THE DECLARATION OF BLED | 01.10.2004, 18:00 THE DECLARATION Bled, October 1, 2004 The participants of the international conference on "The Position of Constitutional Courts following Integration into the European Union" assembled at Bled, September 30 to October 2, 2004, upon the initiative of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia and with the support of the Venice Commission have comprehensively discussed the effects of their integration into the European Union as well as the position and jurisdiction of the Constitutional Courts of the member States. več » Address by Dr Luzius Wildhaber, President of the ECHR | 30.09.2004, 13:00 CONFERENCE ON “THE POSITION OF CONSTITUTIONAL COURTS FOLLOWING INTEGRATION INTO THE EUROPEAN UNION” Address by Luzius Wildhaber Bled, 30 September 2004 Ms President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues and friends, It is a great pleasure for me to be here today and to be given the opportunity to address what has indeed become a very topical issue these days: « The position of Constitutional Courts following integration into the European Union ». več » Presentation by Dr Vassilios Skouris, President of the European Court of Justice | 01.10.2004, 9:30 The Position of the European Court of Justice in the EU Legal Order and its Relationship with National Constitutional Courts By Vassilios Skouris President of the European Court of Justice A) INTRODUCTION Allow me first of all to thank you for your very kind invitation to participate in this excellent conference. We at the European Court of justice find that such initiatives are probably the only way of strengthening the cooperation and understanding between the supreme judicial entities in Europe. več » Summary in Slovene of the Address by Dr Nikiforos Diamandouros, European Ombudsman | 01.10.2004, 9:25 POVZETEK USRS Evropski varuh človekovih pravic dr. Nikiforos P. Diamandourus Temeljna načela so tista, zaradi katerih je obstoj Evropske unije (EU) mogoč in potreben. Mogoč zato, ker pomenijo skupni imenovalec, ki nas združuje, kljub siceršnjim razlikam v nacionalnosti, kulturi, veri in političnih preferencah. Potreben zato, ker raison d'être EU ni več zgolj zasledovanje ekonomskih ugodnosti, temveč obramba in realizacija temeljnih skupnih vrednot. več » Presentation by Dr Didier Maus, on behalf of Dr Antonio La Pergola, President of the Venice Commission | 30.09.2004, 16:15 European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) Opinion on the Implications of a Legally-Binding EU Charter of Fundamental Rights on Human Rights Protection in Europe Adopted by the Venice Commission, at its 57th Plenary Session, (Venice, 12-13 December 2003) On the basis of comments by Mr Giorgio MALINVERNI (Member, Switzerland) Mr Pieter VAN DIJK (Member, the Netherlands) Mr Hans-Heinrich VOGEL (Substitute Member, Sweden) I. Introduction 1. By a letter of 22 September 2003, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe requested the Venice Commission več » Presentation by Dr Heinz Schaeffer, Substitute Judge of the Constitutional Court of Austria | 30.09.2004 Experiences of the Constitutional Court concerning the EU Legal System AUSTRIA Heinz Schäffer (University of Salzburg) Substitute Member of the Austrian Constitutional Court September 2004 Vorbemerkung Lassen Sie mich zu allererst meinen Dank für die ehrenvolle Einladung aussprechen. Ich empfinde es überdies als eine große Ehre und Freude, als Erster hier sprechen zu dürfen. več » Presentation by Dr Winfried Hassemer, Vice-President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany | 30.09.2004, 17:00 Prof. Dr. Dres. h.c. Winfried Hassemer Vice-President of the Federal Constitutional Court Case-law of the Federal Constitutional Court regarding: "The Position of Constitutional Courts following Integration into the European Union"[1] več » Summary in Slovene of the Presentation by Dr Valerio Onida, President of the Constitutional Court of Italy | 01.10.2004, 9:15 POVZETEK USRS Prof. Valerio Onida Ustavno sodišče Italije Italijansko Ustavno sodišče se že dolgo časa sooča s problemom razmerja med nacionalnim pravom in evropskim pravom. Pri tem sta najpomembnejši načeli neposrednega učinka prava Skupnosti v državah članicah in primata prava Skupnosti nad nacionalnim pravom. več » Presentation by Dr Christos Artemides, President of the Supreme Court of Cyprus | 01.10.2004 Presentation by Mr. Chr. Artemides – President of the Supreme Court of Cyprus, as representative of the Republic of Cyprus -------- --------- ------- International conference on “The Position of Constitutional Courts following Integration into the European Union”, held in Bled – Slovenia, from 30 September to 2 October, 2004. -------- -------- -------- As citizens of the Republic of Cyprus we are indeed very proud because our country satisfied all the criteria and passed with flying colours all the preparatory steps before joining the European Union, together with the other nine member states, on 1st May, 2004. Cyprus, a small but beautiful island in the Eastern Mediterranean with just below a million inhabitants, is widely acknowledged as having a good and stable economy, with its people enjoying a high standard of living. There has never been any appreciable group of eurosceptics in Cyprus. I have the view, although I do not profess to be an expert in the field, that our joining the European Union will not bring an upheaval in the country´s small and versatile economy or social structure. več » Presentation by Dr Jiri Mucha, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic | 01.10.2004 Dr. Jiři Mucha, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Dear Mrs. