Constitutional Adjudication

Recommended Prerequisites

Constitutional Law.

Teaching Methods

Teaching methodologies: lectures and exercises. Each class is affected to a specific matter, which will be the motto to provoke the debate with and among the Students.

After the presentation of the themes of the program, the Students shall present a written paper that will be oriented to the analysis of a Court’s decision. The evaluation will result from the analysis of that paper combined with the participation during the classes.

Learning Outcomes

The curricular unit aims at the development of an advanced study on constitutional adjudication: on one hand, Students must be provided of knowledge in order to understand the foundations of the existence of constitutional adjudication, to evaluate whether constitutional adjudication is a part of the exercise of judiciary branch, and what is the legal framework of constitutional procedures; on the other hand, the curricular unit aims at a critical analysis of one of the most prominent sectors of constitutional adjudication (fundamental rights).

At the end of the course Students shall be able: to solve practical cases relating constitutional adjudication; to do a critical analysis on constitutional (both national and foreign) case law, especially on fundamental rights; and to write an autonomous research essay on constitutional adjudication.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Part I – Constitutional adjudication

1. Realization of Constitution and constitutional adjudication

2. Constitutional adjudication, control of constitutionality and judiciary

3. Subjects: constitutional adjudication and constitutional jurisdiction; jurisdictional realization of Constitution and juridical realization of Constitution by Constitutional

Court

4. Object: the meaning of “norm”

5. Constitutional adjudication procedures

6. Juridical methodology and constitutional adjudication

7. Beyond constitutional adjudication: other forms of realization of Constitution

Part II – Case law analysis of constitutional adjudication: fundamental rights

1. Constitutional adjudication as fundamental rights keeper

2. Methodological issues and jurisdictional realization of fundamental rights

3. Constitutional case law on fundamental rights and global judicial dialogue on human rights protection (European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights)

Head Lecturer(s)

Ana Raquel Gonçalves Moniz

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Other: 10.0%
Research work: 90.0%

Bibliography

CORREIA, F, Alves, Justiça Constitucional, Coimbra, 2016.

COSTA, Cardoso da, A Jurisdição Constitucional em Portugal, Coimbra, 2007.

MIRANDA, Fiscalização da Constitucionalidade, Almedina, Coimbra, 2017.

MONIZ, Ana Raquel Gonçalves, «Socialidade, Solidariedade e Sustentabilidade: Esboços de um Retrato Jurisprudencial», in: A Economia Social e Civil: Estudos, Projecto SPES – Socialidade, Pobreza(s) e Exclusão Social, Coimbra, 2015, pp. 61-104.

____, «O Problema da Realização da Constituição pela Justiça Constitucional: Ratio e Voluntas, Synépeia e Epieikeia? », in: VI Jornadas de Teoria do Direito, Filosofia do Direito e Filosofia Social, Coimbra, 2016, pp. 251-307.

____, Os Direitos Fundamentais e a sua Circunstância, Coimbra, 2017.

NEVES, A. Castanheira, Metodologia Jurídica: Problemas Fundamentais, Coimbra Editora, Coimbra, 1993.

NOVAIS, Jorge Reis, Em Defesa do Tribunal Constitucional, Almedina, Coimbra, 2014.

URBANO, Maria Benedita, Curso de Justiça Constitucional, Coimbra, 2016.