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Today Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, have addressed a video message to the participants of the Yerevan International Conference entitled “The Role and Significance of the Constitutional Court in Addressing Legislative Gaps and Legal Uncertainty” organized by the RA Constitutional Court, the Venice Commission and the European Commission for Democracy. The message is as follows:

“Distinguished guests, dear participants, It is my great honour to address you at the beginning of the Yerevan International Conference. Unfortunately my other commitments did not allow me to be with you in person, but I know the Council’s secretariat to be well represented by Director General Philippe Boillat. I would like to commend the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia for having organised this conference and take this opportunity to thank its president Mr Harutyunyan for this initiative.

The timing of this conference is well chosen: the new democracies have matured over the last years. I would like to mention as an example that Armenia marks this year already 15 years since its accession to the Council of Europe. And I would like to recall that during this time, Armenia has even successfully presided over the Committee of Ministers.

I particularly welcome the progress made by Armenia in fulfilling its obligations and the specific commitments it entered into as a member of the Council of Europe. I also commend the will to further reforms aimed at strengthening human rights, the rule of law and democracy.

We, the Council of Europe, consistently support our member States on their path towards democratic reforms. If done in a coherent way, this takes the form of Action plans, a mult-year comprehensive strategic framework for co-operation, aiming to promote the conformity of the Armenian reform agenda with European standards. Two have been already agreed this year, one with Georgia and one with Armenia, the latter launched in spring here in Yerevan by my Deputy, Gabriela Battaini Dragoni.

One of its main priorities is the justice reform, and in particular constitutional justice. I note with great satisfaction the close co-operation between the Armenian authorities and the Venice Commission in the process of constitutional reform. And I am as pleased to see that the Venice Commission is also co-organising this Conference, which among other issues will discuss the Commission’s srecent ‘Rule of Law checklist’.

I am convinced that it is with this kind of support that the Council of Europe can contribute to further achieve compliance with European standards.

Of course, there remain still numerous areas where further work needs to be done in order to fill existing gaps. As far as legal gaps and legal uncertainty are concerned, I understand that this conference will analyse the role constitutional courts can play in overcoming them.

As Secretary General of the Council of Europe I would be extremely pleased if the results of your exchanges over the next two days will provide helpful insights and possibly even encouragement for other member States as well.

For this to happen I wish you thought provoking inspirations and fruitful deliberations.”