Balkan Constitutional Forum

2023 Sofia

Dates
27 October 2023
Host
Constitution Court of Bulgaria
Location
Sofia, Bulgaria
meeting focus

The topic of the conference was Countries’ experience with providing citizens access to constitutional justice. Contributions were made by representatives of all present member courts and observers, as well as representatives of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Human Rights, and the European Commission. Discussions were moderated by Prof. Daniel Valchev, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Law, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and Prof. Boris Velchev, Ph.D., Rector of The Higher School of Insurance and Finance.

Agenda

October 26th, Thursday
Arrival
Grand Hotel Millennium
19:00 – 21:30
Welcoming Cocktail
October 27th, Friday
Agenda
Shakespeare Hall, Grand Hotel Millennium
9:00 - 9:30
Registration of participants
9:30 - 9:45
Opening remarks – Pavlina Panova, President, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria
9:45 - 10:00
Greetings address – Mariya Gabriel, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria
10:00 - 10:15
Greetings address – Atanas Slavov, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Bulgaria
10:15 - 10:30
Greetings address – Věra Jourová, Vice-President, European Commission
10:30 - 10:50
Ceremony of signing of the Memorandum of the Balkan Constitutional Courts Forum
10:50 - 11:00
Official photo of the participants
11:00 - 11:30
Coffee break
11:30 - 12:00
Keynote speaker – Koen Lenaerts, President, Court of Justice of the European Union
12:00 - 12:30
Keynote speaker – Marko Bošnjak, Judge and Vice-President, European Court of Human Rights
12:30 - 14:00
Lunch – Restaurant Vienna, Grand Hotel Millennium, 3rd floor
14:00 - 14:15
Presentation by Holta Zaçaj, President, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Albania
14:15 - 14:30
Presentation by Yanaki Stoilov, Judge, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria
14:30 - 14:45
Presentation by Anna Kalogeropoulou, Councilor of State, Hellenic Council of State
14:45 - 15:00
Presentation by Gresa Caka-Nimani, President, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo
15: 00 - 15:30
Discussion
15:30 - 16:00
Coffee break
16:00 - 16:15
Presentation by Budimir Sv ćepanović, President, Constitutional Court of Montenegro
16:15 - 16:30
Presentation by Dobrila Kacarskia, President, Constitutional Court of the Republic of North Macedonia
16:30 - 16:45
Presentation by Marian Enache, President, Constitutional Court of Romania
16:45 - 17:00
Presentation by Hasan Tahsin Gökcan, Vice-President, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Türkiye
17:00 - 17:30
Discussion
17:30 - 17:40
Remarks by Valerija Galić, President, Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
17:40 - 17:50
Remarks by Snježana Bagić, Deputy President, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia
17:50 - 18:00
Closing remarks – Pavlina Panova, President, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria
19:30 - 22:00
Official dinner – Hall M, Grand Hotel Millennium

Participants

Pavlina Panova, Ph.D.
President
Bulgaria
Pavlina Panova Opening speech.pdf
Document format pdf | 62 kb
Prof. Yanaki Stoilov, Ph.D.
Judge
Bulgaria
Yanaki Stoilov_Judge - Presentation.pdf
Document format pdf | 97 kb
Mariya Gabriel
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Bulgaria
Mariya Gabriel speech_EN-October 26-28_2023 Sofia-Bulgaria.pdf
Document format pdf | 68 kb
Atanas Slavov
Minister of Justice
Bulgaria
Atanas Slavov Speech_EN-October 26-28_2023 Sofia-Bulgaria.pdf
Document format pdf | 33 kb
Věra Jourová
Vice-President
Czech Republic
Vera Jourova-Briefing Keynote Address FINAL.pdf
Document format pdf | 104 kb
Koen Lenaerts
President
Belgium
Koen Lenaerts President Keynote speaker.pdf
Document format pdf | 199 kb
Marko Bošnjak
Vice-President
Slovenia
Marco Bosnjak-Keynote speaker.pdf
Document format pdf | 154 kb
Holta Zaçaj
President
Albania
Holta Zacaj_President-CC Albania-Presentation.pdf
Document format pdf | 121 kb
Anna Kalogeropoulou
Councilor of State
Greece
Anna Kalogeropoulou's-speech.pdf
Document format pdf | 79 kb
Gresa Caka-Nimani
President
Kosovo
Speech of President Gresa Caka - Nimani_Balkan Forum.pdf
Document format pdf | 82 kb
Budimir Šćepanović
President
Montenegro
Budimir Scepanovic, president of CC Montenegro-Idividual approach to constitutional legal justice.pdf
Document format pdf | 96 kb
Dobrila Kacarska
President
Republic of North Macedonia
Dobrila Kacarska_President - Presentation (Sofia 27 October).pdf
Document format pdf | 82 kb
Marian Enache
President
Romania
Marian Enache - prezentare CC a Romaniei_EN_Sofia_2023_final.pdf
Document format pdf | 118 kb
Hasan Tahsin Gökcan
Vice-President
Turkey
Hasan Tahsin Gokcan-Speech_Turkiye.pdf
Document format pdf | 119 kb
Valerija Galić
President
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Valerija_Galic_Speech-CCBH.pdf
Document format pdf | 77 kb
Dr. Snježana Bagić
Deputy President
Croatia
Snjezana Bagic-CC Croatia - speech of Dr Bagić adapted for the publication.pdf
Document format pdf | 511 kb

Moderators

Prof. Daniel Valchev
Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Law, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
Bulgaria
Prof. Boris Velchev
Ph.D., Rector of The Higher School of Insurance and Finance
Bulgaria