Chișinău, 28-29 September - During these days, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova (CCM), for the first time, is hosting the 8th Conference of Heads of Institutions of the Association of Constitutional Courts using the French language (ACCPUF). The event is attended by 80 guests, from 4 continents. 

The President of CCM - Mr. Alexandru Tănase, the President of the Republic of Moldova - Mr. Nicolae Timofti, the Prime Minister - Mr. Pavel FILIP and senior officials of ACCPUF delivered welcome speeches at the Conference.

The conference tackles issues related to the "Organization of the adversarial procedure". Thus, the participants will present the way of examining complaints before the constitutional courts of their countries of origin. In particular, it is about the approaches used by the parties that come before the Court. In the case of CCM, it is about the standpoints presented by the Parliament and the Government on one hand, and on the other - the arguments of the MPs that challenge a law or request the interpretation of the Constitution, the lawyer pleadings (who come before the Court by way of exceptions of unconstitutionality raised by ordinary courts) and other subjects entitled to come before the Court.

The President of CCM, Mr. Alexandru Tănase, welcomed the presence in Chișinău of 30 Heads of Constitutional Courts, members of ACCPUF, participating in the conference and noted that this reunion, apart from the aspect of institutional cooperation within ACCPUF, comes to denote also the francophone vitality in our country. Thus, Francophonie is not only a common linguistic space, but also promotes the human rights and rule of law values.

Mr. Alexandru Tănase addressed the topic of the conference through the experience of the Republic of Moldova. Thus, in addition to the fact that the proceedings before CCM are regulated by law and internal regulations, in its judgments the Court held that any legal provision that would have the effect of blocking in any form the functionality of the Court, is deemed unconstitutional from the start.

In his speech, President Nicolae Timofti, congratulated the ACCPUF members and mentioned that constitutional courts strengthen cooperation in order to not only disseminate common experience, but also to create a common front in the prevention and resistance to any acts threatening the independence of the constitutional judiciary. In this regard, the President stressed that political crises can be mitigated and a political culture can be fostered by way of constitutional review, and the acts of the Constitutional Court have a visible influence on the functioning of justice.

Referring to the CCM judgment of 5 December 2013 by which, following the French practice, CCM stated that the Declaration of Independence forms a common body with the Constitution, namely a block of constitutionality.

Prime Minister Pavel Filip noted the importance of the independence of constitutional courts, emphasizing that the creation of a new level of cooperation between constitutional courts is welcomed. This, according to the Prime Minister, opens the way for mutual cooperation of Constitutional Courts in protecting common values: the rule of law, democracy, territorial entirety and fundamental rights. Moreover, according to him, the organization of this prestigious conference in Chișinau honors us and confirms the rallying of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova to the most respected constitutional jurisdictions of the civilized world.

The President of the Swiss Federal Tribunal, Mr. Gilbert Kolly, which holds the Presidency of ACCPUF, thanked the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova for hosting, for the first time, an ACCPUF event.

The conference will lasted two days, during which will be presented the best practices in ensuring the adversarial principle before the francophone constitutional courts of the world, in order to highlight the appropriate elements of constitutional jurisdiction that can be taken over by the participating institutions.

CCM has joined the Association in 1997 and hosts for the first time such an event of national and international scale. Thus, the conference is attended by presidents and justices of 30 constitutional courts and equivalent institutions that are members of the Association from Europe, Africa and Canada, as well as senior representatives of the Venice Commission and the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts.

This conference is part of a series of events, organized at national level, on the occasion of marking the 20th anniversary of the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the International Organization of La Francophonie. The Association of Constitutional Courts using the French language gathers 45 member constitutional courts from Africa, Europe, North America (Canada) and Asia.

The conference is organized by CCM, in cooperation with the General Secretariat of ACCPUF, the International Organization of La Francophonie and EU project "Support to the Constitutional Court of Moldova."