Workshop on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights with the Constitutional Court of Mali
On 24 and 25 September 2019, the Max Planck Foundation conducted the eighth workshop with the Constitutional Court in Bamako, Mali on the topic of “Constitutional protection of economic, social and cultural rights: comparative perspective”.
The workshop was formally opened by the President of the Constitutional Court of Mali, Justice Manassa Danioko in the presence of His Excellency Dr Dietrich Pohl, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Mali.
The topic of the workshop – protection of economic, social and cultural rights – was chosen in consultation with the Court’s Scientific Committee as a subject that is of great relevance to the judges. In light of a possible introduction of an indirect individual access procedure to the Court under a revised constitutional and legislative framework, the Malian Constitutional Court might have to increasingly adjudicate complaints based on alleged violations of such fundamental rights.
The first sessions of the workshop focused on the general theory of economic, social and cultural rights both from an international and a comparative constitutional law perspective. Several specific rights were then analysed in detail, such as the right to strike, the right to health and the right to education. A more practical session focused on an in-depth comparative study of several decisions of various constitutional jurisdictions on the right to strike. Different factual situations were considered that questioned the scope of and limitations to the right. One of the Members of the Malian Constitutional Court presented on the case-law of the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights where he used to serve as a judge. Finally, the last two sessions were dedicated to the principle of separation of powers and suo motu actions, a separate topic which was explicitly requested by the Court.
The cooperation between the Constitutional Court of Mali and the Foundation is part of the project “Support to the Constitutional Reform Process in Mali and Capacity-Building for the Constitutional Court of Mali“, which is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.