THE BULLETIN The Belgian Court of Arbitration holding the presidency of the 12th Conference of the European Constitutional Courts (Brussels, 13-16 May 2002) has asked the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) to provide a working document on the relations between constitutional courts and other national courts, including the interference in this area of the action of the European courts. Following its presentation at the Conference, an amended version of this working document now becomes part of the collection of Special Bulletins on Leading Cases of the Commission as has been the case with the issue on freedom of religion and beliefs, requested by the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland for the 11th Conference of the European Constitutional Courts in Warsaw on 16-20 May 1999. The aim of this Special Bulletin is to provide a presentation of the case-law of constitutional courts in this area, following the usual design and layout of the Bulletin on Constitutional Case-Law, which is published by the Venice Commis- sion. The boundaries of action of constitutional courts and other national courts may sometimes be tested, in particular in countries where constitutional jurisdiction is relatively new and where it may take time for the constitutional court to assert its rightful position within the legal system. Co-operation between constitutional courts or courts of equivalent jurisdiction and other national courts is thus important, especially in the field of human rights protection where it is essential that the same standards be applied by all courts in a given country. In this regard, it is particularly interesting to note the influence of the European Court of Human Rights in member states of the Council of Europe and the Court of Justice of the European Communi- ties in member states of the European Union and to measure the extent to which it serves as a unifying factor. This publication provides an overview of the key decisions concerning the relations between constitutional courts and other national courts, including the interference in this area of the action of the European courts, that have been delivered in the history of constitutional justice. This edition contains a certain number judgments which have already appeared in normal editions of the Bulletin on Constitutional Case-Law (classified using identification numbers of the form 1 – 2 – 3) but first of all also those which have not been published in the Bulletin but were considered to be relevant by the constitutional courts’ liaison officers. These judgments are indicated by the letter “C”. This special issue will also be incorporated into the CODICES database (on CD- ROM and via http://codices.coe.int). This database on constitutional case-law contains all the regular issues and special editions of the Bulletin on Constitutional Case-Law, full texts of decisions, constitutions and laws on the constitutional courts, and already comprises 3400 précis and more than 4000 full texts. The European Commission for Democracy through Law hopes in this way to have contributed to the success of the 12th Conference of the European Constitutional Courts and more generally to the dissemination, knowledge, development and particular dynamics of constitutional case-law. It is particularly grateful to the liaison officers for their invaluable co-operation which has made it possible for us to produce this Special Bulletin. G. Buquicchio Secretary of the European Commission for Democracy through Law THE VENICE COMMISSION The European Commission for Democracy - to reinforce existing democratic structures; through Law, also known as the Venice Commis- - to promote and strengthen principles and sion, was established in 1990 pursuant to a Partial institutions which represent the bases of Agreement of the Council of Europe. It is a true democracy. consultative body which co-operates with member States of the Council of Europe and with non- The activities of the Venice Commission compri- member States. It is composed of independent se, inter alia, research, seminars and legal opi- experts in the fields of law and political science nions on issues of constitutional reform, electoral whose main tasks are the following: laws and the protection of minorities, as well as the collection and dissemination of case-law in - to help new Central and Eastern Europe matters of constitutional law from Constitutional democracies to set up new political and Courts and other courts. legal infrastructures; CONTENTS Albania ....................................................................... 5 Poland ...................................................................... 97 Andorra .................................................................... 11 Portugal .................................................................. 102 Armenia .................................................................... 13 Romania ................................................................. 105 Austria ...................................................................... 13 Russia .................................................................... 116 Belgium .................................................................... 21 Slovakia ................................................................. 122 Bosnia and Herzegovina .......................................... 31 Slovenia ................................................................. 130 Croatia ..................................................................... 34 South Africa ........................................................... 136 Cyprus ...................................................................... 41 Sweden .................................................................. 138 Czech Republic ........................................................ 43 Switzerland ............................................................ 139 France ...................................................................... 54 “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” .... 151 Germany .................................................................. 60 Turkey .................................................................... 151 Hungary ................................................................... 78 Ukraine ................................................................... 155 Ireland ...................................................................... 82 European Court of Human Rights .......................... 161 Latvia ....................................................................... 83 Court of Justice of the European Communities ..... 165 Lithuania .................................................................. 88 Systematic Thesaurus ........................................... 187 Norway ..................................................................... 92 Alphabetical Index .................................................. 205 Secretariat of the Venice Commission Council of Europe F-67075 STRASBOURG CEDEX Tel: (33) 3 88412000 - Fax: (33) 3 88413738 [email protected] Editors: Sc. R. Dürr, D. Bojic-Bultrini H. Moore, P. Greenhill J. Farmer, M.-L. Wigishoff Liaison officers: Albania ..................................... S. Sadushi / L. Pirdeni Korea ............................................................ S. D. Kim Andorra .......................................... M. Tomàs Baldrich Kyrgyzstan ........................................ K. E. Esenkanov Argentina ......................... H. Masnatta / R. E. Gialdino Latvia ........................................................... A. Ušacka Armenia .................................................... G. Vahanian Liechtenstein .................................................. I. Elkuch Austria .................................................... R. Huppmann Lithuania .................................................. S. Stačiokas Azerbaijan ................................................... R. Guliyev Luxembourg ....................................................... G. Kill Belgium ................... A. Rasson Roland / R. Ryckeboer Malta ................................................................. A. Ellul Bosnia and Herzegovina .......................... D. Kalember Moldova ........................................................... M. Iuga Bulgaria ......................................................... K. Manov Netherlands ..................................... S. Van Den Oever Canada ...................................................... C. Marquis 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 ............................................. M. M. Petersen Russia ........................................................ E. Pyrickov Estonia ....................................................... P. Roosma Slovakia ................................................. R. Prochazka Finland ............................. M. Könkkölä / P. Pietarinen Slovenia ......................................................