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The preliminary opinion by the Council of Europe's constitutional law experts, (the Venice Commission) criticizing draft modifications to the constitution of Azerbaijan, which will be put to a national referendum on Monday 26 September, can be considered “very strict”.

As the Council of Europe website notes , the Venice Commissions targets many proposed amendments severely upsetting the balance of power by giving “unprecedented” powers to the President. For example, the extension of the presidential mandate, as well as the introduction of the figure of unelected Vice-Presidents. The Venice Commission is also concerned about issues related to human rights.

“The extension of the term of the presidential mandate to seven years cannot be justified, and, given the already very strong position of the President, and new powers added by the reform, it is at odds with the European constitutional heritage,” the Venice Commission notes.

The Venice Commission criticizes the fact that although permitted by the current procedure for modifying the Constitution, the Draft was put to referendum directly, without any involvement of Parliament.

The Commission is also concerned about the limitation clauses introduced by the Draft, in particular those which may affect the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly and the freedom of association.

According to the modifications to be made in the Draft, the role of the Parliament weakens affecting the independence of the judiciary, since Parliament’s role in the approval of judges will be reduced.
The Venice Commission is particularly concerned by the institutional reform proposed by the Draft. The extension of the term of the presidential mandate to seven years cannot be justified, and, given the already very strong position of the President.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan didn’t cooperate with the Venice Commission in the process of implementation of modifications. By letter of 6 September 2016, the Chair of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, on behalf of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly, requested the opinion of the Venice Commission on the draft modifications to the Constitution of Azerbaijan.
Regardless the criticism, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)  will send a seven-member “assessment mission”, headed by Aleksandar Nikoloski (“the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, EPP/CD). The delegation is composed of Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE), Yanaki Stoilov (Bulgaria, SOC), Antonio Gutièrrez (Spain, SOC), Dominik Tarczynski (Poland, EC), Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC), Cezar Florin Preda (Romania, EPP/CD).

Judging by the members of the monitoring delegation, one can already imagine the “positive” assessment of the Azerbaijani Constitutional Referendum.