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 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 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, D. Jones A. Gorey, M.-L. Wigishoff Liaison officers: Albania ............................................................. D. Biba Liechtenstein.................................................. I. Elkuch Andorra ..........................................M. Tomàs Baldrich Lithuania ................................................ I. Pukanasyte Argentina................................................R. E. Gialdino Luxembourg ................................................ J. Jentgen Armenia....................................................G. Vahanian Malta .................................................................A. Ellul Austria.........................................................B. Wagner Mexico..............A. Oñate Laborde / C. Bolivar Galindo Azerbaijan ................................................... R. Guliyev Moldova .......................................................V. Sterbet Belarus.......................... S. Chigrinov / O.G. Sergeeva Belgium .................. A. Rasson Roland / R. Ryckeboer Monaco ............................................... D. Chagnollaud Bosnia and Herzegovina..............................Z. Djuricic Montenegro..............................................J. Novakovi 4 Bulgaria................................................M. Panayotova Netherlands..................M. Chebti / M. van Roosmalen Canada ...................................................... C. Marquis Norway............................................C. Ostensen Noss Croatia ........................................................M. Stresec Poland.......................................................... M. Nowak Cyprus.........................N. Papanicolaou / M. Nicolatos Portugal................ M. Baptista Lopes / A. Duarte Silva Czech Republic..................................... E. Wagnerova Romania............................................G. Dragomirescu ............./ S. Matochová / T. Langasek / P. Novackova Russia..........................................................E. Pyrikov Denmark ......................................................J. Hansen Serbia...........................................................N. Plavsic Estonia .....................................................G. Suumann Slovakia .....................................................G. Fet’kova Finland .............................S.-M. Tarkkanen / G. Möller Slovenia ....................................................... A. Mav 6i6 France..........M.-C. Meininger / V. Garayalde-Gourrier South Africa ............K. O’Regan / A. Price / C. Ballard Georgia .........................................................K. Kipiani Germany ................................ B.-O. Bryde / M. Böckel Spain..................................................I. Borrajo Iniesta Greece .......................... T. Ziamou / O. Papadopoulou Sweden............................... A. Blader / K. Dunnington Hungary .................................P. Paczolay / K. Kovács Switzerland .......... P. Tschümperlin / J. Alberini-Boillat Iceland ...................................................... H. Torfason “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ”.............. Ireland ...............................................................T. Daly ....................................................... T. Janjic Todorova Israel .............................................................Y. Mersel Tunisia ......................................................... B. Bertégi Italy ...........................................................G. Cattarino Turkey...........................................................A. Coban Japan .......................................................... A. Takano Ukraine................................................. O. Kravchenko Kazakhstan ....................................... B. Nurmukhanov United Kingdom .......................... A. Clarke / J. Sorabji Republic of Korea ........................................ K.-M. Kim United States of America ..................P. Krug / C. Vasil Kyrgyzstan ........................................ K. E. Esenkanov .................................................................... / J. Minear Latvia .......................................................... L. Jurcena European Court of Human Rights ...................................................................................... S. Naismith Court of Justice of the European Communities................................................................... Ph. Singer Inter-American Court of Human Rights ............................................ F. J. Rivera Juaristi / J. Recinos Strasbourg, May 2009 CONTENTS Armenia..................................................................215 Romania.................................................................306 Belgium ..................................................................217 Russia....................................................................308 Canada ..................................................................223 Slovakia .................................................................313 Croatia ...................................................................226 Slovenia .................................................................316 Cyprus....................................................................232 South Africa ...........................................................319 Czech Republic......................................................234 Spain......................................................................330 Estonia ...................................................................239 Switzerland ............................................................336 Germany ................................................................254 “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” .....339 Hungary .................................................................268 Turkey....................................................................342 Ireland ....................................................................275 Ukraine...................................................................345 Italy ........................................................................280