Delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine participated in the international conference in the Slovak Republic
On April 10-13, 2018 the delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, comprising the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk and the Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Vasyl Lemak visited the Slovak Republic (Kosice).
The purpose of the visit was to participate in the international conference "Constitutional Justice – Challenges and Prospectives" on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic.
Presidents of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič (2004-2014) and Rudolf Schuster (1999-2004), presidents and judges of the bodies of constitutional jurisdiction of the Republic of Austria, Republic of Croatia, Czech Republic Hungary, Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, Ukraine, representatives of the Court of Justice of the European Union, international organisations and foundations, in particular, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), educational and scientific institutions, governmental and public organisations, judiciary bodies and the others participated in the event.
The international conference provided for three sessions, during which the participants discussed topical issues of constitutional justice in the world. In particular, such important aspects as human rights and national identity, the constitutional and legal status of constitutional courts, constitutional complaint, application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the practice of constitutional courts, the role of national constitutions in EU legislation and others were discussed.
Within the framework of the first session, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk delivered a report on "The role of the European Court of Human Rights case-law in the process of interpreting provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine".
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk dedicated his speech to the progressive practices of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which decisions are based on the principles and norms of international law, as well as the significance of the jurisprudence of the ECHR in the interpretation of constitutional provisions.
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine noted that the genetic relationship between the norms of supranational (in this case - European) and national legislation for the protection of human and citizen’s rights excludes the possibility of fundamental differences between them. He stressed that there is a problem of harmonising how human and citizen's rights are defined and interpreted at the pan-European level and in individual countries. According to the speaker, the instrument of solving this problem is, first of all, the Constitutional Court with its right to formally explain the norms of the national Constitution.
In his speech, Stanislav Shevchuk dwelt in detail on the importance of the European Court of Human Rights and its acts for constitutional courts, in particular, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. According to him, the ECHR acts, since their authors are representatives of all the countries of the united Europe, are an uncommon mechanism which harmonises the national legal cultures, and therefore allow to effectively and substantively introduce values and norms of international significance in the interpretation and application of national constitutions.
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine noted that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is not just a collection of separately examined acts, but specific adopted positions, fundamental trends in the understanding of the Convention provisions. "The Constitutional Court will not be successful if it does not combine national and international approaches in its activities," stated the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
Stanislav Shevchuk stressed that the impact of the ECHR's case law on that of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine can already be observed in the recent decisions of the Court. In addition, according to the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the use of the ECHR's acquisition in the sphere of Ukrainian constitutional proceedings will be constantly strengthened.
During the conference reports were also presented by President of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic Ivetta Macejková, President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Pavel Rychetský, President of the Constitutional Court of Hungary Tamás Sulyok, President of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro Dragoljub Drašković, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia Nikola Ivanovski, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union Koen Lenaerts, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Austria Wolfgang Brandstetter, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia Jovan Ćirić, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia Andrej Abramović, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic Ľudmila Gajdošíková, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic Jana Baricová, President of the Supreme Court of Slovak Republic Daniela Švecová, Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union Daniel Šváby and others.
Following presentations, a discussion took place among the participants of the international event.
During the visit, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk met with the President of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic Ivetta Macejková during which he informed the colleague on the implementation of the Law of Ukraine "On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine", in particular, the introduction of the institution of the constitutional complaint. In addition, the parties discussed possible areas of cooperation between the constitutional courts of Ukraine and Republic of Slovakia and agreed on the visit of the judges of the Constitutional Court of Slovak Republic to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine at the end of September.
