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Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yurii Baulin participated in the International Conference on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland
On October 16-17, 2016 Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yurii Baulin participated in the International Conference "The Constitutional Court as Guardian of Constitutional Values", held in Gdansk (Poland) on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland.
The event was co-organised by the President of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland and the Mayor of Gdansk with support of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Poland.
The event was attended by the representatives of the bodies of constitutional jurisdiction of Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Ukraine, representatives of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the Court of Justice of the European Union and academic circles.
Participants were welcomed by the Mayor of Gdansk Paweł Adamowicz, President of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Rzepliński, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union Koen Lenaerts, former President of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Zoll, President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Pavel Rychetský, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania Dainius Žalimas, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia Aldis Laviņš, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova Alexandru Tănase and Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yurii Baulin.
The Mayor of Gdansk Paweł Adamowicz pointed out that the anniversary of the Constitutional Tribunal confirms that the Poles are proud of the country's judicial system. He emphasised that the Constitution is of paramount importance, and whoever wants to be above the Constitution becomes a tyrant. "In a democratic country there is no place for tyrants", Paweł Adamowicz stressed.
President of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Rzepliński admitted that 30 years of the Constitutional Tribunal activity is not only the merit of constitutional law, but it is the merit of other areas of law, achievement of the lawyers of the Seimas and the Senate. He also stressed that the Tribunal had been working for 30 years to ensure that citizens had confidence in the law.
In his welcoming speech, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania Dainius Žalimas pointed out that the anniversary of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland is very important for the development of Polish constitutionalism and constitutionalism in Central and Eastern Europe. He stressed that Poland is well-known worldwide as the principle-based defender of the Constitution by the independent court that during its activity defends universally recogniЫed concept of democracy. Dainius Žalimas wished his colleagues strength and courage in defending the values of the democratic order and the supremacy of the Constitution.
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yurii Baulin congratulated the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland on the occasion of the 30th anniversary.
Yurii Baulin pointed out that it was an honour to stay in Gdansk, which professes the idea of law and justice, the constitutional values that are protected by the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland. According to him, 30 years is, on the one hand, short, but, on the other hand, sufficient period for assessment of the activity of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland. "During this period the Tribunal took the forefront in the protection of universally recognised European constitutional values, but now it is going through difficult times - times of trial", Mr. Baulin continued.
Yurii Baulin stressed that Ukraine closely monitors the events occurring around the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland. Chairman of the Constitutional Court recalled June 2014 when President of the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland Andrzej Rzepliński and Presidents of the Constitutional Courts of Lithuania and Latvia, upon their own initiative, came to Kyiv to support the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which was in trouble. "Today we came to Gdansk to support our colleagues, justices of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland", he stressed.
During the conference a number of reports were presented and discussed.
