Legality of the Crimean Referendum: Legal Analysis

The Venice Commission, Council of Europe ^

[annalex]

Legality of the Crimean Referendum: Legal Analysis

Venice, 21 March 2014

Opinion no. 762 / 2014

EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW (VENICE COMMISSION)

OPINION

ON “WHETHER THE DECISION TAKEN
BY THE SUPREME COUNCIL
OF THE AUTONOMOUS REPUBLIC OF CRIMEA IN UKRAINE
TO ORGANISE A REFERENDUM
ON BECOMING A CONSTITUENT TERRITORY
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
OR RESTORING CRIMEA’S 1992 CONSTITUTION IS COMPATIBLE
WITH CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES”

adopted by the Venice Commission
at its 98th
Plenary Session
(Venice, 21-22 March 2014)

on the basis of comments by
Mr Peter PACZOLAY (Honorary President, Hungary)
Ms Hanna SUCHOCKA (Member, Poland)
Mr Evgeni TANCHEV (Member, Bulgaria)
Mr Kaarlo TUORI (Member, Finland)

[See full text]

[...]

V. Conclusions

27. The Constitution of Ukraine like other constitutions of Council of Europe member states, provides for the indivisibility of the country and does not allow the holding of any local referendum on secession from Ukraine. This results in particular from Articles 1, 2, 73 and 157 of the Constitution. These provisions in conjunction with Chapter X of the Constitution show that this prohibition also applies to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Constitution of Crimea does not allow the Supreme Soviet of Crimea to call such a referendum. Only a consultative referendum on increased autonomy could be permissible under the Ukrainian Constitution.

28. Moreover, circumstances in Crimea did not allow the holding of a referendum in line with European democratic standards. Any referendum on the status of a territory should have been preceded by serious negotiations among all stakeholders. Such negotiations did not take place.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3136650/posts

[FredZarguna]

So, ZeroHedge is repeating the lies of a hand-puppet appointed by Putin's ex hand-puppet, and you're quoting it as an independent source. Big deal.

The tried and true disinformatzia techniques are still the best, eh tovarich?

[Nifster]

And here is what your source is

“Press TV (stylised PRESSTV) is a 24-hour English language news organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). “

Just don’t bother. You are wrong and you are getting your information from tainted sources.

Pick up your phone Alex is waiting to chat

[Nifster]

read The Perestroika Deception

And by the way...you apparently do not understand anything about communism

[Nifster]

And that piece of nonsense was leaked at the time...the person making the claim is a well known dermatologist....Now when I want forensic medical evidence I always go to a dermatologist.

look Zerohedge is no better than info wars.... Get yourself some reliable sources not the foaming at the mouth, breathless rantings of animus writers that don’t want you to know their real name.

You can rail about Soros all you want that doesn’t change the FACT that Putin is, was , and always will be KGB. He is a die hard communist and his goal is to have the Soviet Union (formerly known as Russia) be THE world ruler.

Go relisten to Reagan’s speech “A Time for Choosing”. You are so focused on Soros that you are ignoring the real and present danger.

[Nifster]

Agreed. You obviously know Russian history and modern Soviet history. You understand why I make the reference the way I do.

We live in dangerous times

[caww]

....”You’re a liar and a tool of the NeoSoviet® Empire”....

Well there are people who do know me on FR and know where I stand...so stop slamming people who don’t agree with your mind set. It accomplishes nothing...and you look foolish and ignorant when you do so.

[caww]

The chosen individuals were average citizens who of course supported Crimea's change to Russia. They were teachers, secretaries etc. and citizens of all professions there. Only about three actual Gov. officials, the Mayor of Stev. and the appointed Governor of Crimea etc. for they would sign the official documents.

Down the road who really knows if or not Crimea is better off...I suspect Putin will invest there for obvious reasons. With the Military presence build it up as tourist and business arena.....apparently as it once was Historically. I understand many Russian officials etc. went there for vacation etc.

I do think it will be better off then Ukraine whose economic recovery is not going to be any easy feat by any means...even with the support of the Eu Billions are not going to be quickly distributed until the elections and a new Government is stable in itself..... so it'll be hard on Ukranians for a while.

FYI:

Ukraine’s acting foreign minister, at The Hague.... has met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. ....It is the first such encounter since the controversial annexation of Crimea. ....President Vladimir Putin agreed to the informal meeting

[caww]

The chosen individuals were average citizens who of course supported Crimea's change to Russia. They were teachers, secretaries etc. and citizens of all professions there. Only about three actual Gov. officials, the Mayor of Stev. and the appointed Governor of Crimea etc. for they would sign the official documents.

Down the road who really knows if or not Crimea is better off...I suspect Putin will invest there for obvious reasons. With the Military presence build it up as tourist and business arena.....apparently as it once was Historically. I understand many Russian officials etc. went there for vacation etc.

I do think it will be better off then Ukraine whose economic recovery is not going to be any easy feat by any means...even with the support of the Eu Billions are not going to be quickly distributed until the elections and a new Government is stable in itself..... so it'll be hard on Ukranians for a while.

