scholarly journals Le droit public face aux populismes en Europe: les cas de la Pologne et de la Hongrie

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 84-99
Author(s):  
João Casqueira Cardoso ◽  
Akos Cserny ◽  
Beatrix Borbas ◽  
Lukasz Urbaniak

Populism is by no means a legal term, and its conceptual matrix is unclear. Nevertheless, it remains a challenge for Public law, as populist trends challenge the notion of the rule of law and the formal mechanisms for the protection of fundamental rights. The European context illustrates this challenge. In this context, this contribution addresses three points: first, in general terms, the concept of populism is considered in its potential contacts with Public law issues; second, the cases of Poland and Hungary over the last decade are developed, highlighting their contexts and the way in which political and legal institutions, and more specifically constitutional courts, have been able to respond to populist trends. Finally, a concluding point discusses the lessons that can be drawn from these European cases, not only with regard to Poland and Hungary, but more broadly at the European and international levels. The article permits to identify the shortcomings of the instruments for the protection of fundamental rights, which are also the shortcomings of a still incomplete European Public law.

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 610-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filipe Brito BASTOS ◽  
Anniek DE RUIJTER

In this article, we ask what the impact is of the role of the EU administration in responding to emergencies in terms of (changes to) the rule of law. A response to an emergency in some cases creates exceptions to rule of law guarantees that bind the authorities to procedural rules and fundamental rights. These exceptions can become more permanent and even change the constitutional order of the EU. We articulate the legal framework for health emergencies, and discuss how the EU court has interpreted and developed this framework in two key decisions. We then ask whether this framework offers adequate safeguards for upholding the rule of law in cases of major health emergencies. We conclude that public health emergencies can bend and even break rule of law requirements for the EU administration, and advocate for more legal guidance on proportionality, which may offer better safeguards suited for protecting the rights of affected parties.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 792-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Paris

In principle, constitutional courts do not review questions of domestic compliance with EU law, as these are considered to be outside their jurisdiction. But there are several exceptions in which EU law serves as a yardstick for constitutional review. This article focuses on these exceptions from a comparative perspective. First, it describes the ‘state of the art’ by examining whether and to what extent constitutional courts already use EU law as a standard for their decisions and invalidate domestic legislation or courts’ decisions that conflict with EU law. Then, it explores the limits within which EU law can be invoked as a yardstick for constitutional review without jeopardizing the principle of primacy of EU law. Finally, it argues that constitutional courts should not be afraid to embrace EU law as a standard for review: Doing so would not only contribute to a better protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law in Europe, but would also further the interests of constitutional courts.


2019 ◽  

This book, which conducts a comparative analysis of constitutions and consists of two main parts, focuses on the basic constitutional laws in Poland and Germany. The first part contains an extensive study of the aforementioned laws in both countries, their significance in terms of the actual constitutions of those countries and their historical, cultural and political foundations in the context of European public law. The second part presents a series of individual theoretical and practice-oriented studies, including ten contributions by former and current judges at both Poland’s and Germany’s constitutional courts and the European Court of Justice. The main subjects these essays address are the challenges to the basic constitutional laws currently posed by the friction between freedom and security, the European dimension of fundamental rights protection and the situation relating to fundamental rights in a globalised world. This bilingual anthology offers its readers in-depth and multifaceted analyses of the basic constitutional laws in Poland and Germany, plus extensive comparative legal references.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-100
Author(s):  
Andraž Teršek

Abstract The central objective of the post-socialist European countries which are also Member States of the EU and Council of Europe, as proclaimed and enshrined in their constitutions before their official independence, is the establishment of a democracy based on the rule of law and effective legal protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms. In this article the author explains what, in his opinion, is the main problem and why these goals are still not sufficiently achieved: the ruthless simplification of the understanding of the social function and functioning of constitutional courts, which is narrow, rigid and holistically focused primarily or exclusively on the question of whether the judges of these courts are “left or right” in purely daily-political sense, and consequently, whether constitutional court decisions are taken (described, understood) as either “left or right” in purely and shallow daily-party-political sense/manner. With nothing else between and no other foundation. The author describes such rhetoric, this kind of superficial labeling/marking, such an approach towards constitutional law-making as a matter of unbearable and unthinking simplicity, and introduces the term A Populist Monster. The reasons that have led to the problem of this kind of populism and its devastating effects on the quality and development of constitutional democracy and the rule of law are analyzed clearly and critically.


