Bratislava Legal Forum 2024
Bratislava, 17. september 2024
The jubilee 10th year of the international scientific conference "Bratislava Legal Forum 2024" was traditionally opened in the premises of the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava (PraF UK) on Tuesday, 17 September 2024, with the plenary session of the conference with the primary topic: '"The Impact of European Law on National Legal Systems". Distinguished guests such as V4 Ministers of Justice, V4 Presidents of Supreme Courts and V4 Presidents of Bar Associations were invited to the plenary session.
In his opening speech, the Rector of Comenius University Marek Števček drew attention to the fact that in addition to climate change, we are also experiencing a change in the social climate, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic Juraj Blanár appreciated the organisation of the conference. In conclusion, Minister Blanár expressed his wish that the Bratislava Legal Forum would become a legal conference of pan-European format. The attention was then turned to the opening ministerial panel of the conference, moderated by Dean Burda, whose guests were the Ministers of Justice of the Slovak Republic, Boris Susko, and Hungary, BenceTuzson, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Czech Republic, Vilém Anzenbacher, and Zuzanna Rudzińska-Bluszcz, Polish State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice. In their speeches, all of them assessed the functioning of EU legal system in their respective countries and commented on both the positives and negatives of the membership. Ms Rudzińska-Bluszcz stated that the EU no longer has the same shape as it had twenty years ago and pointed to several changes that took place during that period. She stated that there is enhanced cooperation between the states within the EU and there is also a harmonisation of legal systems, based on the European values.
Then, in the discussion, Dean Burda asked the participants the first question, "Where do you see areas of law that are over-regulated by the EU and where do you see areas that still require a certain degree of the European regulation in order to function properly and efficiently?" From the discussion, it became clear that it is necessary to examine the case law and, based on it, to identify which areas of legislation need to be regulated. At the same time, it is important to focus on consolidating national legislation in the areas of cultural and ethical issues, family law and judiciary, with the need for further regulation in the area of digitalisation and the online space. Participants also pointed out that the EU produces a large amount of legislation that creates a confusing network of the legal system. They concluded the topic by stating that EU legislation should be adapted to the 21st century and move forward by anticipating and predicting certain social phenomena in the future.
The discussion was followed by Dean Burda's statement that, unlike the Anglo-American system, the judicial law-making is not inherent in the continental system of law. He asked those present whether, in view of the fact that the EU had adopted many elements of the Anglo-American legal system, we were not thereby getting into a situation where judges were confusing their role and interpreting the law beyond the scope of their competences and whether there was a need to strengthen judicial law-making or to set up regulations in this respect. "The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) is indispensable in judicial drafting of EU law, but this should be based on the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. The CJEU seeks to strengthen EU position, which comes at the expense of the identity of the member states," the Minister of Justice of the Slovak Republic said on the issue. The discussion focused on the expansion of the competences of the CJEU, which currently has various consequences, and this creates the need to reflect and rethink the entire EU legislative practice. Those present agreed that procedures of the CJEU are too long and that speed of decision-making is one of the fundamental features of justice.
At the end of the first panel, the relationship between national and EU law was discussed and the question of what the concept of the rule of law meant to the guests was also raised.