On Tuesday, 20 May 2025, a meeting of the presidents of the constitutional courts of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia took place in the historic building of the Slovak National Council in Bratislava. The four-party meeting was held at the invitation of Ivan Fiačan, President of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic.
The main reason for the meeting was to deepen the discussion among the highest representatives of the judiciary on the current challenges framing the contemporary legal and political culture in Central European countries. Constitutional courts must respond to new developments, such as the growing amount of disinformation in the public sphere, communication through social networks and the existence of artificial intelligence tools in the contemporary world.
The geographical, cultural, historical and legal proximity of the four above-mentioned countries provides a basis for sharing very similar values. There was therefore a spirit of consensus among the presidents. Although they emphasised the importance of continuity in case law, it is clear that the law – and the case law – must reflect changes in society and evolve alongside it. Among other things, the debate focused on constitutional review of the legislative and electoral process or on new perspectives on judicial protection of freedom of speech.
President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic emphasized in his speech, that in today's multitude of information and disinformation, it is extremely important that constitutional courts are not isolated islands, but communicate openly and comprehensibly with the public. According to Josef Baxa, public trust is a tool that can protect the independence of constitutional courts more effectively than even the best legal regulations. All those present agreed with him.
At the end, Josef Baxa, Christoph Grabenwarter, and Rok Čeferin thanked host Ivan Fiačan for initiating the thought-provoking meeting and expressed their desire to continue this form of cooperation in the future.
© Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic