As of today, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of North Macedonia will assume the presidency of the Balkan Constitutional Courts Forum (BCCF) for the forthcoming year and will host the 4th Forum, to be held in the country on 12 and 13 November 2026. President Dr Darko Kostadinovski formally assumed the chairmanship at the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Balkan Constitutional Courts Forum, held in Antalya, Republic of Türkiye.
During the next year, President Kostadinovski will represent the Forum at regional and international gatherings and conferences. At the special session dedicated to key issues related to the status of the Balkan Constitutional Courts Forum, President Kostadinovski informed the member courts that the 4th Forum, to be held next year in the Republic of North Macedonia, will be attended by the President of the Constitutional Court of Austria, Christoph Grabenwarter, as an honorary guest, and that special guests will be invited from the Venice Commission, the European Court of Human Rights, as well as representatives of courts from Egypt, Spain and Azerbaijan.
This decision was preceded by the adoption of the Statute and the Antalya Declaration of the Forum, through which the members committed themselves to principles aimed at ensuring the rule of law, democracy, and the promotion and protection of human rights in the Balkan countries.
Through these two significant documents, the member courts of the Balkan Constitutional Courts Forum confirmed the existence of the BCCF as a permanent body and an independent judicial platform for important constitutional jurisdictions among the countries of the Balkan region, as well as the need to adopt a specific Statute defining the organisational structure of the Forum.
The session dedicated to the BCCF was held within the framework of the 3rd Annual Conference, at which President Dr Kostadinovski delivered an address. In his speech, he focused on the topic “Standardisation of Human Rights and the Role of Constitutional Justice”.
The Balkan Constitutional Courts Forum was established in October 2023 at the initiative of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of North Macedonia and the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria. At the first Annual Meeting, the Presidents of the Constitutional Courts of the Republic of North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and Türkiye signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the Forum.