Constitutional Law II

Recommended Prerequisites

Constitutional Law.  

Teaching Methods

Lecture-based classes will be the dominant teaching method, however, students’ involvement and interaction among the students and between the students and the professor will be encouraged.

The following tools will be used to evaluate students: 1) research paper; 2) oral presentation of the paper; 3) classroom participation.  

Learning Outcomes

This unit covers constitutional justice; emphasis is placed on the creation of law by constitutional judges. It provides students with a broad base of expertise in the chosen area of focus.

Students should be able to understand and reflect on the importance of constitutional justice, in particular constitutional review, and on the connection between constitutional control and separation of power and democratic principles.    

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. The constitutional judges as legislators and as legislators positive negative
1.1. The continental Europe in the early 20TH century: misgivings with regard to the control of constitutionality
1.2. The expansion of the judiciary. Judicialization of politics and politicization of Justice.
2. The constitutional law as facilitator of the creation of law law by constitutional judges
2.1. the opening of the constitutional rules;
2.2. The fragmentary nature of the constitutions
2.3. The spaces of latent tension in constitutional texts
3. The creation of law by constitutional judges
3.1. The intermediate sentences
3.2. the types of judicial criativismo
4. Problems that cause the judicial activism
4.1. judicial Activism and democratic legitimacy: the overtaking of a myth
4.2. separation of powers and judicial Activism: the Parliament and the Executive mere mouths of the Constitution.
  

Head Lecturer(s)

Suzana Maria Calvo Loureiro Tavares Silva

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Research work: 100.0%

Bibliography

▪ As sentenças intermédias da justiça constitucional. Estudos luso-brasileiros de Direito Público, Lisboa, 2009;
▪ Las tensiones entre el Tribunal Constitucional y el legislador en la Europa actual (ed. Eliseo Aja), Barcelona, 1998;
▪ RAMOS, Elival da Silva, Ativismo judicial. Parâmetros dogmáticos, São Paulo/Brasil, 2010.
▪ The global expansion of judicial power (ed. C. Neal Tate/Torbjörn Vallinder), New York and London, 1995;
▪ URBANO, Maria Benedita, Curso de Justiça Constitucional. Evolução histórica e modelos do controlo da constitucionalidade, Coimbra, 2012 (reimpressão 2013, 2014).