XX Yerevan International Conference started on 8 October in Yerevan. The Conference was dedicated to the XX Anniversary of Adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and the XX Anniversary of Establishment of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia. The Conference was organized by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia, the Venice Commission, the Conference of the Constitutional Control Organs of the Countries of New Democracy and the Center of the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Armenia.
Topic: “The role of constitutional courts in strengthening the independence of the judicial power: Doctrinal approaches and contemporary challenges.”
On 8 October, a reception in honor of the participants of XX Yerevan International Conference was organized, which was hosted by Mr. Serzh Sargsyan, President of the Republic of Armenia.
The President of the Republic of Armenia expressed his gratitude to the participants of the Conference for the visit, and emphasized the holding of such conferences. The ceremony of Cancellation of Postage Stamp Issued on the Occasion of the XX Anniversary of Establishment of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia was organized at the Reception House of the Government, in the presence of the participants of the Conference. Postage Stamp depicts the building of the RA Constitutional Court, the Flag of the Republic of Armenia and the symbol of justice - Themis with the Constitution in hand.
Before the meeting with the President, the guests visited the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (the Matenadaran) and got familiar with ancient manuscripts . They also visited the Armenian Genocide Museum and Institute, and took part in the Ceremony of Laying Flowers to the Memorial of the Armenian Genocide and commemorated the victims.
The Session of the Conference was held on 9 October.
Mr. Gagik Harutyunyan, President of the RA Constitutional Court welcomed the guests and made the opening speech:
-“This Conference is exclusive by its jubilee nature: firstly, this is the XX Conference dedicated to the issues of constitutional justice which has become traditional, and which is organized jointly with the Venice Commission; secondly, it is dedicated to the XX Anniversary of Adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia; and thirdly, it is dedicated to the XX Anniversary of Establishment of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia. These triple twentieth anniversaries are not only binding from the perspective of the discussed issues and effective resolution for them, but also they are the evidence of maturity. Maturity – in the sense of compiling great experience in the sphere of constitutional justice. Maturity – in the sense of international cooperation. Maturity – in the sense of the contribution made for ensuring the rule of law and Constitution in our countries.”
Then Mr. Harutyunyan briefed the activities of the RA Constitutional Court and the legal positions expressed in thousands of cases considered by the Court, which essentially aided the development of the law and establishment of constitutionality in our country. Thousands of people could find protection of their rights in the Constitutional Court. Mr. Harutyunyan made certain examples and pointed out that over 150 provisions of laws were declared contradicting the Constitution mainly on the basis of the applications submitted to the Constitutional Court by citizens. Mr. Harutyunyan mentioned that:
-“The Constitutional Court has been able to form new quality of constitutional-legal mentality in our country and a new school of science on constitution which is in concordance with the criteria of the rule of law state. The Constitutional Court has become the moving force for the constitutional-legal thought in the Republic of Armenia. The active role of the Constitutional Court has been signified also at the international stage. The Conference of the Constitutional Control Organs of the Countries of New Democracy, as well as the World Conference of Constitutional Courts have been formed with our active participation, and the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia was honoured with the chairmanship of the first and the chairmanship of the bureau of the second. Our Court is presented at the Bureau of the Venice Commission and is the member of the Conference of European Constitutional Courts.”
Mr. Harutyunyan made a special emphasis on effective cooperation with the Venice Commission, and expressed his gratitude to Mr. Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Venice Commission, who participated in all twenty Yerevan international conferences.
Mr. Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Venice Commission, and Arpine Hovhannisyan, RA Minister of Justice, made welcoming speeches. At the Session 1, which was chaired by Mr. Gianni Buquicchio, thematic reports were made by Mr. Aldis Laviņš , President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia (title of report: “The Role of Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia in Strengthening the Independence of the Judicial Power”), Mr. Sergey Mavrin, Vice President of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (title of report: “The Autonomy of the Constitutional Court and the Independence of Judicial Power in the Russian Federation”), Ms. Arevik Petrosyan, Member of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia (title of report: “The Role of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia in Strengthening of the Independence of the Judicial Power: Constitutional-Legal Solutions, Contemporary Challenges and Development Tendencies”), and Ms. Ivetta Macejkova, President of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic (title of report: “Protecting the independence of the judicial power within the framework of decisions adopted by the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic”).
Session 1 concluded with the discussion of the reports.
At the Session 2, which was chaired by Mr. Dainius Žalimas, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, thematic reports were made by Ms. Anar Zhailganova, Member of the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan (title of report: “The Role of the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Strengthening of the Independence of the Judicial Power”), Mr. Mourad Medelci, President of the Constitutional Council of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (title of report: “The Algerian Experience in Strengthening the Independence of the Judicial Power”), Ms. Danutė Jočienė, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania (title of report: “Strengthening the principle of the independence of the Judiciary in the doctrine of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania”), Mr. Nurak Marpraneet, President of the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Thailand (title of report: “The Role of the Constitutional Court of Thailand in Strengthening the Independence of the Judicial Power: Doctrinal Approaches and Contemporary Challenges”) and Ms. Snježana Bagić, Vice President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia (title of report: “Transparent Functioning as a Guarantee of the Public Trust and Confidence in the Work of the Croatian Constitutional Court”).
Discussion of the reports was afterwards.
At the Session 3, which was chaired by Mr. Alexandru Tănase, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova, thematic reports were made by Mr. André Alen, President of the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Belgium (title of report: “The Role of the Constitutional Court in Strengthening the Independence of the Judicial Power”), Mr. Zhediger Salayev, Member of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic (title of report: “The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic and its Role in Strengthening of the Independence of the Judicial Power”) and Ms. Gzime Starova, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the FYR of Macedonia (title of report: “The Role of the Constitutional Courts in Strengthening the Independence of the Judicial Power - with Special Reference on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia").
On 9 October, the Session concluded with the discussion of the reports.
On 10 October, the Conference will continue its activities.