Bled, Slovenia, 26-27 November/Novembre 1999 CDL-STD(1999)029
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Bled, Slovenia, 26-27 November/novembre 1999 CDL-STD(1999)029 Science and technique of democracy No. 29 Science et technique de la démocratie, n° 29 Bil. EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW COMMISSION EUROPEENNE POUR LA DEMOCRATIE PAR LE DROIT SOCIETIES IN CONFLICT: THE CONTRIBUTION OF LAW AND DEMOCRACY TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION SOCIETES EN CONFLIT : LA CONTRIBUTION DU DROIT ET DE LA DEMOCRATIE AU REGLEMENT DES CONFLITS TABLE OF CONTENTS / TABLE DES MATIERES OPENING SPEECH, Mr Vojko Volk........................................................................................................................... 2 OPENING SPEECH, Mr Serhiy Holovaty.................................................................................................................... 4 INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE SECURITY IN THE BALKANS, Mr Peter Jambrek........................................................................................................................ 5 ENSURING HUMAN SECURITY IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS, Mr Roman Kirn ........................................................................................................................ 20 LE ROLE DU DROIT INTERNATIONAL DANS LE REGLEMENT DES DIFFERENDS ENTRES ETATS, M. Constantin Economides ...................................................................................................... 23 MOLDOVA: TWO CONFLICTS WITH DIFFERENT HISTORIES, Mr Vladimir Solonari,.............................................................................................................. 28 THE NORTHERN IRELAND AGREEMENT – NATIONAL LOYALTIES IN CONFLICT, Mr James Hamilton .................................................................................................................. 51 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – MULTI-ETHNIC OR MULTINATIONAL? Mr Joseph Marko ..................................................................................................................... 66 THE CRISIS IN KOSOVO, Mr Matthew Russell................................................................................................................. 86 THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA, Mr Vladimir Goati................................................................................................................... 102 THE CONTRIBUTION OF LAW AND DEMOCRACY TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA, Mr Sergio Bartole................................................................................................................... 111 THE UNITED NATIONS EFFORTS FOR A SETTLEMENT OF THE CYPRUS PROBLEM, Mr Gustave Feissel................................................................................................................. 121 EXPERIMENTING INTERNATIONALLY MANAGED CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN A DIVIDED SOCIETY, Mr Gianni La Ferrara ............................................................................................................. 134 LESSONS AND CHALLENGES, Mrs Gro Hillestad Thune........................................................................................................ 143 * * * * * * This publication contains the reports presented at the UniDem Seminar organised in Bled from 26 to 27 November 1999 by the European Commission for Democracy through law in co-operation with the the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia. Cet ouvrage contient les rapports présentés lors du Séminaire UniDem organisé à Bled du 26 au 27 novembre 1999 par la Commission européenne pour la démocratie par le droit en coopération avec le Ministère des Affaires Etrangères de la Slovénie. OPENING SPEECH, Mr Vojko Volk Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovenia I am honoured to open the seminar “Societies in Conflict – The Contribution of Law and Democracy to Conflict Resolution” and to welcome you on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia at this seminar. In the year of the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Council of Europe, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia is pleased to host this seminar as one of Slovenia's contributions to this important anniversary. I would also like to use this opportunity to warmly thank the other co-organiser of the Seminar, namely the European Commission for Democracy through Law, i.e. the Venice Commission, for organizing the seminar jointly with us. The theme of the seminar is most relevant - it reminds us that half a century after the establishment of the oldest European organization European continent is far from being stable and peaceful. The agenda of our seminar addresses numerous recent or present-day conflicts or crisis situations, which threaten not only stability of these individual states but could also have wider potentially destabilization effects. It is therefore to be hoped that disussions during the next two days will offer both some insight into the root-causes of those conflicts as well as offer some guidance on how best to alleviate the suffering of those who are affected by them. And we need to continuously seek ways to better protect those most affected in societies in conflict, namely civilians and among them women and children as the ones who suffer most. The validity of human rights within societies in conflict is by no way diminished. On the contrary, non-derrogable human rights as well as international humanitarian law norms need to be fully observed by all, including in conflict situations. The period after the Cold War has marked a progressive trend towards recognizing that gross and massive violations of human rights are no longer domaine reservé , instead they are of concern to international community. Slovenia welcomes this progressive trend towards internationalization of human rights. The Council of Europe can contribute importantly to this evolving concept of human rights protection. The Council of Europe has at its disposal unique and highly developed human rights and minority-rights protection system. We see the present seminar as a further contribution to the effective functioning of this system at the regional level and equally so as its contribution of the Council of Europe to raising the human rights standards at the global, universal level. The Council of Europe continues to stand as a permanent reminder that democracy is not a virtue attainable once and for good. Even democracies of long standing are not fully fledged. Equally as important, the Council of Europe represents an inexhaustible source of knowledge and experience for new members, knowledge that is necessary in their period of transition. Slovenia, as one of the younger members of the Council of Europe – during this year we celebrated the 6 th anniversary of our membership, is fully aware of this. Throughout the period of our membership we continuously strived to become a fully committed member of the Organization, involving in this process not only representatives of government but also numerous Slovene experts active in different fields of the Organization's activities. Let me reiterate, that Slovenia fully supports all efforts by the Council of Europe to safeguard and further develop its fundamental principles, namely the rule of law, democracy, human rights and cultural diversity. In conclusion, on behalf of the Foreign Ministry I would like to wish all of you, distinguished rapporteurs and participants, fruitful discussions during the seminar. We are confident that seminar will offer some useful recommendations also with regard to relevant future endeavors. In particular, part of your discussions will undoubtedly be pertinent already for the up-coming International Conference on the Contribution of Constitutional Arrangements to the Stability of South Eastern Europe, organized by the Slovene Foreign Ministry, Faculty of Law in Ljubljana and Venice Commission that will take place in Brdo, Slovenia in the beginning of next week. OPENING SPEECH, Mr Serhiy Holovaty Member of Parliament, President of Ukranian Legal Foundation, Vice-President of the Venice Commission I have the privilege to open this seminar on behalf of the co-organiser, the Venice Commission, which proposed to the Slovenian authorities to jointly hold such a seminar. It is however not the Venice Commission itself which first had the idea for such a seminar but no lesser person than the former Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr Tarschys. When Mr Tarschys addressed our Commission in Venice, he proposed that we should look from a legal point of view at the problems confronting those societies where transition has not progressed smoothly but has been combined with or led to violent conflict. Our Commission is actively involved in several of these conflict areas such as Kosovo, Bosnia and Albania and we therefore very much welcomed this proposal. Several of these conflict areas are not far from here and Slovenia has had close historical ties with them. It seems therefore an excellent idea to hold such a seminar in Slovenia and we were extremely pleased when the Slovenian government kindly offered to co-organise this seminar as part of the Slovenian contribution to the 50 th anniversary of the Council of Europe. Our wholehearted thanks go to the Slovenian Ministry for Foreign Affairs which has with what I would consider as typical Slovenian efficiency organised this seminar here in Slovenia and which offers us generous hospitality. In this context I would also like to pay tribute to our Slovenian colleague, Mr Jambrek, who has been instrumental in bringing us together here in Bled. Since we meet here in Slovenia, it