site.btaBulgarian and Romanian Constitutional Courts Sign Renewed Cooperation Protocol

A delegation from the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria held an official meeting with the Constitutional Court of Romania in Bucharest on Thursday. A cooperation protocol was re-signed, through which the institutions will renew and further develop their relations through the exchange of experience in the field of constitutional justice, the Bulgarian court reported.

At the opening of the meeting, the President of the Constitutional Court of Romania, Elena Simina Tanasescu, stressed that this was the first bilateral visit during her term of office as President and that it was a strong message of closeness between the two institutions.

In turn, the President of the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria, Pavlina Panova, emphasized the relations between the two constitutional jurisdictions, which the bilateral meeting further strengthens with a high level of trust, cooperation and shared constitutional values.

The main topic of the working meeting was "The impact of European Union law on the practice of constitutional courts". Judge Atanas Semov presented a report on "Constitutional jurisdiction and the excessive expansion by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of the scope and impact of EU law". On the side of the Constitutional Court of Romania, reports were presented by Judge Astalos Csaba Ferenc and Dacian Cosmin Dragos. Their presentations focused on "The rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and democracy" and "The influence of European Union law on the case law of the Constitutional Court of Romania".

Bulgarian Ambassador Radko Vlaykov attended the event.

The Bulgarian delegation was represented by the President of the Constitutional Court Pavlina Panova and constitutional judges Atanas Semov, Yanaki Stoilov, Galina Toneva and Nevin Feti, as well as Ginka Vihrogonova, Chief Expert for International Relations and Protocol.

From the Constitutional Court of Romania, the talks were attended by Elena Simina Tanasescu, President of the Constitutional Court of Romania and of the Association of Francophone Constitutional Courts, constitutional judges Cristian Deliorga, Gheorghe Stan, Mihaela Ciochina, Laura-Iuliana Scantei, Astalos Csaba Ferenc, Mihai Busuioceanu and Dacian Cosmin Dragos, as well as Karoly Benke, First Assistant Magistrate, and Cristina Titisca, Assistant Magistrate and Director of the President's Office.