New Challenges to Constitutional Adjudication in Europe
A Comparative Perspective
Comparative Constitutional Change Series

In the past few years, constitutional courts have been presented with new challenges. The world financial crisis, the new wave of terrorism, mass migration and other country-specific problems have had wide-ranging effects on the old and embedded constitutional standards and judicial constructions. This book examines how, if at all, these unprecedented social, economic and political problems have affected constitutional review in Europe. As the courts? response must conform with EU law and in some cases international law, analysis extends to the related jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. The collection adopts a common analytical structure to examine how the relevant challenges have been addressed in ten country specific case studies. Alongside these, constitutional experts frame the research within the theoretical understanding of the constitutional difficulties of the day in Europe. Finally, a comparative chapter examines the effects of multilevel constitutionalism and identifies general European trends.

This book will be essential reading for academics and researchers working in the areas of constitutional law, comparative law and jurisprudence.

I. Conceptualizing pressure and change in constitutional adjudication

Chapter 1: Introduction - Contemporary challenges of constitutional adjudication in Europe - Zoltán Szente and Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz

Chapter 2: The Resistance of Constitutional Standards to the New Economic and Social Challenges and the Legitimacy of Constitutional Review in a Contemporary European Context - Michel Verpeaux

II. Coping with challenges by national courts

Chapter 3: Croatian constitutional adjudication in times of stress - Djordje Gardasevic

Chapter 4: Remarks on the case-law of the French Constitutional Council in relation to new challenges - Fabrice Hourquebie

Chapter 5: Beware of disruptions – The Bundesverfassungsgericht as Supporter of Change and Anchor of Stability - Veith Mehde

Chapter 6: From submission to reaction: The Greek Courts’ stance on the financial crisis - Apostolos Vlachogiannis

Chapter 7: Judicial deference or political loyalty? The Hungarian Constitutional Court’s role in tackling crisis situations - Zoltán Szente and Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz

Chapter 8: Global markets, terrorism and immigration: Italy between a troubled economy and a Constitutional crisis - Ines Ciolli

Chapter 9: Constitutional judiciary in crisis. The case of Poland - Mirosław Granat

Chapter 10: Constitutional law and crisis: the Portuguese Constitutional Court under pressure? - Mariana Canotilho

Chapter 11: Constitutional Courts under Pressure – New Challenges to Constitutional Adjudication. The Case of Spain - Francisco Balaguer Callejón

Chapter 12: National Security and the Limits of Judicial Protection - Patrick Birkinshaw

Chapter 13: The UK Supreme Court and Parliament: Judicial and Political Dialogues - John Eldowney

III. Responding to challenges on European level

Chapter 14: New challenges for constitutional adjudication in Europe: What role could the ‘dialogue of courts’ play? - Tania Groppi

Chapter 15: The negotiating function of the European Court of Human Rights: Reconciling diverging interests born from new European challenges - Beatrice Delzangles

Chapter 16: The crisis, judicial power and EU law: could it have been managed differently by the EU Court of Justice? - Márton Varju

IV. Constitutional courts under pressure – A European comparison

Chapter 17: Constitutional courts under pressure – An assessment - Zoltán Szente and Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz

Professor Zoltán Szente, Research Chair, Institute for Legal Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Professor of Constitutional Law, National University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary.

Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz, Senior Research Fellow, Director of the Institute for Legal Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Associate Professor, National University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary.