site.btaBalkan Constitutional Courts Forum Acquires Official Status

The Balkan Constitutional Courts Forum (BCCF) obtained official status after its member countries unanimously adopted its statute and signed a joint declaration on Sunday at the forum's third annual conference in the Turkish resort of Antalya, TurkiyeToday.com reported.

The conference was attended by the member countries Albania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Turkiye. Representatives of the observers Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Romania were also present, as well as delegates from Azerbaijan, Moldova, the European Court of Human Rights and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Ankara.

The host of the meeting, Turkiye's Constitutional Court President Kadir Ozkaya, said that the BCCF statute was modelled on those of other regional organizations and stressed the need for concrete decision-making mechanisms for the forum. "Instead of an informal structure, a mechanism that includes taking concrete decisions is preferable. It is clear that this cooperation, now in its third year, needs an actual decision-making process," Ozkaya said.

The Antalya Declaration, which confirmed the adoption of the statute, was signed by Ozkaya and constitutional court presidents Pavlina Panova of Bulgaria, Nedzmi Rexhepi of Kosovo, Darko Kostadinovski of North Macedonia and Snezana Armenko of Montenegro, and by Albania's representative Sonila Bejtja.

The members agreed that next year's fourth BCCF conference will be hosted by North Macedonia's Constitutional Court.

The Balkan Constitutional Courts Forum was created in 2023 on the initiative of Bulgaria's Constitutional Court. The forum serves as a platform for exchanging good practices, ideas and experience in constitutional adjudication among its member jurisdictions through conferences and other events.