Since the year 1999 we have been focused on identification of barriers that prevent citizens to access justice. The aim of our annual Public Interest Law Conferences “Access to Justice – Barriers and Solutions” is to seek systemic solutions to the identified barriers with a diverse group of legal professionals - mainly judges, constitutional court justices, advocates, law professors, representatives of ministries and NGO lawyers. We create space for participants to seek ways to protect citizens’ rights more effectively.

Overview of the themes covered by our Conferences

2007, Pezinok

The main theme of the conference was the issue of public control of public power. Especially, the role of citizen as an originator of public power and his legal possibilites to demand lawful execution of public power, were discussed. Cases, in which the public power was executed unlawfully or where misuse of public power occured, resonate in public. Participants assessed if the position of citizen in public control of public power is adequate and appropriate. The aim of the cenference was to find effective legal tools for citizens´ rights protection.

Download the conference publication:  slovak

2006, Omšenie

The conference was attended by representatives of various legal professions (the justice of the European Court of Justice, the justice of the European Court of Human Rights, legal representatives/agents of the Slovak Republic before these judicial bodies, justices of Constitutional Court, private attorneys, members of parliament, and other legal professionals). The main topic of the conference was the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice - their impact, challenges and trends, which may influence our legal environment.

Download the conference publication:  slovak

Read conclusions from discussion:  english

2004, Omšenie

The issue of relation of general courts and the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic has not been the subject of a broader expert debate so far. Our conference addressed several questions associated with the role of the Constitutional Court in review of decisions of general courts, particularly: Is division of competencies concerning protection of basic rights and freedoms among general courts and the Constitutional Court unambiguous? Are problems caused by lack of clarity in this issue to be considered barriers in access to justice? What is the optimal division of competencies among the Constitutional Court and general courts? To what extent is effective protection provided by general courts and when is intervention of the Constitutional Court appropriate? Outputs of the conference are published in the 5-th volume of Access to Justice-Barriers and Solutions.

Download the conference publication:  slovak

2002, Omšenie

Delays in court proceedings are one of the most severe setbacks of the Slovak judiciary. They prevent realization of right to fair trial, decrease credibility of courts and cause difficulties to judges themselves. At the Conference we assessed causes of court delays and proposed optimal solutions to improve the status quo. The outcome of the Conference is a publication which, next to an analysis of causes of delays and proposed solutions, contains a review of the Slovak Constitutional Court decisions concerning this issue and a definition of criteria of delays in proceedings in concrete cases.

Download the conference publication:  slovak

2001, Tatranská Lomnica

The third conference dealt with freedom of speech and constitutionality of criminal proceedings concerning verbal attacks with racial connotation (hate speech). Key note speakers were Dr. Daniel Svaby, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic , Dr. Daniel Lipšic, Head of the Office of Minister of Justice of the Slovak Republic and advocate Dr. Jan Hrubala. The second part of the conference served as a platform to discuss potential conflict of the Slovak administrative judiciary with the European Convention on Human Rights in light of the verdict of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic. This verdict resolved the conflict in the Czech Republic by abolishing part of the Civil Proceeding Act regulating administrative judiciary. The conference concluded by evaluation of the development of access to justice since the first Public Interest Law Conference in the year 1999. The evaluation showed that from the eight defined barriers, 5 were solved completely and 1 partially.

Download the publication from previous two conferences:  slovak

2000, Levoča

The conference was focused on overcoming legal gaps by means of legal principles (keynote speech by prof. Pavel Hollander, justice of the Czech Constitutional Court). The following discussion concerned personality of a judge as a possible barrier in access to justice, and specific cases allowing access to courts in issues of public interest.

1999, Senec

At the first conference, first in-depth discussion on Access to Justice in Slovakia was opened. Using comparative study from other countries and local case studies, we defined eight key barriers preventing access to justice (such as lack of review of land-use decisions concerning large constructions, weak position of the informant and aggrieved in the criminal proceeding, lack of legal review of certain municipal acts, lack of effectiveness of constitutional court “motion”, etc.

Download the conference publication:  slovak | english