ALGIERS – The President of the Constitutional Court, Omar Belhadj, will take part from October 4 to 7, 2022, in Bali (Indonesia) in the work of the 5th Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ), held under the theme “Constitutional justice and peace”, indicated, on Sunday, a press release from this body.
Mr. Belhadj, who will take part in this conference at the invitation of his Indonesian counterpart and Secretary General of the Conference, will chair the first session on “Sources and the judicial mandate”, the press release specified.
The Constitutional Court will also participate, as the second representative of the African continent, in the work of “the joint meeting of the Asian Association of Constitutional Courts and African Judiciary, which will be held on the eve of the 5th Congress of World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ), coinciding with the anniversary of the Bandung Conference (1955)”.
The President of the Constitutional Court will be accompanied, during this event, by the two members of the body, Mesbah Menas and Abdelwahab Kherief.
For this year’ session, up to 250 participants from some 90 courts/countries worldwide are expected to participate, mainly on-site.
The notion of peace will be tackled by the 5th Congress in the broad sense of social peace within the state and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, rather than as a concept of public international law, which relates to inter-state conflicts, as such conflicts are typically outside the remit of constitutional courts.
The Governor of Bali Province, Dr. Ir. I Wayan Koster, M.M., President Emeritus/Special Representative of the Venice Commission, Mr Gianni Buquicchio, and the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, Mr Anwar Usman, will be opening the Congress. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Ms H.E. Retno Marsudi, will deliver a welcoming speech.
After the opening ceremony, the following sessions will be held:
A “Sources and Jurisdiction”
B “Application”
C “Limitation of the Role of Constitutional Courts in Maintaining Peace”
D “Fundamental Principles: The Protection of Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law as A Pre-Condition to Peace”
E “Stocktaking on the Independence of the Member Courts”.
A press conference will take place on 5 October 2022 at the Nusa Dua Convention Center in Bali.
The Congress will end with the adoption of a communiqué at the meeting of the General Assembly of the WCCJ.
For further details, please check the program:
The World Conference on Constitutional Justice unites 119 Constitutional Courts and Councils and Supreme Courts in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia/Oceania and Europe. It facilitates judicial dialogue between constitutional judges on a global scale, and constitutes a platform for the exchanges of views and of experiences between the various constitutional bodies of the world in the field of constitutional justice, as a key element for democracy, the protection of human rights and the rule of law (Article 1.1 of the Statute). The Venice Commission acts as the Secretariat of the World Conference.
The World Conference pursues its objectives through the organisation of regular congresses, the participation in regional conferences and seminars, sharing experiences and case-law and offering good services to members on their request (Article 1.2 of the Statute).
