The Venice Commission: The Constitutional Fire-Brigade of Europe

This innovative book analyses the Venice Commission, a major transnational constitutional consultant, working under the auspices of the Council of Europe (CoE). Kaarlo Tuori explores the founding and development of the Commission, its organisation and working methods, the doctrine it has applied and the global impact it has made through its activities.

Tuori investigates the role of the Commission in assisting with constitution-making in post-socialist countries, before assessing diplomacy and rule-of-law regression constitutional auditing following the break-up of Yugoslavia. Chapters examine the Commission’s activities and doctrine through a political lens, illustrated by timely case studies focusing on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Türkiye and Ukraine. The book dissects the relationship between the Commission’s success and its inclusion in CoE and EU conditionality and monitoring, blurring the boundary between soft and hard law.

The Venice Commission is a crucial resource for students and scholars of constitutional and administrative law and human rights. The insights are also invaluable to legal practitioners, especially those with an interest in consulting and rule-of-law monitoring.