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, First of all please allow me to praise, on behalf of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, the idea of organizing this international conference, the theme of which is a set of issues highly topical for the Constitutional Courts in the new member countries of the European Union; I should also like to thank the Slovenian Constitutional Court and its President - Dr. Dragica Wedam Lukić, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and its President – Professor Antonio La Pergola, for the invitation. več » Presentation by Dr Ciril Ribičič, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia | 01.10.2004, 11:15 Implementing European Standards into the Case-Law of the Constitutional Court Dr. Ciril Ribičič, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia 1. Introduction In the present paper I discuss two issues which are important for the functioning of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia following the integration of Slovenia into the European Union. The first refers to the constitutional amendments connected with integration into the European Union (collectively referred to as the European article), by which the constitutional framework for the functioning of the Constitutional Court when deciding cases in the jurisdiction of the European Union is determined. več » Presentation by Dr Mirjam Škrk, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia | 01.10.2004, 10:35 Dr. Mirjam Škrk Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia The Role of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia Following Integration into the European Union Introduction Following its case-law, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia will have to shape its attitude towards EU law and the European Court of Justice in Luxemburg (hereinafter ECJ) on the basis of its present and future jurisprudence in concrete cases. By doing so it will give substance to and demonstrate its understanding of Article 3.a of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, particularly its first and fourth paragraphs.[1] več » Presentation by Dr Marian Grzybowski, Judge of the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland | 21.10.2004 Prof. dr hab. iur. Marian Grzybowski Constitutional Tribunal of Poland Jagiellonian University of Krakow, Poland The Competence of the Constitutional Tribunal and the 2003 Treaty of Accession Some Reflections on the ECJ Preliminary Rulings and on the “Legal Questions” before the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland* 1. The interplay between the European supranational law and the national regulations of the EU member states is only partially determined, from one side, by the European treaties and on the other side, by constitutional legislation of the member countries. It should be stressed that the constitutions of the member states were established by far before the accession and then they were quite rarely sufficiently modified when the negotiations to enter the EU were initiated and then finalized. The most of the constitutional acts of the member states do contain only vague and general (fragmentary) provisions dealing with the EU institutions as well as with the European law. več » Presentation by Dr Atilla Harmathy, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Hungary | 21.10.2004 Non-final version Position of Constitutional Courts following Integration into European Union Hungarian Report Attila HARMATHY* I. Amendment of the Constitution in connection with the Treaty of Accession to the European Union 1. Prior to World War II Hungary did not have a written constitution. There were some rules, considered to have constitutional character, formulated by different statutes and constitutional principles enshrined in customary law. As a result of the takeover of the political power in 1948 the constitutional system changed and the first written constitution, drafted on basis of the constitution of the Soviet Union, was enacted in 1949. Some years after the revolution of 1956 a slow transformation of system started. več » Presentation by Dr Eerik Kergandberg, Judge of the Supreme Court of Estonia | 01.10.2004 Role of the Constitutional Review Chamber of the Supreme Court of Estonia[1] in the European Union Report of the referee of the Estonian Supreme Court at the Conference "The Position of Constitutional Courts following Integration into the European Union" Bled, Slovenia 30 September to 2 October This report concentrates upon three major issues. Firstly, an overview of the constitutional amendment process in Estonia as well as of the concurrent complications and dilemmas will be given. Secondly, the readiness of the Estonian Court to operate under new circumstances will be assessed. And thirdly, the novel role of the Constitutional Courts under new circumstances will briefly be discussed. več » Presentation by Dr Aivars Endzinš, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Latvia | 21.10.2004 THE POSITION OF CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA FOLLOWING INTEGRATION INTO THE EUROPEAN UNION The place and role of the Republic of Latvia Constitutional Court in the processes of Euro-integration, to our mind, may be viewed in a wider and narrower aspect. On the one hand, i.e. in the wider aspect, the entire activities of the Constitutional Court for the last almost eight years have been directed to approximating the Latvian legal system to that of the European State system. več » Presentation by Dr Egidijus Küris, President of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania | 21.10.2004 ROLE of THE Constitutional Courts following their entry in the European Union Introduction. This report has been prepared for the International Conference “The Position of Constitutional Courts Following Integration Into the European Union”, taking place on 30 September-2 October 2004 in Bled. On the basis of this information, a report will be made in the conference. In the first part of the report, according to the suggested topics, amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania related to the integration of Lithuania into the European Union are discussed, while in the second part the role of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania following the integration into the EU and the assessment of the Constitutional Court’s readiness for new challenges was dealt with. več » Presentation by Dr Jan Mazak, President of the Slovak Constitutional Court | 21.10.2004 National judiciary after the accession of the Slovak Republic to the European Union (Some general reflections) Introductory remarks The Slovak general judiciary has acted relatively independently in the system of the judicial power so far i.e. until May 1, 2004. The power of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic interferes only with its position, powers and independent decision-making activity. več »