With the purpose of establishing a tradition, the first Carpathian Basin Constitutional Court Conference was held on 21 May 2022 in Sepsiszentgyörgy (Sfântu Gheorghe), Transylvania, with the participation of nine constitutional court judges from four countries. The event was also attended by Dr. András Zs. Varga, President of the Curia of Hungary and Dr András Patyi, Vice-President of the Curia of Hungary. The meeting’s main objective was to review the following topics: the constitutional law practices concerning Hungarian minorities in the Carpathian Basin, regional and ethnic autonomy, protection of minorities and democratic self-governmental efforts.
The event was jointly organised by the Council of Kovászna (Covasna) County and the Municipality of Sepsiszentgyörgy (Sfântu Gheorghe) and brought together some of the leaders and members of the constitutional courts of Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Serbia, as well as a number of renowned legal scholars and experts on minority policy from the aforementioned countries. The participants of the meeting primarily sought to identify the legal regulations of the countries of the Carpathian Basin on minorities and their application in everyday life, and to determine how they are reflected in the decisions of the constitutional courts of the countries concerned as well as in the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. The partnership of the constitutional court judges of the countries of the Carpathian Basin also aims to promote a more effective representation of the interests of Hungarian minorities in the European Union by developing a unified position thereon.
During the conference, Dr. András Zs. Varga reported on the practice of the Venice Commission on the protection of minorities.
Budapest, 23 May 2022
The Communications Department of the Curia of Hungary
