Congress of Constitutional Justice starts in Seoul

Prominent constitutional justices from around the world assembled in Seoul yesterday for a rare gathering hosted by the Constitutional Court of Korea.

The 3rd Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice - the largest event of its kind - started yesterday with the theme “Constitutional Justice and Social Integration.”

The congress brings together the heads of constitutional courts, supreme courts and constitutional councils, as well as international organizations.

Participants of the four-day event, which is currently taking place at the Shilla Hotel in Jung District, central Seoul, are highly influential decision-makers from about 100 countries. Among them are German Federal Constitutional Court President Andreas Vosskuhle, South African Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and Supreme Federal Court of Brazil President Ricardo Lewandowski.

According to the Constitutional Court of Korea, the participants started their first day with registration and meetings between regional and linguistic groups.

The opening ceremony was set to take place this morning, while five discussion sessions and a general assembly are scheduled for today and tomorrow. A closing ceremony is planned for tomorrow and the event’s attendees will attend a cultural program on Wednesday.

The conference, organized by the Venice Commission, is the constitutional justice field’s highest-level gathering.

The event is aimed at facilitating dialogue on judicial matters between constitutional judges on a global scale.

According to the Constitutional Court, the World Conference had its first meeting in 2009, followed by its second in 2011. It then became a permanent body in September 2011.

It aims to hold a regular congress at least every three years to connect top constitutional justice leaders from around the world.

Korea has been selected as host of the congress ever since it was established as a permanent body.

“We believe the third congress will not only help constitutional courts across the globe to strengthen ties and cooperation between each other but also advance human rights protection, democracy and the rule of law,” said Park Han-chul, president of the Constitutional Court of Korea, in his welcome message at the conference.

As of August 2014, the courts of constitutional jurisdictions from 91 countries were members of the World Conference.

BY SER MYO-JA [myoja@joongang.co.kr]