In an “opinion” published on Tuesday 13 June, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission expresses “strong concerns” about the compatibility of Ukraine’s law on oligarchs with the European Convention on Human Rights and judges it to be “difficult to reconcile with principles of political pluralism and the rule of law”.
It denounces the “personal approach” - even though it recognises that Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine could justify “radical solutions” - advocates a “systemic approach” and makes a number of recommendations aimed at strengthening Ukrainian legislation in areas such as competition, corruption, transparency in public procurement, media concentration and money laundering.
The law should not be implemented as it stands, say the Council of Europe’s constitutional law experts.
In a second “opinion”, the Venice Commission welcomes the adoption of “a long-expected law on national minorities which provides guarantees in conformity with international standards”, but calls for further amendments.
Link to all the Venice Commission’s opinions on Ukraine: https://aeur.eu/f/7gc (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)