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The Constitutional Court assumes the role of guardian of constitutionality; it is the highest body of the judiciary for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, which form the core of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia. This year, as every year, the Court prepared a special ceremony to mark the Constitutionality Day, which it traditionally celebrates to honour the day of the proclamation of the Constitution, the supreme and ultimate reference in the constitutional adjudication.

The keynote address at the ceremony was delivered by Prof. Dr Vassilios Skouris, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Prof. Dr Skouris, who serves second term as President of the European Court of Justice, dedicated his address to the changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty in the area of fundamental rights protection in Europe. Namely, the entry into force of this Treaty provides for a comprehensive bill of rights for the European Union, as the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union was transformed into a legally binding text for the European Union institutions and the Member States when implementing Union law. Thus, in addition to the national constitutions and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, a third system of human rights protection was effectively adopted in the European region. Prof. Dr Skouris stressed the importance of this achievement for increasing the democratic legitimacy of the European Union and advancing the European integration; he also pointed out the pioneering role played by the European Court of Justice in the recognition of human rights in the European legal order. Already several decades ago, the Court of Justice recognized the importance of judicial review of human rights violations and has since established an abundant case-law in this field despite the absence of a solid legal basis. Notwithstanding this evolution, it must be noted that the legally binding bill of rights enhances the legal certainty of the citizens of the European Union as well as other individuals, in particular taking account of the expanding jurisdiction and competences of the Union in the sensitive areas, such as immigration and asylum policy or the police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.          

The President of the Court of Justice also pointed out some potential problems in providing a common standard of human rights protection, since a multitude of sources of law with sometimes overlapping fields of application may prove less than efficient and the source of confusion for private individuals, lawyers and judges. The President underlined certain problems that might be caused by conflicting case-law of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, but also pointed out the special significance attributed to the case-law of the latter Court by the European Court of Justice; in addition to that, he expressed his expectation that the European Union would soon accede to the European Convention on Human Rights. In that regard he stressed that »regardless of this accession, as long as the cooperation and mutual respect between the Strasbourg and Luxembourg Courts remain stable, there should be no fear of having two substantially different standards of human rights protection in Europe«.