Translated from Portuguese. The Portuguese version prevails. Ler em português
Rabat – Kingdom of Morocco, 22 to 24 November 2022
His Excellency Saïd IHRAI, President of the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Morocco
Your Excellencies, Presidents of the Constitutional Jurisdictions that are Members of the CJCA
Honourable Justices of the Constitutional Jurisdictions that are Members of the CJCA
His Excellency the President Emeritus and Special Representative of the Venice Commission
Distinguished Guests and Participants
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Welcome, all of you, to the 6th Congress of the CJCA. It is with enormous satisfaction and a great honour that I address Your Excellencies, and I therefore ask you to allow me to greet all those present, in particular the President of the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Morocco, to whom I am deeply grateful for his understanding, his attention and the organisation of this event, as well as for the excellent reception and working conditions provided in this beautiful and welcoming city of RABAT. Owing to the vicissitudes arising from Covid-19, which led throughout the world to a series of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the virus, our Conference required us, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Angola, to extend the term of office, which began in 2019, to the present date, whereas it should have ended, formally and materially, in 2021.
With the effects of that pandemic now mitigated, our 6th Congress is being held today, which constitutes a very important milestone in restoring stability to the actions, activities and Agenda of our Conference. Congresses are gatherings that enable us, through a collective effort, to share ideas, exchange experiences, design strategies and take stock of the implementation of the planned actions, with a view to strengthening the institutional capacity of the Constitutional Jurisdictions of Africa.
Excellencies;
Constitutional jurisdictions have the noble mission of defending and safeguarding constitutional principles and values, the democratic governance of institutions being one of them.
For that reason, and not least because, as has been said, one governs by example, Constitutional Jurisdictions must serve as a mirror of democratic values as regards the assumption of certain functions on a rotating basis. It has been an honour for us, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Angola, to lead such a prestigious Conference. The exchanges of experience and practice with other constitutional jurisdictions of Africa represented here have enabled us to enhance our learning on certain matters and good practices, which has certainly strengthened, and will continue to strengthen and consolidate, our institutional capacity and our capacity to respond to the demands of citizens, whether considered individually or collectively, and of the public authorities, in the context of questions of a constitutional nature in each of our respective jurisdictions.
By way of example, the Agenda for this Congress includes the theme of the relationship between “Constitutional Jurisdictions and International Law”, and we believe that addressing this subject will bring forth problems and solutions and will open doors to discussion and research, so that constitutional jurisdictions are strengthened in their capacity to respond to the ever more pressing and numerous problems concerning International Law, not only from the point of view of relations between subjects of International Law, but also in relation to citizens, more specifically in the field of human rights. Indeed, wars and the Covid-19 pandemic are clear examples of how International Law has increasingly been influencing the life of States and other subjects of International Law, as well as their citizens, by imposing restrictions on various rights, namely sovereignty, peace, freedom, life, public health and others, which certainly gives rise to problems that Constitutional Law, through the Constitutional Jurisdictions, is called upon to resolve.
Excellencies;
It is more than fitting to express here our thanks to the Secretary-General and the Permanent Secretary of our Conference, Mr Ndiaw DIOUF and Mr Moussa LARABA respectively, for their support and commitment in the zealous performance of their duties in raising the level of maturity of our Conference.
Excellencies, Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, I reiterate to you all the need for us to continue to defend the nobility of the judicial institutions with competence in constitutional matters and to uphold the fundamental principles and values of the Constitutions of the peoples of our countries.
I conclude my address by thanking you for your attention, and to President Saïd IHRAI, to whom I shall have the honour of handing over the Presidency of the CJCA, I extend my best wishes for every success in the exercise of his term of office. You may count on our unconditional support in carrying out the actions, tasks and programmes aimed at improving and strengthening the spirit of cordiality, cooperation, friendship and solidarity in relations among the members of our Conference.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Rabat, 22 November 2022.