Local referendum bill: Venice Commission may release preliminary opinion Jan 28

The Venice Commission is set to publish on January 28, 2022, a preliminary opinion on Ukrainian Parliament’s Bill 5512 "On Local Referendum."

That’s according to Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, who spoke in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

"According to a letter by Mr. Buquicchio (President of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) - ed.), a preliminary opinion on the local referendum bill is slated for January 28. We had decided, however, to send it to the Venice Commission to follow the same path as the law on the all-Ukrainian referendum. As we are introducing new stages of democracy in Ukraine, we really want these bills to be as close to perfect as possible and to seal support of the international community," the Rada Speaker said.

Stefanchuk expressed hope that on January 28, the Venice Commission will issue a positive conclusion before the bill is tabled for voting.

"I expect that at the beginning of the next session, we will be able to consider the document at the plenary session," Stefanchuk added.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk sent Bill No. 5512 "On Local Referendum" to the Venice Commission for examination.

In March 2021, the bill on local referendum was submitted for public discussion.

On May 19, the draft law was registered in parliament.

The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, previously predicted that Bill No.5512 "On local referendum" would l be submitted to parliament’s session hall for first reading before year-end.

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