Constitutional Justice, East and West: Democratic Legitimacy and Constitutional Courts in Post-Communist Europe in a Comparative PerspectiveWojciech Sadurski Springer Science & Business Media, 2002 M12 31 - 453 pages How can the power of constitutional judges to overturn parliamentary choices on the basis of their own reading of the constitution, be reconciled with fundamental democratic principles which assign the supreme role in the political system to parliaments? This time-honoured question acquired a new significance when the post-commumst countries of Central and Eastern Europe, without exception, adopted constitutional models in which constitutional courts play a very significant role, at least in theory. Can we learn something about the relationship between democracy and constitutionalism in general, from the meteoric rise of constitutional tribunals in the post-communist countries? Can the discussions and controversies relating to constitutional review which have been going on for decades in more established democracies illuminate the sources of the strength of constitutional courts in Central and Eastern Europe? These questions lie at the center of this book, which focuses on the question of constitutional review in postcommunist states, from a theoretical and comparative perspective. The chapters contained in the book outline the conceptual framework for analyzing the sources, the role and the legitimacy of constitutional justice in a system of political democracy. From this perspective, it assesses the experience of constitutional justice in the West (where the model originated) and in Central and Eastern Europe, where the model has been implanted after the fail of Communism. |
Contents
Towards an Institutional Theory of Constitutional Justice | 21 |
Lessons from the US Experience | 37 |
Lessons from Canada and elsewhere | 61 |
4 The German Constitutional Court in an Uneasy Triangle between Parliament Government and the Federal Laender | 101 |
Political and Social Context and Current LegalTheoretical Debates | 119 |
The Development of Constitutional Review in Italy | 143 |
7 Legitimacy and Reasons of Constitutional Review After Communism | 163 |
The End of Activism? The First Decade of the Hungarian Constitutional Court | 189 |
In Search of its Own Identity | 283 |
13 The Russian Constitutional Court in an Uneasy Triangle between the President Parliament and Regions | 309 |
The Politics of Survival | 327 |
15 The Role and Experience of the Slovakian Constitutional Court | 349 |
The Culture of Constitutionalism and Human Rights in the Czech Legal System | 373 |
The Lithuanian Constitutional Court in its First Decade | 395 |
Legitimacy of Constitutional Courts Between Policy Making and Legal Science | 409 |
Bibliography | 433 |
9 Slovenians Constitutional Court within the Separation of Power | 213 |
10 The Rise of Constitutional Adjudication in Bulgaria | 247 |
11 The Experience of the Polish Constitutional Court | 265 |
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Constitutional Justice, East and West: Democratic Legitimacy and ... Wojciech Sadurski No preview available - 2010 |
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abstract review activism adjudication adopted amendment appointed Article Assembly of Deputies Bill of Rights bodies Canadian challenge Charter citizens Communist conflicts Conseil constitutionnel Conseil d'Etat constitutional complaint constitutional justice constitutional law constitutional provisions constitutional review constitutionality Court's decision Czech Czech Republic decided declared democracy democratic Deputies doctrine droit East European elected electoral established European Constitutional federal French function German guarantees human rights Hungarian Hungarian Constitutional Court independence individual institutions interpretation ISBN issue judgment judicial activism judicial review judiciary jurisdiction jurisprudence legal system legislative legislature legitimacy limited Lithuania majority National Assembly norms opinion ordinary courts Parliament parliamentary parliamentary sovereignty political parties post-communist President principle procedure protection question reasons referendum regime regulations Republic Rights and Freedoms role rule of law Seimas Sejm separation of powers Slovak Slovakia Slovenia social Sólyom statute statutory Supreme Council Supreme Court tion tional Ukraine unconstitutional violated votes ZUstS
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Page 11 - By extending constitutional protection to an asserted right or liberty interest, we, to a great extent, place the matter outside the arena of public debate and legislative action. We must therefore "exercise the utmost care whenever we are asked to break new ground in this field...
References to this book
Verfassungsgericht, Regierung und Opposition: Die Vergleichende Analyse ... Christoph Hönnige No preview available - 2008 |