The Supreme Administrative Court’s presidency of ACA-Europe came to an end - the term was marked by an emphasis on judicial dialogue and the safeguarding of fundamental rights

The SAC’s presidency was characterized by a so-called vertical approach, focusing on how the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights influence national case law.

Discussions on the relationship between the Court of Justice of the European Union as well as the European Court of Human Rights and the national supreme administrative courts, and how they impact on the national level, have been open, in-depth, and enlightening. The mutual understanding of our key priorities has deepened over the course of our two-year presidency, the Chair of the Board, president of the Supreme Administrative Court Kari Kuusiniemi emphasizes.

During the SAC’s presidency, a total of six seminars were organized in Sweden, Croatia, Finland, France, and the Netherlands. The seminars addressed key legal and institutional issues relevant to administrative courts:

• In Stockholm we focused on the obligation of the highest courts to request preliminary rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union.
• In Zagreb, we discussed mechanisms to prevent conflicting rulings at the national and European levels.
• In Inari, the theme was the multi-level protection of fundamental rights in national administrative courts.
• In Versailles, the focus was on ethics and the recruitment of judges.
• The seminar in The Hague focused on how the supreme administrative courts can contribute to the quality of legislation.

The final seminar, held in Helsinki, focused on the impact of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgments and advisory opinions on national case law. The topic was approached particularly from the perspective of climate litigation and border procedures (so-called “pushbacks”).

I consider our presidency a success. We were able to continue the important work of promoting dialogue between national and European courts. The seminars organized during our presidency were largely based on spontaneous discussion rather than prepared speeches, which helped foster genuine dialogue, Kuusiniemi remarks.

I am also pleased that the General Assembly concluding our presidency today approved the Supreme Court of Ukraine as an observer. In this way, we can do our part to support Ukraine in its rule of law development.

At the General Assembly in Helsinki, the presidency of the Association was transferred from the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland to the Hellenic Council of State.

ACA-Europe in a Nutshell

ACA-Europe is a European association composed of the Court of Justice of the European Union as well as the Councils of State and the Supreme administrative jurisdictions of each of the members of the European Union, founded in 2001. The objectives of ACA-Europe are to obtain a better understanding of EU law by the judges of the Supreme Administrative Courts across Europe and a better knowledge of the functioning of the other Supreme Administrative Courts in the implementation of EU law.

Contact details
Jaana Lappalainen, Head of Communications, Supreme Administrative Court, tel. +358 50 308 7574, [email protected]