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Tim Otty KC has been re-appointed to serve for a second four-year term as the United Kingdom’s Member of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission for the period 2023 to 2027.

The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission, is the Council of Europe’s Advisory Body on Constitutional matters. Established in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the role of the Commission is to provide legal advice to its member states and, in particular, to help states wishing to bring their legal and institutional structures into line with European and broader international standards in the fields of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

It also helps to ensure the dissemination and consolidation of a common constitutional heritage, playing a unique role in conflict management, and provides “emergency constitutional aid” to states in transition.

The Commission has 61 member states: the 46 Council of Europe member states and 15 other countries (Algeria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Israel, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Mexico, Peru, Tunisia and the USA). Argentina, Japan, the Holy See and Uruguay are observers, Belarus has a status of an associate member state (suspended). South Africa and the Palestinian National Authority have a special cooperation status. The Commission also cooperates closely with the European Union, OSCE/ODIHR and the Organisation of American States (OAS).

Its individual members include law professors, supreme and constitutional court judges, leading legal practitioners and members of national parliaments.

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