Author(s):  
Aida TORRES PÉREZ

Abstract This contribution will tackle a central question for the architecture of fundamental rights protection in the EU: can we envision a Charter that fully applies to the Member States, even beyond the limits of its scope of application? To improve our understanding of the boundaries of the Charter and the potential for further expansion, I will examine the legal avenues through which the CJEU has extended the scope of application of EU fundamental rights in fields of state powers. While the latent pull of citizenship towards a more expansive application of the Charter has not been fully realized, the principle of effective judicial protection (Article 19(1) TEU) has recently shown potential for protection under EU law beyond the boundaries of the Charter. As will be argued, effective judicial protection may well become a doorway for full application of the Charter to the Member States. While such an outcome might currently seem politically unsound, I contend that a progressive case-by-case expansion of the applicability of the Charter to the Member States would be welcome from the standpoint of a robust notion of the rule of law in the EU.


Author(s):  
Valsamis Mitsilegas

The article will examine the challenges that the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office poses for the rule of law – a question which has been underexplored in the policy and academic debate on the establishment of the EPPO, which focused largely on questions of structure and powers of the EPPO and the battle between intergovernmental and supranational visions of European prosecution. The implications of the finally adopted legal framework on the EPPO on the rule of law will be analysed primarily from the perspective of the rule of law as related to EPPO investigations and prosecutions and their consequences for affected individuals – in terms of legal certainty and foreseeability, protection from executive arbitrariness, effective judicial protection and defence rights. The article will undertake a rule of law audit of the EPPO by focusing on three key elements of its legal architecture – the competence of the EPPO, applicable law and judicial review – and the interaction between EU and national levels of investigation and prosecution that the EPPO Regulation envisages. The analysis will aim to cast light on the current rule of law deficit in a hybrid system of European prosecution located somewhere between co-operation and integration.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (02) ◽  
pp. 528-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanoch Dagan ◽  
Roy Kreitner

New legal realism (NLR) furthers the legal realist legacy by focusing attention on both the pertinent social science and the craft that typifies legal discourse and legal institutions. NLR's globalized ambitions also highlight the potential of a nonstatist view of law. The realist view of law raises three challenges facing NLR: identifying the “lingua franca” of law as an academic discipline within which NLR insights on translation and synthesis should be situated; conceptualizing NLR's focus on bottom-up investigation, so that it does not defy the rule of law; and recognizing the normative underpinning for NLR's reformist impulse.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-313
Author(s):  
Enver Hasani

Kosovo’s Constitutional Court has played a role of paramount importance in the country’s recent history. The author uses a comparative analysis to discuss the role of the Court in light of the work and history of other European constitutional courts. This approach sheds light on the Court’s current role by analyzing Kosovo’s constitutional history, which shows that there has been a radical break with the past. This approach reveals the fact that Kosovo’s current Constitution does not reflect the material culture of the society of Kosovo. This radical break with the past is a result of the country’s tragic history, in which case the fight for constitutionalism means a fight for human dignity. In this battle for constitutionalism, the Court has been given very broad jurisdiction and a role to play in paving the way for Kosovo to move toward Euro-Atlantic integration in all spheres of life. Before reaching this conclusion, the author discusses the specificities of Kosovo’s transition, comparing it with other former communist countries. Among the specific features of constitutionalism in Kosovo are the role and position of the international community in the process of constitution-making and the overall design of constitutional justice in Kosovo. Throughout the article, a conclusion emerges that puts Kosovo’s Constitutional Court at the forefront of the fight for the rule of law and constitutionalism of liberal Western provenance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Bárd ◽  
Wouter van Ballegooij

This article discusses the relationship between judicial independence and intra-European Union (EU) cooperation in criminal matters based on the principle of mutual recognition. It focuses on the recent judgment by the Court of Justice of the EU in Case C-216/18 PPU Minister for Justice and Equality v. LM. In our view, a lack of judicial independence needs to be addressed primarily as a rule of law problem. This implies that executing judicial authorities should freeze judicial cooperation in the event should doubts arise as to respect for the rule of law in the issuing Member State. Such a measure should stay in place until the matter is resolved in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 7 TEU or a permanent mechanism for monitoring and addressing Member State compliance with democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights. The Court, however, constructed the case as a possible violation of the right to a fair trial, the essence of which includes the requirement that tribunals are independent and impartial. This latter aspect could be seen as a positive step forward in the sense that the judicial test developed in the Aranyosi case now includes rule of law considerations with regard to judicial independence. However, the practical hurdles imposed by the Court on the defence in terms of proving such violations and on judicial authorities to accept them in individual cases might amount to two steps back in upholding the rule of law within the EU.


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