|
Strasbourg, 29 November 2005
CCS 2005/10
|
CDL-JU(2005)063syn.
Engl.
only
|
|
|
|
EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW
(VENICE COMMISSION)
in co-operation
with
the ConstituTional Court of azerbaijan
|
CONFERENCE
On the
occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Constitution of Azerbaijan
ROLE OF
THE CONSTITUTION IN BUILDING A STATE GOVERNED BY THE RULE OF LAW
11-12 November 2005
Baku,
Azerbaijan
|
SYNOPSIS
On the occasion of the 10th
anniversary of the Constitution of Azerbaijan, the Constitutional Court of
Azerbaijan organised in cooperation with the Venice Commission, the OSCE
Office in Baku and GTZ a conference on the
“Role of the Constitution in Building a State Governed by the Rule of Law” (Baku,11-12 November 2005).
The delegation of the Council of Europe was composed of Mr
Hanlar Hajiev, judge at the European Court of Human Rights, Mr G. Buquicchio,
Secretary of the Venice Commission and Ms T.Mychelova, External Relations Officer of the Venice
Commission.
Among the local participants were
Constitutional Court judges and members of the registry, the President of the
Supreme Court and other courts’ judges, the Head of the Department on Law
Enforcement Agencies of the Presidential Administration, the Minister of
Justice, the Ombudsperson, academics and students. Presidents and judges of 12
European courts as well as judges from Koreaand Israel as
well as the Heads and staff of the OSCE and GTZ offices in Bakualso participated in the conference.
The reports and discussions
concentrated on the role of the Constitution in a democratic
state, basic principles that a democratic constitution should contain
and the importance of the inbuilt mechanisms for the implementation of these
principles. Following the report by Ms G. Lübbe-Wolff, Judge at the
Constitutional Court of Germany, lively discussions developed on the importance
of bridging the gap between the written law and law in practice, where constitutional
courts have a central role to play. Constitutional jurisdiction can highlight
the lacunas in the implementation of laws and thus improve their effectiveness,
first of all of constitutions. Thus, strong constitutional courts in young
democracies are crucial to the upholding the rule of law. In this respect, Mr
V. Zorkin, the President of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, voiced the concern, which was
supported by the Conference, with regard to the existing proposal to abolish
the Constitutional Court inKyrgyzstan. The dissolution of an already
established Constitutional Courtwould be unprecedented and could undermine the protection of human rights in
the country.
In addition, the participants
agreed that fresh ideas needed to be developed to motivate societies in favour
of democracy: in the countries of new democracies the opinion polls showed a shift
of preferences towards a stronger central power at the expense of development
of democratic institutions. To counteract this tendency, a democratic state should
strive to respect also social and economic rights, deriving from the respect
for human dignity.
Media presence at the Conference
was very important as it was held shortly after the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan.
The proceedings of the conference
will be published by the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan.
