Judges and advisors of the constitutional courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia gathered at a regional working meeting held in Belgrade on March 31 and April 1, 2025, to exchange experiences, share best practices, and strengthen the application of relevant standards of the European Court of Human Rights in their daily work. This working meeting served as a platform for further fostering of regional cooperation and reinforcing the role of constitutional courts in upholding fundamental rights and freedoms.
As part of ongoing efforts to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of constitutional courts’ work, the two-day event was structured as an interactive workshop. It enabled in-depth exchange on current legal challenges, with a special focus on the right to liberty and security of person, the position of victims in criminal proceedings, the right to just satisfaction in proceedings before constitutional courts, and the right to family life.
Participants engaged in case study analyses, examined comparative jurisprudence, and explored innovative approaches to strengthen judicial reasoning and legal interpretation in light of evolving European and international human rights standards.
Snežana Marković, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia, welcomed the continued holding of regular meetings among constitutional courts, emphasizing that the courts in the region share a similar legal background and face comparable legal challenges. Therefore, the exchange of experiences has so far proven to be the best approach, yielding concrete results.
Janoš Babić, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, emphasized that the project “Strengthening Human Rights Protection in Serbia” continuously supports the Constitutional Court of Serbia through various activities, all aimed at better understanding of European human rights standards and their consistent application at the national level.
The event highlighted the importance of continuous regional dialogue and judicial cooperation in ensuring that constitutional courts remain strong guardians of human rights and the rule of law.
The event was organized by the action “Strengthening Human Rights Protection in Serbia” in cooperation with the action “Strengthening Accountability of the Judicial System and Improving the Protection of Victims’ Rights in Montenegro” within the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”, and in cooperation with the project “Support to a coherent national implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights and facilitating the execution of judgements of the European Court of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, funded by the Council of Europe Action plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2022-2025.
