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Official Visit of the President of the European Court of Human Rights
During a four-day official visit to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Jean-Paul Costa, met with the judges of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia for discussions held on Tuesday, 13 October 2009. Prof. Dr Boštjan M. Zupančič, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, and Mr Michael O'Boyle, Deputy Registrar, also participated in the discussions.
In detailed and extensive discussions the two sides exchanged views on the position of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia regarding protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Several important common views resulted from the discussions.
In particular, the awareness should be raised that the protection of human rights ensured by the European Convention on Human Rights and the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, begins with the proceedings before courts of first instance. Judges decide on the basis of the Constitution, the European Convention, which is a constituent part of the Slovenian legal order, and on the basis of laws. This entails that judges of courts of first instance must have thorough knowledge of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the case-law of the Constitutional Court. With the protection of human rights ensured already in these proceedings, the huge caseload common to both Courts can, to a certain extent, be reduced. The Courts will thus be able to play their important roles as the guardians of human rights, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, which does not apply only to the European Court of Human Rights but also to national constitutional courts, which are entrusted with deciding constitutional complaints. The measures for the regulation of court proceedings in which the participants assuming an active role and exhibiting an effective participation would leave the resolution of their dispute to the court should accordingly contribute to this end. Tolerating low-quality applications does not contribute to the efficiency of the judiciary in the pursuit of its fundamental function.
Both sides have particularly emphasised the urgent need for the respect for the judiciary and for the recognition of the judicial branch of power as equal to the other two branches of power, which are important elements of the rule of law. In this regard, the participants underlined the issue of the independent position of the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the Council of Europe.
The distinguished guests and the Constitutional Court judges have concluded that the working meeting strengthened the traditionally good cooperation between the Courts. The exchange of opinions on protection of human rights at the national as well as international levels will contribute to the enrichment of the future work.