The Venice Commission and the Construction of European Constitutional Law

Abstract

Moving from the emergence of a third layer of European constitutional integration, as embodied by those various agencies and institutions called to promote human rights and the rule of law, the article focuses on the role of the Venice Commission as described by a recent book of Sergio Bartole. In particular, it dwells on the evolution of the Venice Commission, on the different functions it has been entrusted with, on the relationship with other institutional actors, on its fields of intervention and, lastly, on the methodological contribution its action may give on the establishment of a European constitutional heritage.