Modern Constitutional Changes

and the Role of Constitutional Courts

8 NOVEMBER 2024

Opening Session:

Welcome on behalf of the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic:
Chinara Askarbekovna Aidarbekova, justice of the Constitutional Court

Welcome on behalf of the Embassy of Canada in Central Asia:
Christopher Duggan, Ambassador of Canada to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Welcome on behalf of the Center for Constitutional Studies:
Olga Borisovna Sidorovich, Director of the Center, Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Comparative Constitutional Review”

Key-note speech:
Protective Letters of the Constitution
Tamara Georgievna Morshchakova, Doctor of Law, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation, Professor; Justice and Vice-Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (ret.); Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists

Session 1. Processes and trends of constitutional changes in the region

Moderator: Alexandru Tanase, Dr. h.c., President of the Constitutional Court of Moldova (2011-2017), Member of the Venice Commission (2018-2023), Project Manager, Promotion of the Rule of Law in Central Asia, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Constitutional Courts of Central Asia: Challenges and Role in Building Constitutionalism
Saniia Toktogazieva, S.J.D., Associate Professor, Dean of Academic Planning and Strategic Partnerships, American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

Trajectories of Constitutional Law in Central Asian Countries: Personalization, Bureaucratization, Internationalization, Retraditionalization
Alexey Trochev, PhD. In Law, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, School of Natural, Humanitarian and Social Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Republic of Kazakhstan

 Session 2. Russian experience of constitutional justice

Moderator: Alexey Trochev

The Role of the Constitutional Court of Russia in Reforming the 1993 Constitution
Olga Nikolaevna Kryazhkova, PhD in Law, Associate Professor, Department of Constitutional Law named after Vitruk, Russian University of Justice, Moscow, Russia

Dissenting opinions of justices and independent expert opinions of amici curiae in the practice of the Constitutional Court of Russia
Evgenia Nefed’eva, Researcher in the field of constitutional law, Lawyer of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, Kazakhstan

Session 3. Selected issues of constitutional justice

Moderaror: Saniia Toktogazieva

The Secular State in Law and Public Policy
Renate Uitz, PhD in Law, Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Proportionality Principle in the Jurisprudence of Constitutional Courts
Alexey Vyacheslavovich Dolzhikov, Doctor hab., Associate Professor, Expert in constitutional and international law, St. Petersburg, Russia

Session 4. Balance between international and national law in judicial practice

Moderator: Aleksey Vyacheclavovich Dolzhikov

Application of International Standards in National Courts
Dmitry Ivanovich Dedov, Doctor of Law, Russian Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (2013 - 2021)

International Human Rights Standards in Decisions of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and Local Courts of Kyrgyzstan
Musabekova Chynara Abdybakasovna, PhD in Law, Lecturer at the Higher School of Justice under the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, judge of the Constitutional Court of KR (in ret.)

Experience of the Russian Constitutional Court and Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in Enforcement of the ECtHR Decisions
Elena Vladimirovna Gritsenko, Doctor of Law, Professor, Faculty of Law, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia

BOOK PRESENTATION

Case-Book “Constitutional Rights in Russia”, 2024 and The Constitution of Russia after the 2020 Reform: Problematic Commentary” (to be published in 2025)
Moderator: Olga Sidorovich
Participants: Elena Gritsenko, Aleksey Dolzhikov, Olga Kryazhkova

9 NOVEMBER 2024

Session 5. Judges and bar members in constitutional review: trends

Moderator: Olga Borisovna Sidorovich

Independence of Judges and Protection of Professional Rights of Lawyers in the Constitutional Court of Russia and International Courts
Olga Al’bertovna Schwartz, PhD in Law, Lecturer at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Advisor to the Federal Chamber of Advocates, Moscow, Russia

Commentary to the speech by O.A. Schwartz:
Court, Independence, Politics
Tamara Georgievna Morshchakova, Doctor of Law, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation, Professor; Justice and Vice-Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (ret.)

Session 6. Equality and discrimination

Moderator: Olga Nikolaevna Kryazhkova

Constitutional Gender Justice - a Conceptual Introduction
Anna Śledzińska-Simon, Dr. hab., Professor, Wroclaw University, Poland  

Social State in the times of transformation
Irina Antol'evna Alebastrova, Doctor of Law, expert in comparative constitutional law, member of the editorial board of the journal "Comparative Constitutional Law"

Session 7. Constitutional design: overcoming challenges

Moderator: Alexandru Tanase

Difficulties in Rebuilding a ‘Tribunal Established by Law’– the Example of the Polish Judiciary
Angelika Nussberger, Dr. DDr. h.c., Professor, Director of the Academy for European Human Rights Protection, University of Cologne, Germany

Constitutional Courts and Separation of Powers: Comparative Analysis
Daniel Smilov, PhD in Politics, PhD in Law, Associate Professor of Political Theory at the Department of Political Science at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski ”, Bulgaria