, the Opinion does not constitute a full and comprehensive review of the entire legal and institutional framework governing the judicial system of Ukraine and the status and evaluation of judges.
Joint Opinion on the Draft Amendments to Some Legislative Acts Concerning Prevention of and Fight Against Political Corruption of Ukraine
On 22 July 2015, Mr Yehor Soboliev, the Chairperson of the Committee on Corruption Prevention and Counteraction of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine sent a letter to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (hereinafter “OSCE/ODIHR”), in which he asked for a review of draft amendments to Some Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning Prevention of and Fight against Political Corruption (CDL-REF(2015)031), (hereinafter “the draft amendments”) to assess their compliance with international human rights standards. The draft amendments propose changes to seven different Ukrainian legal acts, namely the Code of Administrative Offences, the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the Law on the
Accounting Chamber, the Law on the Elections of the President of Ukraine (hereinafter “Presidential Election Law”), the Law on Political Parties of Ukraine (hereinafter “Political Parties Law”),the Law on Election of Members of Parliament of Ukraine (hereinafter “Parliamentary Elections Law”) and the Law on Prevention of Corruption (hereinafter “AntiCorruption Law”).
Draft Joint Opinion on the Draft Amendments to some Legislative Acts concerning Prevention of and Fight against Political Corruption in Ukraine (September 2015)
OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission welcome the draft amendments as an important improvement to the existing legal framework on political party and campaign financing. Several provisions could benefit from further improvement, in order to ensure that the draft amendments are in line with international standards. This relates, in particular, to provisions in the areas of contribution and spending limits and oversight over political party and campaign financing by regulatory bodies.
Annex to Draft Joint Opinion on the Draft Amendments to some Legislative Acts concerning Prevention of and Fight against Political Corruption in Ukraine
Opinion on the Draft Law on Resolution of Disputes through Mediation and Amendments to Related Legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic
While the Opinion welcomes a mostly coherent legal framework pertaining to mediation which in many ways is compatible with international standards is also provides a number of recommendations in order to ensure sufficient safeguards with respect to criminal mediation in line with international standards, ensure the quality of mediation and guarantee procedural rights in the course of mediation processes, clarify the rules of confidentiality of mediation proceeding and the admissibility of mediation-related information as evidence in subsequent court proceedings, clearly outline exceptions to the confidentiality in the law.