From 8 to 9 October, Mattias Guyomar, the President of the Court, Gilberto Felici, the judge elected in respect of San Marino and Abel Campos, Deputy Registrar of the Court, visited Italy.

While there, they participated in a conference held at the University of Padua entitled “The ECHR from the inside: the experience of the Judges and the Registry” and took part in an exchange of views with the Venice Commission, chaired by Marta Cartabia, on the subject of access to justice. The President also delivered an address, as guest of honour, at the opening of the 148th Plenary Session of the Venice Commission.

In that address, on 9 October, the President emphasised that exchanges between the two institutions enriched their respective work and fostered a process of “cross-fertilisation”.

“While the Venice Commission and the Court each have their own role and place, they share a common mission: to ensure that democracy, the rule of law and human rights are practical, effective and dynamic principles that benefit all. Our actions are complementary and guided by our shared values,” the President stated.

On 8 October, he also took part in the “Crossed Perspectives on Access to Justice: Dialogue between the President of the European Court of Human Rights and the Venice Commission” event in Venice, during which he highlighted the Court’s recent case-law that illustrated each of the criteria in the Venice Commission’s 2025 Updated Rule of Law Checklist.

During the same event, the Deputy Registrar delivered opening remarks, and Judge Felici spoke about the issue of the protection of lawyers and the relationship between lawyers and judges.

On the morning of 8 October, at the “The ECHR from the inside: the experience of the Judges and the Registry” conference at the University of Padua, the President, Judge Felici and the Deputy Registrar addressed the following topics, respectively: the way in which the Court applies and interprets the Convention in the light of present-day conditions in accordance with the living-instrument doctrine, the role of the national judge at the Court, and the cooperation between judges and the Registry in the processing of applications.