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 months period (volumes numbered 1 to 3). The last two volumes of the series concerning the same year are actually published and delivered in the following year, i.e. volume 1 of the 2002 Edition in 2002, volumes 2 and 3 in 2003. 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 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 G. Buquicchio 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 constitu- tional 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 45 member States of the organisation and working with some other 12 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, D. Bojic-Bultrini S. Burton, S. Matrundola, A. Gorey, M.-L. Wigishoff Liaison officers: Albania ..................................... S. Sadushi / L. Pirdeni Korea ............................................................ S. D. Kim Andorra .......................................... M. Tomàs Baldrich Kyrgyzstan ........................................ K. E. Esenkanov Argentina ................................................ R. E. Gialdino Latvia ........................................................ D. Pededze Armenia .................................................... G. Vahanian Liechtenstein .................................................. I. Elkuch Austria .................................................... R. Huppmann Lithuania .................................................. S. Stačiokas Azerbaijan ................................................... R. Guliyev Luxembourg ....................................................... G. Kill Belgium ................... A. Rasson Roland / R. Ryckeboer Bosnia and Herzegovina .......................... D. Kalember Malta ................................................................. A. Ellul Bulgaria ......................................................... K. Manov Moldova ........................................................... M. Iuga Canada ...................................................... C. Marquis Netherlands ..................................... S. Van Den Oever Croatia ................................................................ T. Kic Norway .............................................. A. M. Samuelson Cyprus ............................................................. P. Kallis Poland .............................................................. H. Plak Czech Republic ............................................................ Portugal ................................................ A. Duarte Silva ................. E. Wagnerova / A. Mácová / S. Matochová Romania ............................................ G. Dragomirescu Denmark ...................................... A.-K. Stig Andersen Russia ........................................................ E. Pyrickov Estonia ....................................................... P. Roosma Slovakia ..................................................... G. Fet’kova Finland ............................. M. Könkkölä / P. Pietarinen Slovenia ....................................................... A. Mavčič France ............................................................. M. Pauti South Africa ........ S. Luthuli / K. O'Regan / K. Williams Georgia .................................................. L. Bodzashvili Spain .................................................. I. Borrajo Iniesta Germany ............................. R. Jaeger / W. Rohrhuber Greece ................. K. Menoudakos / O. Papadopoulou Sweden ............................. M. Ahrling / M. Palmstierna Hungary ................................. P. Paczolay / K. Kovács Switzerland ........... P. Tschümperlin / J. Alberini-Boillat Iceland ...................................................... H. Torfason “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” ............. Ireland ...................................... F. Flanagan / M. Kane .................................................................. S. Petrovski Israel ..................................... Y. Mersel / G. Gontovnik Turkey ........................................................... B. Sözen Italy .......................................................... G. Cattarino Ukraine ............................... V. Ivaschenko / I. Shevliak Japan ............................................................ N. Onishi United Kingdom .............. K. Schiemann / N. De Marco Kazakhstan ........................ N. Akujev / M. Berkaliyeva United States of America .. F. Lorson / S. Rider / P. Krug European Court of Human Rights ................................................................... S. Naismith Court of Justice of the European Communities ............................................... Ph. Singer Strasbourg, October 2003 CONTENTS Albania ................................................................... 385 Latvia ..................................................................... 464 Argentina ............................................................... 387 Liechtenstein .......................................................... 468 Armenia ................................................................. 389 Lithuania ................................................................ 469 Austria ................................................................... 391 Moldova ................................................................. 475 Azerbaijan .............................................................. 395 Netherlands ............................................................ 478 Belgium .................................................................. 398 Norway ................................................................... 479 Bosnia and Herzegovina ....................................... 403 Poland .................................................................... 483 Bulgaria ................................................................. 404 Portugal .................................................................. 494 Canada .................................................................. 406 Romania ................................................................. 502 Croatia ................................................................... 409 Russia .................................................................... 505 Cyprus ................................................................... 426 Slovenia ................................................................. 507 Czech Republic ..................................................... 427 South Africa ........................................................... 510 Denmark ................................................................ 437 Sweden .................................................................