International relations
International relations
Since its foundation, the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic has cultivated rich relations with foreign constitutional courts and has been involved in the activities of various international organizations. The judges of the Constitutional Court were and are active members of the Venice Commission. The Constitutional Court joined the Conference of European Constitutional Courts in 1997 and has been a member of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice since its establishment.
The Constitutional Court has also appointed two Liaison Officers who communicate with the Venice Commission, participate in the meetings of the Joint Council on Constitutional Justice and send the most important decisions of the Constitutional Court to the CODICES database. The Department of Foreign Relations and Protocol translates some of the relevant opinions of the Venice Commission.
The Slovak Constitutional Court judges meet regularly with judges of foreign courts, either in bilateral meetings or at international conferences. These meetings are always a rich source of information and inspiration. The Slovak Constitutional Court has the closest relations with the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, as both countries share a common history, values and a path of struggle for the protection of democracy and human rights.
The Constitutional Court takes great interest in the development of cooperation with European institutions, such as the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Judges attend the opening of the judicial year and international conferences. The Constitutional Court is also involved in the Supreme Courts´ Network (SCN) and the Judicial Network of the EU (RJEU).
The international conference “Constitutional Days” organised by the Constitutional Court in September in cooperation with the Faculty of Law of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice contributes to the promotion of international relations. Every year, experts from the judiciary, academia and legal practice from Slovakia and neighbouring countries take part in the conference.