The Bulletin
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THE BULLETIN The Bulletin is a publication of the European Commission for Democracy through Law. It reports regularly on the case-law of constitutional courts and courts of equivalent jurisdiction in Europe, including the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Communities, as well as in certain other countries of the world. The Bulletin is published three times a year, each issue reporting the most important case-law during a four month period (volumes numbered 1 to 3). The three volumes of the series are published and delivered in the following year. Its aim is to allow judges and constitutional law specialists to be informed quickly about the most important judgments in this field. The exchange of information and ideas among old and new democracies in the field of judge-made law is of vital importance. Such an exchange and such cooperation, it is hoped, will not only be of benefit to the newly established constitutional courts, but will also enrich the case-law of the existing courts. The main purpose of the Bulletin on Constitutional Case-law is to foster such an exchange and to assist national judges in solving critical questions of law which often arise simultaneously in different countries. The Commission is grateful to liaison officers of constitutional and other equivalent courts, who regularly prepare the contributions reproduced in this publication. As such, the summaries of decisions and opinions published in the Bulletin do not constitute an official record of court decisions and should not be considered as offering or purporting to offer an authoritative interpretation of the law. The Venice Commission thanks the International Organisation of the Francophonie for their support in ensuring that contributions from its member, associate and observer states can be translated into French. The decisions are presented in the following way: 1. Identification a) country or organisation b) name of the court c) chamber (if appropriate) d) date of the decision e) number of decision or case f) title (if appropriate) g) official publication h) non-official publications 2. Keywords of the Systematic Thesaurus (primary) 3. Keywords of the Alphabetical Index (supplementary) 4. Headnotes 5. Summary 6. Supplementary information 7. Cross-references 8. Languages T. Markert Secretary of the European Commission for Democracy through Law THE VENICE COMMISSION The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission, has played a leading role in the adoption of constitutions in Central and Eastern Europe that conform to the standards of Europe’s constitutional heritage. Initially conceived as an instrument of emergency constitutional engineering against a background of transition towards democracy, the Commission since has gradually evolved into an internationally recognised independent legal think-tank. It acts in the constitutional field understood in a broad sense, which includes, for example, laws on constitutional courts, laws governing national minorities and electoral law. Established in 1990 as a partial agreement of 18 member states of the Council of Europe, the Commission in February 2002 became an enlarged agreement, comprising all 47 member States of the organisation and working with some other 14 countries from Africa, America, Asia and Europe. Secretariat of the Venice Commission Council of Europe F-67075 STRASBOURG CEDEX Tel: (33) 3 88413908 – Fax: (33) 3 88413738 [email protected] Editors: Sc. R. Dürr, T. Gerwien T. Daly, D. Jones, D. Tran A. Gorey, M.-L. Wigishoff Liaison officers: Albania ............................................................ N. Ruco Latvia .......................................................... L. Jurcena Algeria ....................................................... H. Bengrine Liechtenstein .................................................. I. Elkuch Andorra .......................................... M. Tomàs-Baldrich Lithuania ................................................... J. Urbonaite Argentina ................................................ R. E. Gialdino Luxembourg ................................................ J. Jentgen Armenia .................................................... G. Vahanian Malta ................................................................. A. Ellul Austria ............................................... C. Grabenwarter Mexico .................... F. Tortolero Cervantes / V. Castro ............................................... / B. Adamovich-Wagner Azerbaijan ................................................... R. Guliyev Moldova ..................................................... R. Secrieru Belarus ............................ S. Chigrinov / T. Voronovich Monaco ......................................................... C. Sosso ............................................................ / V. Seledevsky Montenegro ............................................. N. Dobardzic Belgium .................. A. Rasson Roland / R. Ryckeboer Morocco .................................................... A. Hassouni Bosnia and Herzegovina .............................. Z. Djuricic Netherlands .................. M. Chebti / M. van Roosmalen Brazil ............................................................... L. Coni Norway .............................................. K. Buun Nygaard Bulgaria ....................................................... E. Enikova Peru ............................................................ F. Morales Canada .................................... D. Power / S. Giguère Poland .......................................................... M. Nowak Chile ............................................. C. Garcia Mechsner Portugal ........................................... M. Baptista Lopes Croatia ........................................................ M. Stresec Romania ....................................... T. Toader / M. Safta Cyprus ......................... N. Papanicolaou / M. Kyriacou Russia .......................................................... E. Pyrikov Czech Republic ................. S. Matochová / L. Majerčík Serbia ..................................................... V. Jakovljevic ................................................................... / I. Pospisil Slovakia ....... G. Fetkova / J. Stiavnicky / Z. Mozesova Denmark ...................................................... L. Nielsen Estonia ........................................ K. Aule / U. Eesmaa Slovenia .................................................... T. Preseren Finland .......... F. Haggblom / G. Bygglin / T. Vuorialho South Africa ......................... E. Cameron / E. Mugabo France ...................... C. Petillon / L. Brau / V. Gourrier ...................................................... A. Pillay / S. Luthuli Georgia ............................................. I. Khakhutaishvili Spain .............................................. L. Pomed Sanchez Germany ........................... G. Lübbe-Wolff / M. Böckel Sweden ................................. L. Molander / K. Norman Greece .......................... T. Ziamou / O. Papadopoulou Switzerland .......... P. Tschümperlin / J. Alberini-Boillat Hungary ................................. P. Paczolay / K. Kovács “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” .............. Iceland ...................................................... H. Torfason ....................................................... T. Janjic Todorova Ireland .................................................... R. McNamara Turkey ........................................................... A. Coban Israel ............................................................. K. Azulay Ukraine ................................................. O. Kravchenko Italy .......................................................... G. Cattarino United Kingdom ............................................ J. Sorabji Japan .............................................................. H. Gunji United States of America .................. P. Krug / C. Vasil Kazakhstan ....................................... B. Nurmukhanov Republic of Korea ................................ J. Kim / H. Lee .................................................................... / J. Minear European Court of Human Rights .................................. A. Vilfan Vospernik / L. Pardoe Court of Justice of the European Union .................................... R. Meyer / S. Hackspiel Inter-American Court of Human Rights ........................................................ J. Recinos Strasbourg, April 2013 CONTENTS Armenia .................................................................. 233 Latvia ..................................................................... 348 Austria .................................................................... 235 Liechtenstein .......................................................... 351 Azerbaijan .............................................................. 237 Lithuania ................................................................ 353 Belarus ................................................................... 241 Mexico .................................................................... 359 Belgium .................................................................. 244 Netherlands ............................................................ 360 Bosnia and Herzegovina ........................................ 252 Norway ..................................................................