16th European Conference of Electoral Management Bodies “Election Dispute Resolution”

 

Thursday, 27 June 2019

08.00-08.50     Registration of participants

 

09.00-09.30 – Opening session

 

Denisa Sakova, Minister of Interior of the Slovak Republic (speech)

Miroslav Lajčák, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic (speech)

Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (speech)

 

09.30-10.00 – Group photo

 

10.00-11.30 – First plenary session: electoral disputes, recurrent problems

 

Moderated by Thomas Markert, Director, Secretary of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe

  • Interventions:

Structural trends and weaknesses observed in domestic legislation with regard to the settlement of electoral disputes: findings of the Venice Commission – Oliver Kask, Judge at the Tallinn Court of Appeal, Estonia, Member of the Venice Commission and President of the Council for Democratic Elections (speech)

Structural trends and weaknesses observed by international observers with regard to the settlement of electoral disputes – Ana Rusu, Senior Election Advisor, OSCE/ODIHR (speech)

How does Georgia deal with EDR? – Tamar Zhvania, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Georgia (speech and presentation)

 

11.30-12.00 – Coffee break

 

12.00-13.15 – Working sessions

 

1) Procedural aspects of EDR: competent bodies, standing and time-limits

Venue: The Knights Hall – Interpretation: English, Slovakian and Russian

Moderated and introduced by Katherine Ellena, Senior Global Legal Advisor at the International Foundation for Elections Systems – IFES

 

2) Procedural aspects of EDR: grounds for complaints and decisions open to challenge

Venue: Winter Riding School – Interpretation: English, French, Slovakian and Russian

Moderated and introduced by Abdessalem Mehdi Grissia, President of the Administrative Tribunal of Tunis, Tunisia

Recent federal elections challenged in Austria – competencies and experiences – Gregor Wenda, Deputy Head of Department, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Austria (presentation)

 

13.15-14.30 – Lunch break

14.30-16.00 – Second plenary session: International and domestic case-law

 

Moderated by Eduard Bárány, Chairman of the State Commission for the Elections and Control of Political Parties Funding in the Slovak Republic

  • Interventions:

The case law of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic in electoral matters – Ivetta Macejková, former Chairwoman of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic, Member of the Venice Commission

Procedural aspects in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights with regard to EDR – Inna Shyrokova, Lawyer from the European Court of Human Rights (presentation)

Constitutional courts’ case-law related to election dispute resolution – Serhii Kalchenko, Attorney, Associate Partner of Hillmont Partners, Election Expert, Ukraine (speech and presentation)

Electoral dispute procedure of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic - Theory and practice by Peter Melicher, Chairman of the Senate of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic (speech)

 

16.00-16.30 – Coffee break

 

16.30-17.45 – Working sessions

 

1) EDR, comparative perspective: Europe - America

Venue: Winter Riding School – Interpretation: English, French, Slovakian and Russian

Moderated by Lorenzo Cordova, President Councillor of the National Electoral Institute of Mexico

Electoral dispute resolution: the experience of the National Electoral Institute of Mexico – Lorenzo Cordova, President Councillor of the National Electoral Institute of Mexico 

 

2) Decision-making power regarding EDR

Venue: The Knights Hall – Interpretation: English, Slovakian and Russian

Moderated and introduced by Ingrid Bicu, Director of the Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania 

Election dispute resolution: ways of optimisation – Ekaterina Goloulina, Deputy Director of IPA CIS IIMDD – International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens – Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (speech)

 

17.45-18.15 – Debriefing from the working sessions and closing remarks of the first day

Co-moderated by Rasto Kuzel, General Rapporteur of the Conference, Executive Director at MEMO 98, Slovak Republic

and Gaël Martin-Micallef, Legal Adviser, Division of Elections and Political Parties, Venice Commission

 

18.30-20.00 – Social programme: Buffet meal with musical event at the Historical Building of the Slovak National Council (upon invitation)

Friday, 28 June 2019

 

09.00-10.30 – Third plenary session: How to make EDR more accessible and effective? Towards recommendations

 

Moderated by Gerardo de Icaza, Director of the Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation, Organization of American States

  • Interventions:

Internal tension in judical review of election results – Eduard Bárány, Chairman of the State Commission for Elections and Control of Political Parties Funding and former judge of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic (speech)

Access to justice and legal redress – José Luis Vargas Valdez, Justice, Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary, Mexico, Substitute member of the Venice Commission

How to make more voters aware of potential irregularities? To what extent can those mistakes be corrected? – Petra Kingma, Senior Legal Advisor at the Electoral Council of Netherlands (presentation)

Observing Electoral Justice in the Americas – Gerardo de Icaza, Director of the Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation, Organization of American States (speech; presentation; Observing electoral justice: a manual for OAS electoral observation missions)

 

10.30-11.00 – Coffee break

 

11.00-12.15 – Working sessions

 

1) How to ensure EDR follow-up at national level and follow-up to international EDR-related recommendations

Venue: The Knights Hall – Interpretation: English, Slovakian and Russian

Moderated by Ana Rusu, Senior Election Advisor, OSCE/ODIHR

Selected decision-making powers of the State Commission for Elections and Oversight of the Funding of Political Parties – Mojmir Mamojka, Law Professor, Member of the State Commission for the Elections and Control of Political Parties Funding in the Slovak Republic, Slovakia (presentation)

 

2) Towards recommendations and guidelines in the field of election dispute resolution

Venue: Winter Riding School – Interpretation: English, French, Slovakian and Russian

Moderated by Pierre Garrone, Head of the Elections and Political Parties' Division of the Venice Commission

Intervention by Oliver Kask, Judge at the Tallinn Court of Appeal, Estonia, Member of the Venice Commission and President of the Council for Democratic Elections (speech)

 

12.15-12.30 – Debriefing following the working sessions

Co-moderated by Rasto Kuzel, General Rapporteur of the Conference, Executive Director at MEMO 98, Slovak Republic

and Pierre Garrone, Head of the Division of Elections and Political Parties, Venice Commission

 

12:30-14:00 – Lunch break

 

14.00-15.00 – Closing session: Discussion on and adoption of the conclusions of the 16th European Conference of Electoral Management Bodies

 

Draft conclusions of the Conference presented by Rasto Kuzel, General Rapporteur of the Conference, Executive Director at MEMO 98, Slovak Republic

Conclusions co-moderated by:

Eva Chmelová, Director of the Department of the Elections, Referendum and the Political Parties, Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic

and Thomas Markert, Director, Secretary of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe