Visit of the delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to the Republic of Korea
On September 2-5, 2018, the Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Oleksandr Tupytskyi, Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Viktor Kryvenko and Ihor Slidenko participated in the International Conference "Constitutional Justice and Democracy" in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea (Seoul).
The event brought together about 100 delegations from the constitutional control bodies of the world, in particular, Afghanistan, Bolivia, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Spain, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, presidents of international organisations, representatives of state authorities and prominent scientists. The International Conference has become a platform for finding answers to the topical issues of the functioning of constitutional control bodies.
Welcome speech was delivered by the President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea Lee Jin-Sung. He emphasised that the constitutional body of Korea is an invaluable asset of the 1987 Constitution, which secured freedom and protection of human rights set forth in the Constitution itself, and its judgments are an important stage in the achievement of democracy.
The International Conference was opened by the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Jaroslav Fenyk. The speaker drew attention to the dynamic growth of the role of constitutional courts in society, which are a guarantor of the rule of law and protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms.
Within the framework of the event, Ihor Slidenko, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, delivered a report on "Protecting Human Rights and Freedoms by Constitutional Control in Ukraine: Constitutional Complaint v. Official Interpretation". He noted that the official interpretation of the Constitution and laws had been the main means of protecting human rights and freedoms through the constitutional control in Ukraine until 2016. According to him, the official interpretation is unknown to almost all the legal systems of the world and is closely connected with the Soviet legal system, and the powers of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine regarding the interpretation of the laws, he added, should be considered as post-Soviet atavism. The only advantage of such an approach is that in the legal system of Ukraine this was the only way to protect the rights of individuals and legal entities directly in the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
Ihor Slidenko stressed that the necessity of introducing such a legislative institute as a constitutional complaint in the Ukrainian legislation had been initiated long before. He drew attention to the fact that the constitutional complaint in democratic countries is an effective legal instrument for the protection of human rights and the confirmation of the existence of the rule of law. The speaker informed the audience that in 2016 constitutional complaint appeared in the Ukrainian legislation as a result of the amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine.
The introduction of constitutional complaint, according to the judge, is an important step in establishing the rule of law through the strengthening of the national system for the protection of human rights and the implementation of modern European practices. In addition, the speaker emphasised that constitutional complaint is a real opportunity for every person in any modern democratic state to have an influence on government acts and exercise the right to democracy.
"Constitutional complaint may be a real opportunity for citizens of Ukraine to protect their rights by repealing the legislative act (act of parliament)," said Ihor Slidenko. Thus, the judge continued, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine became the latest outpost for Ukrainian citizens in defending their rights in the national judiciary and a new legal filter between Ukraine and the European Court of Human Rights. In his opinion, this gives Ukraine another opportunity to independently find and resolve problems of national legislation. In addition, he added, the ability of citizens of Ukraine to appeal to the Constitutional Court is a good sign of democracy in the country and shows to all international partners that Ukraine is trying to implement the best European practices and guarantee the rule of law.
The judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine also emphasised the fact that, despite obvious positive facts, there are many risks associated with the implementation of the constitutional complaint. In particular, the need for an effective level of "filtering" constitutional complaints, misunderstanding of the basic principles and the essence of the institute of the constitutional complaint by the applicants and lawyers, the lack of practice of implementing the constitutional complaint, and others.
According to Ihor Slidenko, in order to effectively implement the constitutional complaint special social and basic legal education for citizens, special courses for lawyers and employees of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine should be provided. According to him, the constitutional complaint is a new instrument of legal protection of human rights in Ukraine. Yet, for real implementation of this mechanism, Ukraine needs time and practice, the judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine summed up.
Presentations were also delivered by the President of the Constitutional Court of Hungary Tamás Sulyok, the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia Odbayar Dorj, the President of the Plurinational Constitutional Court of Bolivia Petronilo Flores Condori, the President of the Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of Constitution of Afghanistan Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Argentina Ricardo Luis Lorenzetti, Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Hanafy Ali Gebaly, President of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic Erkinbek Mamyrov, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Guatemala Dina Josefina Ochoa Escriba, President of the Constitutional Council of the French Republic Laurent Fabius, Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Adel Omar Sherif, Member of the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan Viktor Malinovskiy, Justice of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Union of Myanmar Kyaw San, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Tajikistan Davron Hoshimzoda, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Thailand Twekiat Menakanist, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan Askarjon Gafurov, Professor of the Sogang University, the Republic of Korea, Jibong Lim, Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand Mark O’regan, Justice of the Constitutional Court of Portugal Goncalo de Almeida Ribeiro, Justice of the Global Network on Electoral Justice (Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary) Alejandro David Avante Juarez, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea Changho Ahn, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia Matei Accetto, Justice of the Constitutional Court of Spain Antonio Narvaez Rodriguez, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea Namseok Yoo, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey Osman Paksut, Professor of the Yonsei University, the Republic of Korea, Sungsoo Kim.
