On February 5, 2020, the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers formally agreed a checklist [3] on checks and balances for states adopted by the Commission on Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) in June 2019. According to a press release [4] from the Council of Europe, the checklist "follows a warning by the Venice Commission . . . that some governments, on gaining power in an election, are trying to dismantle democratic safeguards, rushing through laws without genuine political debate, and sacking independent judges and officials to make their own appointments." The checklist consists of ten sections on matters including the establishment of majority and opposition groups in parliaments; parliamentary appointments, certain legislative processes; and immunities of members of parliament. The checklist is non-binding, but the Council of Europe hopes that it will "help legislators in . . . vulnerable democracies to formulate legal rules and develop unwritten 'constitutional conventions' and best practices" and "assist so-called 'established democracies', which face the risk of imbalances undermining the culture of political pluralism" (para. 9).