04/10/2022 - 07/10/2022
Bali, Indonesia - The Constitutional Court of Indonesia and the Venice Commission held the 5th Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice in Bali, Indonesia, from 4 to 7 October 2022. The theme of the Congress is "Constitutional Justice and Peace". A total of 94 delegations from constitutional courts and equivalent institutions participated in the Congress making a total of 583 participants.
The notion of peace was 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 President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr Joko Widodo, the President Emeritus/Special Representative of the Venice Commission, Mr Gianni Buquicchio, and the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, Mr Anwar Usman, opened the Congress. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Ms Retno Marsudi, delivered a welcoming speech.
The following sessions took place:
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".
The Congress ended with the adoption of a communiqué at the meeting of the General Assembly of the WCCJ.
On 5 October 2022 the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation terminated its membership in the World Conference on Constitutional Justice.
The World Conference on Constitutional Justice now unites 118 Constitutional Courts and Councils and Supreme Courts in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia/Oceania and Europe. It promotes constitutional justice – understood as constitutional review including human rights case-law – 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.