Promoting the revised Code of Good Practice on Referendums
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 15 April 2024 (9th sitting) (see Doc. 15940, report of Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy,
rapporteur: Ms Isabel Meirelles). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 15 April 2024 (9th sitting).
1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers
to its
Resolution 2251
(2019) “Updating guidelines to ensure fair referendums
in Council of Europe member States” in which, taking note that the
process of revision of the guidelines had already started, it asked
the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission)
to take into account the increasing use of referendums, the rise
of digital media and the changed nature of political campaigning.
2. Through this text, the Assembly wished to provide an input
to the work of the Venice Commission, having taken note that, in
recent years, the process and/or the fairness of the outcome in
a number of national referendums had been questioned and that, in
other cases, important innovations had been introduced, the knowledge
of which could benefit legislators in all member States.
3. The Venice Commission emphasised the need for referendums
to respect the rule of law and, in particular, to comply with the
legal system as a whole, especially with the procedural rules on
constitutional revision. It also warned against the use of referendums
to bypass important constitutional safeguards, such as the requirement
for a qualified majority in parliament. As regards the substance
of the proposed changes, the Venice Commission was concerned that
most of these referendums were aimed at concentrating powers and reducing
democratic control by parliament. On that basis, the Venice Commission
initiated the process of revision of the Code of Good Practice on
Referendums and, in June 2022, it adopted the revised Code of Good Practice
on Referendums (“revised code”).
4. The revised code responds to the Assembly’s concerns and takes
into account developments with respect to a number of referendums
which have been held by Council of Europe member States in recent years.
5. The revised code specifies that it “does not intend to determine
whether and under which circumstances recourse to referendums is
desirable as such. The answer to this question varies according
to the nature of the constitutional system and tradition. It belongs
to national constitutional law to establish whether referendums are
at all foreseen, what their scope is, and what procedure must be
followed to hold them. However, a number of guarantees are necessary
to ensure that they genuinely express the wishes of the electorate
and do not go against international standards in the field of human
rights, democracy and the rule of law.”
6. The revised code includes the “Guidelines on the Holding of
Referendums” and an explanatory memorandum, which refers, when necessary,
to the various items of the guidelines in order to elaborate on their
content and background. The guidelines contain the principles of
Europe’s electoral heritage, the conditions for implementing these
principles and specific rules.
7. This Resolution is intended to elaborate on those aspects
of the guidelines that are specific to referendums. Accordingly,
it does not comment on the principles and general rules applicable
to both elections and referendums.
8. The revised code applies to referendums at the different levels
of the State structure (national, regional and local). However,
it is mainly focused on national referendums. Its general rules
are to be adapted to the reality of local and regional referendums,
in conformity with national constitutional traditions.
9. In light of these considerations, the Assembly:
9.1 welcomes the drafting of the
revised Code of Good Practice on Referendums and endorses it as adopted;
9.2 decides to disseminate the revised Code of Good Practice
on Referendums and recommends it to the parliaments of the Council
of Europe member and observer States, as well as to the parliaments enjoying
observer or partner for democracy status with the Assembly;
9.3 invites parliaments and other relevant bodies of Council
of Europe member States to promote the revised Code of Good Practice
on Referendums and to take it into account when revising the relevant national
rules or developing best practices;
9.4 encourages parliaments and other relevant bodies of Council
of Europe member States to enter into dialogue as to how to improve
the existing national rules on referendums;
9.5 invites parliaments of Council of Europe member States
to update their rules on referendums on the basis of the revised
Code of Good Practice on Referendums;
9.6 invites parliaments of the Council of Europe member States
to develop best practices which would improve the legal and institutional
environment for referendums;
9.7 invites the political groups in the Assembly to promote
the revised Code of Good Practice on Referendums.
10. As regards its own activities, the Assembly resolves to play
a greater role in promoting the revised Code of Good Practice on
Referendums by:
10.1 encouraging
its political groups to enhance discussions on how to improve the
legal framework for referendums;
10.2 holding debates on how to develop the legal, including
the soft law, environment and best practices relating to referendums;
10.3 stepping up interparliamentary co-operation activities
addressing the improvement of the legal framework for referendums;
10.4 creating a Parliamentary Assembly network of election
observers, notably to promote the revised Code of Good Practice
on Referendums and other Council of Europe standards in electoral
matters, in line with the proposal to reinforce electoral activities
endorsed by the Assembly in January 2024;
10.5 continuing to review, in co-operation with the Venice
Commission, the revised Code of Good Practice on Referendums and
the issues raised in it, with a view to developing it further if
required.
