The President of the Constitutional Court Dr Matej Accetto Participates in the International Conference “EUnited in Diversity II: The Rule of Law and Constitutional Diversity”

Photo: Supreme Court of the Netherlands

The President of the Constitutional Court Dr Matej Accetto, as an invited speaker, attended the International Conference “EUnited in Diversity II: The Rule of Law and Constitutional Diversity” in The Hague, Netherlands, on 31 August and 1 September 2023.

The conference, which brought together representatives of the constitutional and supreme courts of EU Member States, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Court of Human Rights, was aimed at discussing the role of the highest courts in upholding the core values on which the European Union is founded, such as the rule of law and respect for human rights.

The conference was opened by Mr Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice of the European Union. His introductory remarks were followed by keynote speeches from Mr Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Ms Síofra O’Leary, President of the European Court of Human Rights, and Ms Dineke de Groot, President of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. The discussion about various aspects of the main theme, grouped into four discussion panels, was primarily shaped by the question of when national diversity should be set aside in favour of the unity of EU law, and conversely, when EU law should allow room for national diversity. President Accetto participated with a contribution in the framework of the panel entitled “Legal Protection of Current and Future Generations”. He addressed the challenges related to the relationship between current and future generations and the role of cross-border judicial dialogue in the development of legally applicable principles of legal protection.

The international conference, co-organised by the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Constitutional Court of Belgium, the Constitutional Court of Luxembourg, and the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, was intended as a sequel to the conference “EUnited in Diversity: Between Common Constitutional Traditions and National Identities”, which was held in September 2021 in Riga, Latvia.