The EPLO, in collaboration with the International Association of Constitutional Law and the Association of Greek Constitutionalists, successfully organized the 7th World Congress of Constitutional Law on 11-15 June 2007, which offered a great platform of discussion and academic discourse to all members of the international scientific community of Constitutional Law. Under the command of Prof. Kostas Mavrias, President of the Association of Greek Constitutionalists and President of the Organizing Committee for the 7th World Congress of Constitutional Law and in close co-operation with the President of the International Association of Constitutional Law, Prof. Cheryl Saunders, the EPLO offered its human resources and expertise for the purposes of the organization of the Congress. Moreover, it gave the opportunity to hundreds of scholars from the developing world to express their views and discuss contemporary constitutional topics with their colleagues, while being involved in a fruitful academic dialogue with the members of the developed countries’ scientific community.
The Congress was materialized thanks to the generous financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, which viewed it as an opportunity to bridge the gap between the developed and the developing world with regards to Constitutional Law. The audience consisted of over 600 participants, including scholars, judges, staff of Constitutional Courts and students, coming from over 60 countries.
The Congress began with a majestic opening ceremony, in which addresses were made by Prof. Epaminondas Spiliotopoulos, member of the Academy of Athens, Mr. George Sourlas, Vice-President of the Parliament, Prof. Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Minister of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization, Dr. Evripidis Stylianidis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gerassimos Giakoumatos, Secretary of Employment and Social Protection, Ms. Marietta Giannakou, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Prof. Evangelos Venizelos, Member of Parliament and former Minister, Mr. Nikitas Kaklamanis, Mayor of Athens, Prof. Ioannis Karakostas, Vice-Rector of the National and Capodistrian University of Athens, Mr. Dimitrios Paxinos, President of the Athens Bar Association and Prof. George Kassimatis, Director of the Institute of Constitutional Research.
The speakers, panelists and chairpersons in this event included well-known representatives of the academia and prominent judges from all over the world. Just to mention a few of them: Prof. Ronald Dworkin, New York University, Prof. Michel Rosenfeld, Cardoso University, Prof. Giuseppe de Vergottini, University of Ravenna, Professor Christos Rozakis, Vice-President of the ECHR, Prof. Robert Williams, Rutgers University, Prof. Arnold Rainer, University of Regensburg, Prof. Tony Bradley, University of Oxford, Prof. Eivind Smith, University of Oslo, Prof. Eibe Riedel, University of Mannheim, Judge Lech Garlicki, ECHR, Justice Digkang Moseneke, Constitutional Court, South Africa.
The Congress was divided into Plenary Sessions and Workshops. There were four Plenary Sessions in total, where a lively discussion took place between the panelists. The frequent interventions by members of the audience who stood up and asked questions or made comments, fuelled the discussion even further. In addition to the Plenary Sessions, 16 Workshops were organized, with 16 different topics of discussion which varied from much-debated academic issues to current affairs. Scholars were invited to submit their papers to the relevant workshops in advance in order to eventually be discussed during the Congress. The Congress website was an important tool for the materialization of the Workshops, as all papers were uploaded well in advance and were accessible to all participants. There were 160 papers submitted and discussed in the Congress, a record number in the history of the event.
Ms. Aspasia Giannopoulou was the Project Manager of the aformentioned Congress, working closely with the Internaitonal Association of Constitutional Law and the Association of Greek Constitutionalists.
The Congress proved to be a very successful event as a result of the efficient collaboration between the European Public Law Organization, the International Association of Constitutional Law and the Association of Greek Constitutionalists.
