World Conference of Constitutional Justice
The World Conference on Constitutional Justice unites 121 Constitutional Courts and Councils and Supreme Courts in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia/Oceania and Europe. It promotes constitutional justice – understood as constitutional review including human rights case-law – as a key element for democracy, the protection of human rights and the rule of law (Article 1.1 of the Statute).
According to its Statute, the World Conference has three organs, the General Assembly, the Bureau and the Secretariat. The General Assembly is chaired by the Host Court of the Congress. The Presidency of the Bureau is ensured for one year by rotation between the groups. The Presidency of the Bureau is therefore not that of an individual Court but of a group of Courts. It is up to the groups to designate their representative. The Venice Commission acts as the Secretariat of the World Conference.
The main purpose of the World Conference is to facilitate judicial dialogue between constitutional judges on a global scale. Due to the obligation of judicial restraint, constitutional judges sometimes have little occasion to conduct a constructive dialogue on constitutional principles in their countries. The exchanges that take place between judges from various parts of the world in the World Conference furthers reflection on arguments, which promote the basic goals inherent to national constitutions.
Since 1996, the Venice Commission has established co-operation with a number of regional or language based groups of constitutional courts, in particular the Conference of European Constitutional Courts, the Association of Constitutional Courts using the French Language, the Southern African Judges Commission, the Conference of Constitutional Control Organs of Countries of New Democracy, the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions, the Union of Arab Constitutional Courts and Councils, the Ibero-American Conference of Constitutional Justice and the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of Africa.
The World Conference on Constitutional Justice unites 121 Constitutional Courts and Councils and Supreme Courts in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia/Oceania and Europe. It promotes constitutional justice – understood as constitutional review including human rights case-law – as a key element for democracy, the protection of human rights and the rule of law (Article 1.1 of the Statute).
Based on the declaration adopted in the 1st Congress in 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa, the draft Statute was prepared at the first meeting of the Bureau, assisted by the Venice Commission, in April 2009 in Mexico. The draft Statute was amended in the 2nd Congress held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2011 and finally adopted at another meeting of the Bureau on 23 May 2011 in Bucharest, Romania. With the accession of more than 30 Constitutional Courts, Constitutional Councils and Supreme Courts exercising constitutional justice, the Statute of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice entered into force on 24 September 2011.
The Constitutional Review Body of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been a member of this Conference since 2013. Besides this the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan represents in WCCJ the Eurasian Association of constitutional review bodies, in which the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan presides as regional or language-based groups of constitutional courts.
1st Congress, Cape Town, 2009
On 22-24 January 2009, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe hosted the World Conference on Constitutional Justice on the topic Influential Constitutional Justice - its influence on society and on developing a global jurisprudence on human rights.
This event coincided with the 60th anniversary of the Council of Europe and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
2nd Congress, Rio de Janeiro, 2011
On 16-18 January 2011, 88 Constitutional Courts, Constitutional Councils and Supreme Courts as well as the 10 regional and linguistic groups of courts from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe gathered for the 2nd Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice on the "Separation of Powers and Independence of Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Bodies".
The discussions focused on the independence of the constitutional court or equivalent body as an institution, the constitutional independence of individual judges and operating procedures of courts as a means to guarantee their independence. The discussions revealed that these aspects are closely linked together: Link to key-note speech.
On 28 September 2014 - 1 October 2014, the 3rd Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice dealt with the topic of “Constitutional Justice and Social Integration” in four sub-topics: 1. Challenges of social integration in a globalised world; 2. International standards for social integration; 3. Constitutional instruments enhancing/dealing with/for social integration; 4. The role of constitutional justice in social integration.
On 11-14 September 2017, the 4th Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice under the topic “The Rule of Law and Constitutional Justice in the Modern World”.
5th Congress, Bali, 2022
The 5th Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (“WCCJ”) themed "Constitutional Justice and Peace". Delegations of constitutional courts and equivalent institutions from over 90 countries participated in the Congress.
Useful links:
- Site of WCCJ / https://www.venice.coe.int/WebForms/pages/?p=02_WCCJ
- Statute of WCCJ /https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdf=CDL-WCCJ-GA(2017)010-e
- Composition of the WCCJ Bureau / https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/?pdf=CDL-WCCJ-GA(2023)001-bil
- Congresses:
2nd Congress, Rio de Janeiro, 2011