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A comparative perspective of role played by three generations of European Constitutional Courts in the process of transition to democracy.
What future awaits Europe? One of irrelevance, where the emerging powers will crush the Old Continent, or perhaps not? Why Europe Will Not Run the 21st Century focuses on the necessity of radical and dramatic institutional reforms at the EU level, not only to streamline a decision-making process fragmented into a thousand trickles and naturally prone to the influence of powerful interest groups, but also to involve the citizenry, whose convinced support is necessary to the success of the project. The EU is a distant entity whose democraticity is highly disputable. The press ignores it, and citizens know very little about it, as the EU does things they do not really care about or cannot compr...
This book examines the role played by domestic and international judges in the “flexibilization” of legal systems through general principles. It features revised papers that were presented at the Annual Conference of the European-American Consortium for Legal Education, held at the University of Parma, Italy, May 2014. This volume is organized in four sections, where the topic is mainly explored from a comparative perspective, and includes case studies. The first section covers theoretical issues. It offers an analysis of principles in shaping Dworkin’s theories about international law, a reflection on the role of procedural principles in defining the role of the judiciary, a view on t...
Judicial Cosmopolitanism: The Use of Foreign Law in Contemporary Constitutional Systems offers a detailed account of the use of foreign law by supreme and constitutional Courts of Europe, America and East Asia. The individual contributions highlight the ways in which the use of foreign law is carried out by the individual courts and the path that led the various Courts to recognize the relevance, for the purpose of the decision, to foreign law. The authors try to highlight reasons and types of the more and more frequent circulation of foreign precedents in the case law of most high courts. At the same time, they show the importance of this practice in the so-called neo constitutionalism.
This collection provides an up-to-date analysis of key country approaches to Militant Democracy. Featuring contributions from some of the key people working in this area, including Mark Tushnet and Helen Irving, each chapter presents a stocktaking of the legal measures to protect the democracy against its enemies within. In addition to providing a description of the country's view of Militant Democracy and the current situation, it also examines the legal and political provisions to defend the democratic structure against attacks. The discussion also presents proposals for the development of the Militant Democracy principle or its alternatives in policy and legal practice. In the final chapter the editor compares the different arrangements and formulates a minimum consensus as to what measures are indispensable to protect a democracy. Highly topical, this book is a valuable resource for students, academics and policy-makers concerned with democratic principles.
Modern direct democracy has recently become an important element of political life in many countries. These developments can be observed at the national, regional, and local level of political systems. Participation and democracy in local political affairs play a major role in stabilising and developing democratic systems. This volume presents, for the first time, a broad basis of information on the wide variety of local institutions and practice of direct democracy in 19 countries. Country specialists analyse - the role of direct democracy in the institutional context and culture of national political systems, - political processes of introduction and development of initiatives and referendums, - regulations of procedures of municipal direct democracy, - practice of local direct democracy, - the contribution of local direct democracy to democratic development in general.
Now in its 28th year, the Yearbook of European Law is one of the most highly respected periodicals in the field. Featuring extended essays from leading scholars and practitioners, the Yearbook has become essential reading for all involved in European legal research and practice. This year's issue includes a special symposium on the recent Kadi case in the European Court of Justice, with contributions by Giorgio Gaja, Christian Tomuschat, Enzo Cannizzaro, Riccardo Pavoni and Martin Scheinin.
The majority of rules adopted at the EU level are not issued by democratically elected institutions, but rather by administrative bodies which are empowered to exercise rule-making powers by legislative acts. This book analyses the legal mechanism through which these powers are conferred on the most relevant bodies in the EU institutional landscape, namely the European Commission, the Council, the ECB and EU agencies, and the democratic controls in place to limit and oversee the exercise of these powers. Providing an overarching perspective of the delegation of powers, this book reflects on the notion of delegation and on the commonalities between the different forms of delegation identified...