ELI President Christiane Wendehorst meeting with the Bulgarian Constitutional Court and the Union of Bulgarian Jurists in Sofia (Bulgaria)

03.07.2018

On 3 July, the European Law Institute (ELI) President Christiane Wendehorst met Boris Velchev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Constitutional Court and Vladislav Slavov, President of the Union of Bulgarian Jurists.

The pair exchanged views on the role of the ELI and of constitutional courts in general. Given Velchev’s acclaim as a renowned academic in this field, Wendehorst was particularly pleased to have had the opportunity to elaborate on the ELI’s project on Common Constitutional Traditions in Europe. The latter project, which is led by Sabino Cassese and Jeffrey Jowell, was adopted by the ELI Council in February 2018. This project seeks to identify the source of Common Constitutional Traditions in Europe; their content; their relationship with national identity; whether they are an autonomous source of European law and the way in which they emerge as common to Member States and are expressed as such.

Following her meeting with Velchev, Wendehorst was subsequently hosted by Vladislav Slavov, President of the Union of Bulgarian Jurists. Among other themes, the two shared information on how their respective organisations are financed, the role of members in the running of their organisations and means to encourage more active participation in key events. Wendehorst was very impressed by the Union’s activities in the field of music and the arts in general.