The Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning has officially received an urgent general conclusion of the European Commission "For Democracy through Law" (Venice Commission) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on Bill No. 3612 "On democracy through an all-Ukrainian referendum."

The conclusion was adopted at the online meeting of the 124th plenary session of the Venice Commission on October 8-9, 2020. The document concerns the compliance of the draft law with international standards, in particular the Code of Good Practice on Referendums, developed by the Venice Commission and supported by the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe, as well as the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document, the information department of the Rada Apparatus reported on Thursday.

The conclusion takes into account the previous recommendations of the Venice Commission on the legal framework for holding national referendums in Ukraine and the reports of the ODIHR and (PACE on the elections in Ukraine.)

When preparing a draft law on democracy through an all-Ukrainian referendum (No. 3612) for the second reading, the committee at its meeting considered the comments and proposals received from the subjects of the right of legislative initiative, including those that were aimed at implementing certain recommendations made in the previously submitted committee joint opinion of the Venice Commission. Based on the results of consideration of this draft law at the second reading, the committee decided to recommend that the Verkhovna Rada adopt draft law No. 3612 at the second reading and in the whole.

However, taking into account the submission of the conclusions of the Venice Commission and the OSCE profile Office, as well as the comments of the Main Legal Department of the Rada Apparatus, the document is currently being finalized taking into account the above proposals.