Venice Commission adopts opinion on when to dissolve the parliament of Moldova
Strasbourg, 15.03.2010 - At its 82nd plenary session on 12 to 13 March 2010 the Venice Commission adopted an amicus curiae brief for the Constitutional Court of Moldova. The President of the Court made a request on 7 December 2009 for an opinion regarding a case brought by a group of deputies of Parliament on the interpretation of the articles in the Constitution on the election of the President and on the dissolution of the Parliament of Moldova. They allege that these articles could give rise to uncertainty with respect to the timing of the dissolution of Parliament by the President of the Republic. The Venice Commission is of the opinion that the Article on the dissolution of Parliament applies to the situations set out in the Article on the election of the President. A dissolution of Parliament can therefore not take place twice within one year, even if Parliament fails to elect the president twice. According to the Commission, the words “in the course of a year” should be interpreted as meaning one year, counting from the last dissolution of Parliament and not within one calendar year. This means that Parliament could be dissolved at the earliest on 16 June 2010. The Commission underlines that following this date, dissolution must take place within a reasonable timeframe. |
Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 March 2010 09:49 |