The explanatory report further mentions that the principle of party autonomy is also reflected in the Joint Guidelines of the Venice Commission and ODIHR on Political Party Regulation. While this is true, the Joint Guidelines also note that women are guaranteed equal protection of allfundamental rights by a number of international instruments and that gender quotas are in line with such standards.20 In addition, they state that allocation of public funds based on party support for women candidates – as it has also been in place in Georgia prior to the current amendments – may not be considered discriminatory.