Pan-European Conference of the Constitutional Control Organs of the Countries of New Democracy

Yerevan, 21 October 2016

Conference Page

Mr President, dear Mr Harutynyan,

Mr Ombudsman, dear Mr Tatoyan,

Esteemed and honourable Judges,

Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen

On behalf of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe,

Mr Thorbjørn Jagland, it is a great honour and a real pleasure for me to open this conference in Yerevan. I would like, at the outset, to congratulate the organisers on arranging such a timely and important event. Indeed, the role of the constitutional courts in preserving the coherence and harmony of the domestic legal order is crucial. I am delighted to be here since my Directorate General is actively involved in cooperation with all higher courts of our member States, including all those represented in this hall.

I would like to thank the organisers in particular for choosing this forum to promote the Venice Commission’s Rule of Law Checklist, which was recently endorsed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The timing for our discussion is perfect, the Rule of Law Checklist being an innovative tool for systematic constitutional monitoring in our member States. The Rule of Law Checklist is intended to facilitate a correct and consistent understanding and interpretation of the concept and thus to facilitate the effective application of the principles of the Rule of Law in practice. I am confident that the next day and a half will produce fruitful discussions and concrete recommendations in that regard.

We should bear in mind, however, that the new Rule of Law Checklist is not an isolated tool. It should be taken in the context of the Council of Europe’s overall policy directed to enhance the independence, efficiency and quality of justice.

The Sofia Conference in April this year was another important milestone. It provided an opportunity for Ministers of Justice and representatives of the judiciary at the highest level to take stock of recent reforms in the justice sector and to identify challenges. It resulted in an Action Plan for the five years ahead on strengthening judicial independence and impartiality, defined as the indispensable precondition of the Rule of law.

The Supreme and Constitutional Courts of our member States have an outstanding role to play in the implementation of both the Action Plan and the new Checklist. I am looking forward to addressing these topics with all of you.

Mr President,

The Conference is also supposed to address another important topic: the role of the supreme and constitutional courts in dealing with legal gaps and inconsistencies. Indeed, problems in compliance with our common standards arise most frequently in court practice, not in the texts themselves. Disharmonised judicial practice is the source of incoherence and legal uncertainty. Hence the need for special measures to be taken by the higher courts to ensure harmonisation of the case law at national level with a view to preventing uncertainty and remedying failures.

Our cooperation projects have thus created platforms for more dialogue between judges, including the Strasbourg Court and national courts at different levels. These activities go hand in hand with good quality training, to which the HELP Programme significantly contributes. We will thus, systematically include the component dealing with the harmonisation of the case law in our work vis-à-vis all member States. I am convinced that our debates today and tomorrow will provide very valuable information and views to allow our activities to be consolidated and complemented.

Before we start our work, I would like to thank the GIZ and the European Union for their support in funding and organising this Conference. I am also happy to note that the discussion of these important themes is happening in a format, which is turning into an excellent tradition. Yerevan conferences are becoming traditional venues for exploring constitutional aspects of themes related to rule of law and human rights.

I wish you a fruitful Conference and look forward to our discussions.