4 July 2011 - Slavica Banić, Judge of the Croatian Constitutional Court and a substitute member of the Venice Commission from Croatia, participated, within the Venice Commission's delegation, in an international seminar on "Gender equality in constitutional and legislative reforms" held in Tunisia from 28 - 30 June 2011. The Seminar, jointly organised by the European Inter–University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC), the Centre of Arab Woman for Training and Research (CAWTAR) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and supported by the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, the Venice Commission and the EU, was aimed at introducing the participants from the Maghreb countries to the European experiences in gender equality issues, which could contribute to its more efficient realisation within the constitutional reforms currently carried out in these countries.
In her presentation on "Gender equality in transitional experiences of European democracies" Judge Banić addressed the Croatian experiences in achieving gender equality and presented its constitutional and legal framework and the role of the Croatian Constitutional Court in the protection of gender equality. Stating the gender equality as one of the highest values of the constitutional order and as grounds for interpreting the Croatian Constitution was, in the context of constitutionality and legality, very interesting to the participants as a potential reference and a starting point for the protection and realisation of the gender equality in their respective countries.
