Opening of the judicial year 2008

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Opening of the judicial year 2008

The Court marked the official opening of the judicial year on Friday 25 January 2008. The event began with a seminar on "The role of consensus in the system of the European Convention on Human Rights", at which the keynote speakers were Mr John L. Murray, Chief Justice at the Supreme Court of Ireland, Mr Paul Martens, Judge at the Belgian Constitutional Court, and Mr Peter Paczolay, Vice-President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court. 150 leading figures from the European judicial sphere attended the seminar.

The seminar was followed by a formal ceremony to mark the opening of the judicial year, at which the President of the Court, Mr Jean-Paul Costa, and Ms Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, addressed an audience of some 250 representatives of the judicial sphere and national and local authorities. Press release

Watch the ceremony (original language)

Speech by the President

Speech of Ms Louise Arbour

Dialogue between judges 2008

Seminar 2008

The seminar was followed by a formal ceremony to mark the opening of the judicial year, at which the President of the Court, Mr Jean-Paul Costa, and Ms Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, addressed an audience of some 250 representatives of the judicial sphere and national and local authorities. Press release

Speech of Anatoly Kovler

Speech of John L. Murray

Speech of Paul Martens

Speech of Péter Paczolay