23rd colloquium in Madrid from 25 to 26 June 2012

On 25 June 2012, the Association of the Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions of the European Union (ACA-Europe) held its biennial colloquium in Madrid, in the premises of the Supreme Court of Spain. The colloquium focused on a topic that is essential for the future development of the case law of the Supreme Administrative Courts with regard to the implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

This 23rd colloquium was chaired by Mr Juan Antonio Xiol, President of the Supreme Court of Spain. Mr Luis María Díez-Picaro, judge at the Supreme Court of Spain, presented the general report, which was drawn up bearing in mind the general findings of the working group at The Hague and the national reports submitted by each of the association's member courts that did not take part in the working group's activities. Mr Díez-Picaro gave an overview of the main points contained in the report and then led the discussions.

ACA-Europe benefited from the active participation of Mr Thomas Von Danwitz (in the left of the photo) and Ms Rosario Silva (in the right of the photo), both of whom are judges at the ECJ, as they gave their perspectives on matters relating to the applicability of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Mr Paul Nemitz (in the right of the photo), Director of Fundamental Rights and Citizenship at the European Union, made some very interesting contributions: he stressed ACA-Europe's role in promoting knowledge of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and in its implementation by the court systems of the EU Member States.

This colloquium enabled fruitful exchanges between the participants, focusing on issues such as the scope of application ratione temporis of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the categorisation of cases of application and the relationship between rights and principles.