Law, State and Religious Freedom in Brazil: A Historical and Constitutional Analysis of Freedom of Belief and Religion

This research sees to discuss the position of the State regarding Freedom of Belief, under the legal perspective. In other words, as the Brazilian Constitution guarantees freedom and the free exercise of religion in its art. 5, item VI, the question is: May the Brazilian State interfere with the freedom of individual belief, or can it provide legal guarantees so that this freedom is ensured? By the deductive method and by the analysis of recent judgments of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court in cases of extraordinary appeals, the limits of the State of action or inaction in relation to religious freedom will be upheld, concluding that the State must always ensure the sovereignty of secularity and neutrality in religious matters, observing freedom of belief. Keywords: Religious freedom; Brazilian State; Law

The Legal Interpellation of Citizens – A Constitutional Analysis

The aim of this article is to reconstruct the legal creation of citizen subjects by applying the interpellation theory of Louis Althusser in constitutional citizenship regulations. In addition, this article uncovers the patterns of constitutionally defined rights and duties as implications of intra-constitutional subject construction, especially in relation to a political, a civil and a social dimension. For this purpose, 41 constitutions are analysed quantitatively-descriptively based on an international comparative qualitative document analysis. The study shows that constitutions, as the most fundamental legal documents at the national level, define different formal-legal qualities of citizen subjects and thus determine very specific relations between the state and its citizens. The legal citizenship regulations in national constitutions thus contribute to the stabilization of social (b)order-drawing processes to the extent that they create and secure both barriers and opportunities for individual and collective participation in society, addressing these primarily through a political and less through a civil or social legal dimension.

Morpho-constitutional analysis of urinary stones from patients with urolithiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Background Urolithiasis is increasingly diagnosed worldwide. Stone analysis is an important part in the assessment of patients with urolithiasis. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, data on the composition of urinary stones are limited. This study aimed to describe the composition and sites of urinary stones and to investigate relationship between socio-demographic characteristics, clinical profile of patients, and the composition of urinary stones. Methods A retrospective analysis of 132 patients with urolithiasis who visited one of the seven hospitals in the Democratic Republic of Congo during eight years of study period (January 2010 to January 2018) was conducted. Stones were analyzed by infrared spectrophotometry. Results Most of stones analyzed (n = 82, 62.1%) originated from the upper urinary tract with a difference across gender (58.5% males vs. 41.5% females, p = 0.001). Only three stones (two from whewellite and one from anhydrous uric acid) were considered pure (2.3%), excluding the protein frame (less than 5%). Whewellite, proteins, and carbapatite were identified in 97.7%, 96.2%, and 80.3% of the stones analyzed, respectively; and in 91.7%, 89.4%, and 67.7% of the nuclei of the stones analyzed, respectively. Taking into account the proportion of each constituent in the stones analyzed, whewellite (68.9%), anhydrous uric acid (10.6%), and carbapatite (8.3%) were the main constituents in respectively 68, 9%, 10.6%, and 8.3% of the stones analyzed. Conclusion Whewellite, anhydrous uric acid, and carbapatite represented the most frequent main components of stones identified, suggesting that dietary hyperoxaluria could be an important factor in lithogenesis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Supremas Cortes e Efeito Backlash: o Caso das “Vaquejadas” no Brasil

Could the object of a law declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court be reintroduced into the legal system this time through an amendment to the Constitution? And if this amendment is based on elements protected by the Constitution, such as cultural manifestations? The Federal Constitution of 1988 brings in its art. 2nd the separation of the Powers as an explicit stone clause. Could an amendment that admits a constitutionally based exception subscribe to a practice considered by the Supreme Court as capable of subjecting animals to cruelty? The evolution of the times and social and cultural advances are part of the transformation of society itself and this transformation can take place in accordance with the Constitution, and the Supreme Federal Court, in the exercise of its duty to guard the Constitution, preserve the stone clauses notably in the face of political initiatives that try to overcome the transformative effect inherent to the effects of the full exercise of the not majority character of constitutional jurisdiction. Thus, the present work aims to make a constitutional analysis, through bibliographic, legislative and jurisprudential review methodology of the practice of the so-called “vaquejadas” in Brazil and its consequences from a decision taken by the Federal Supreme Court that gave rise to an immediate political reaction through the approval of a constitutional amendment by the National Congress.

Introduction

<Online Only> This book recounts the transformation of Europe from the interwar era until the euro crisis, using the tools of constitutional analysis and critical theory. The central claim is twofold: post-war Europe is reconstituted in a manner combining political authoritarianism and economic liberalism, and this has produced an order which is now in a critical condition. Through a passive authoritarianism, inter-state sovereignty is reconfigured after World War II, state-society relations are depoliticized, and social relations transformed. Integration substitutes internationalism, technocracy replaces democracy, and economic freedom stands in for political freedom and class struggle. This transformation takes time to unfold, and it presents continuities as well as discontinuities. It is deepened by the neo-liberalism of the Maastricht era and the creation of Economic and Monetary Union, and yet countermovements then also emerge: geopolitically, in the return of the German question; domestically, in the challenges to the EU presented by constitutional courts, and informally, in the rise of anti-systemic political parties and movements. Struggles over sovereignty, democracy, and political freedom resurface, but are then more actively repressed through the authoritarian liberalism of the euro crisis phase. This leads now to an impasse. Anti-systemic politics return but remain uneasily within the EU, suggesting the post-war order of authoritarian liberalism is reaching its limits. As yet, however, there has been no definitive rupture.</Online Only>

genesis of the concept of “public control of power” in the Russian Federation

This article is devoted to the constitutional analysis of the genesis of the concept of “public control of power”. We affirm that an analysis of the genesis of the concept of “public control of power” in constitutional law will allow us to identify specific priorities for ensuring the exercise of the right of citizens of the Russian Federation to exercise public control.