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Category: re:constitution

An Essay on Rule-of-Law Culture and Constitutional Resilience

By Théo Fournier. This essay argues that rule-of-law culture could be an avenue of research to address the issue of constitutional resilience of liberal democratic regimes, i.e. the capacity of liberal constitution to resist the passage of time and to remain legitimate in the eyes of the citizenry.

Taking Rights Consciousness Seriously: A Rights-Based Approach to Promoting Rule of Law Culture in the EU

By Catherine Warin. This article argues that enhancing rights consciousness across societies in Europe can help make individual rights a reality and strengthen individual and collective confidence in the EU’s legal system. The author gives a brief reminder of the nature, function and value of rights in the EU legal system and discusses rights consciousness as a precondition for rights effectiveness.

The Rule of Law Restoration in Poland – Legal and Political Challenges

In this conversation with RevDem editor and a re:constitution fellow Kasia Krzyżanowska, Krzysztof Izdebski (Batory Foundation) and Bartosz Pilitowski (Court Watch Poland) discuss all the current challenges the Polish government is facing with the legal legacy left by the Law and Justice party. How to restore trust in the judicial institutions? How to deal with the irregularly established Constitutional Tribunal and the National Council of the Judiciary? What should be the role of the judges in designing the judicial system?

Rule of Law or Rule of Norms? Informal Institutions and their Role for Democratic Resilience

By Veronica Anghel. This contribution delves into the intricate interplay between formal and informal institutions in contemporary
European political landscapes. It investigates the vital role of informal institutions in supplementing and at times
circumventing the formal rules that define the parameters of political functioning.

The Identity of the EU Legal Order as a “Shield” for Judicial Independence in the (Polish) Rule of Law Crisis

By Maciej Taborowski. This contribution takes a closer look at how the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has shaped the value of rule of law as the “very identity of the EU legal order”, and how it has used the rule of law to build a “shield” that serves as a defense for national judges against interference with their independence on the basis of the principle of effective judicial protection. Such a “shield” is particularly useful in those EU Member States where there is an ongoing rule of law crisis, such as Poland.

Fighting Impunity Through Intermediaries: The European Union, International Criminal Justice, and the Rule of Law

By Raphael Oidtmann. What legal principle – that may also be derived from its treaty framework – determined and guided EU support towards Ukraine? This contribution argues that at least certain streams of EU assistance for Ukraine in countering the Russian Federation’s aggression – namely those aimed at ending impunity for international crimes – have been organized within a distinct rule of law context.

Inequalities, Economies of Fear and Geopolitical Turmoil: Southeastern Europe and Central America Beyond Borders

By Felipe Hernández. This article explores the socio-political costs of global destabilization in countries where democracy is a contested terrain between opposing actors and where the rule of law is a reality experienced by a minority. Nowadays, South Eastern Europe and Central America allow us to follow the shadow zones of democracy, where a large part of their inhabitants live a life on the margins of the globalization of capital.

The Covid-19 Crisis as an Ideological Armory for the Populist Right in Spain and Italy

By Amélie Jaques-Apke. As Europe begins to emerge from a pandemic, we begin to evaluate emerging
political damages. Now more than ever, we must understand how radical right populist parties design their message toward vulnerable, crisis-shaken populations. The objective of this study is to reflect critically on the interplay between democracy and populism, exploring recent discursive developments of
the parties Vox and The League and its power relations, which are linked to the exogenous shocks provoked
by the pandemic. The author used qualitative techniques of content analysis, and conducted interviews with scholars and political actors, and group discussions with local actors for several months.

‘Instrumentalisation of Migrants’ and the EU-Belarus Border Crisis: Facts and Fictions

By Aleksandra Ancite-Jepifánova. Recent years have seen an increase in the violation of asylum-seeker rights in the EU, including through so-called pushbacks. These practices have typically not been authorised by domestic legislation and have been denied or concealed by the relevant Member States. However, this changed with the crisis at the EU-Belarus border that has unfolded since summer 2021.

A Rule of Law Revolution in Future Generations Litigation – Intergenerational Equity and the Rule of Law in the Anthropocene

In this article, Katilin Sulyok analyses the growing body of future generations litigation, i.e. lawsuits in which plaintiffs seek protection to long-term needs of future generations typically in domestic climate change and environmental
litigation.