FYI:

Ukraine’s acting foreign minister, at The Hague.... has met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. ....It is the first such encounter since the controversial annexation of Crimea. ....President Vladimir Putin agreed to the informal meeting

[HiTech RedNeck]

I’m hearing some sources say that Russia’s resources now are stressed. Russia, having taken Crimea from Ukraine, now has to take care of it. And Crimea has a lot of bums, even if they are Russian bums.

Could be that Russia won the booby prize, and the best thing the world could do right now is just sit and watch.

[caww]

The Russian Military was a strong presence in Crimea, for their ports there, before these events and Legally they could have as many as 25,000 within their area of influence. How they used them is of course now another story.

This was so meticulously planned and executed by Russia that they even had prepared generators, water tank trucks and emergency vehicles ready to go there if successful. So I doubt too much wasn't considered before hand. Remarkably Putin even had refugee areas in Russia ready to go pending how things developed.

I believe anything written that Russia is weakening in any area, providing for Crimea, or their Military condition is likely the propaganda machine operating by our state dept to off set Russia's propaganda....especially in light of the detailed operations Russia carried out and carries out now. So far doesn't look like they left any stone unturned.....including care of the Military and how they rotate them.....heck they even set a ton of seed for Spring for the farmers etc! On our side...well Obama has said the G-7 only 'suspended' Russia's place in the G-8. which then automatically cut out the Sochi Summit planned for. and we know that most monies were shipped out to China and elsewhere so the asset revenue sanctions havn't done much.

The unintended fallout now is Arab and Chinese investors in the EU are starting to 'withdraw' money and investments from the EU as a result of result of sanctions.

The Arabs are upset with how Crimea went in light of the Palestinian statehood issue.....gripping that in three weeks Putin accomplished what the US couldn't do in years. China of course is now Russia's largest buyer of oil, as of this year, so they're going to protect his interests and theirs. There really isn't anything much the US or Europe can do about Crimea....No matter if we like it or not sure looks like Putin took the World Order by complete surprise and they now have their hands plenty full trying to determine how this has and will change all trajectories going forward. Checkmate on Obma for sure!

Looking backwards...Putin knew then what he was planning....imagine what he must of been thinking when he welocmed Obam to the summit

[annalex]

I think you are just clowning here. Soros shot them? They hosed themselves? You know who was doing the shooting? You have a clue what Nazi or neo-Nazi means?

[annalex]

I am arguing reason and legality.

At this point we don’t know what the Crimeans would want, because the referendum was likely rigged and lacked every logical option. Besides, what they will want needs to be reconciled with the Constitution of Ukraine.

There is such a thing as civilization. When one country behaves like it just came out of a bear cave, that country does not belong to the civilized society; it should be isolated and encircled by NATO bases. What that nation would feel a hostility about is irrelevant there, till such time that they sober up and sit down and negotiate.

I don’t care where Crimea ends up. It may very well end up in Russia. The only way for Crimea to self-determine is to do so legally and slowly, and under international observers.

It is not in the national interest of any country of the West to allow the annexation of Crimea. If it is not dealt with resolutely, we are going to have a far worse crisis within a year. Crime that is not punished repeats.

[quadrant]

Do you think the outcome will be any different if self-determination is conducted “legally” (whatever that means) and “slowly”? Why put the people of Crimea through months and maybe years of suspense, if the outcome is going to be the same?
The longer this issue drags out, the greater the probability of bloodshed. I should think that events in Syria have taught you (and the world) the problems that arise with prolonged civil strife.
Isolate and encircle Russia? Are you mad? Do you really believe that such a geopolitical alliance could be constructed and maintained? Are you willing to bear the cost of such an alliance?

[HiTech RedNeck]

The standard of living in Crimea was a lot less than in Russia. Crimea is going to have a class envy problem and no amount of seed planting is going to solve that overnight. It would be like adopting Ethiopia into the USA.

[dfwgator]

Fairly similar to East and West Germany soon after reunification.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Where people who could afford it, went to the West. So Crimeans will move to Russia proper.

[caww]

Agree it’s going to take an investment on Putin’s part...but remember the oil is in Crimea....Putin, as tough as he is, has a soft spot for loyalty. The Crimea people just showed him that. It will not go unrewarded especially since he took the oil he’ll surely increase and upgrade. Here’s an interesting read...

From Barrons: - Russia’s concentration of economic power means the state can hold its oligarchs for ransom and force enterprises to forgo profits at the bidding of politicians. ....A 2012 study by Troika Dialog Research estimated that the Russian state owns 30% of the equity market, with another 30% held by oligarchs and domestic “businessmen.” Russia’s 10 richest men own $25 billion in publicly listed Russian companies, according to Wealth-X, which tracks individuals of ultra-high net worth.... The Russian stock market has a total valuation of $150 billion. Many of these rich individuals owe their wealth to Putin, so they aren’t likely to defy him.......This means that in effect the state controls some 60% of the market because the Russian oligarchs will follow Kremlin’s lead.

[HiTech RedNeck]

If Crimea had oil why did it need Russian overlords to get it flowing? It’s not like the oil suddenly appeared when the sham vote was held.