Suchergebnisse

The author discusses the provisions of the German Constitution & the practice of the German Federal Constitutional Court relevant for ratification of the Maastricht treaty & German membership in the European Union. In that context, the Brunner case decided by the Federal Constitutional Court is discussed. This decision has removed constitutional obstacles & has confirmed the constitutionality of ratification of the Maastricht Treaty. The author suggests that the Constitutional Court has strengthened its position & defined itself as a safeguard of German state sovereignty & an obstacle to the creeping extension of powers of the EU at the expense of its member states. At the same time, Constitutional amendments were adopted to protect the German federal structure & affirm the role of German Lander in supranational decision-making processes. The author suggests that the practice of the German Federal Constitutional Court fits well in the general trend of strengthening the role of the judiciary with regard to both the national & supranational balance of power. Adapted from the source document.

Haberle claims constitutional law is a comparative experiential science closely linked with political science with which it shares the research subject. The constitutional state has been going through a permanent process of changes; the central question is who is the prime mover of constitutional changes: constitutional/legal institutions, constitutional/legal science, & political science or public opinion & political culture of citizens? By analyzing the recent history of the changes of the German constitutions he suggests that all these factors contribute to constitutional changes. Nevertheless, as an expert for law & political science, who considers himself as belonging to the wider European scientific community, Haberle thinks that the decisive influences in constitutional changes stem from legal & political sciences & concludes: Sine qua (scientia) mortalium vita non regitur liberaliter (Without science, mortals do not command their life freely). Adapted from the source document.

Political attitudes & activity of Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of American democracy, are described in this text. The author describes Jefferson's role in political activities of major importance for the creation of the US: compiling the Declaration of Independence, operating the Legislative Assembly of the state of Virginia, enacting of the separation of church & state, creating American foreign policy & the policy of Western colonization, introducing the first ten Constitutional amendments as a guarantee of human & civil rights, & elaborating on the principles of the organization of federal government. Jefferson fought against excessive legislation on powers of central political institutions. He established the tradition of Republicans versus Federalists led by Hamilton. That opposition gave birth to the modern American two-party system. Jefferson's presidency was also significant due to the elimination of centralist & oligarchic tendencies of previous Federalist governments. The author suggests that Jefferson's political theory & practice have left a permanent mark on the contemporary theory of democratic republicanism. 45 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks into the position of the Constitutional Court in the light of the proposed Constitutional Law on amendments & modifications of the Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court that would change some powers of the Constitutional Court. A short historical review shows that the Croatian people belong to the European civilizational setting, as evidenced by numerous documents & statutes that have regulated the rule of law in Croatia. According to the Croatian Constitution, the Constitutional Court is assigned a special place outside the system of the division of power into the legislative, the executive, & the judiciary; it is a special constitutional category that cannot be under the scrutiny of law since it scrutinizes laws. The author goes on to enumerate the changes in the jurisdiction & the operation of the Court envisaged in this new proposal of the Constitutional Law. The author concludes that constitutional courts are the very core of Western democracy & that they protect constitutions as a constantly developing living form. 59 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author analyzes the possibilities of a symbiosis of the democratic & the constitutional principle, the expression of the strain between the desire for popular sovereignty, & the wish to establish the fundamental rules of political life as permanently as possible. Sioyes' distinction between the constituting & the constituted power can easily link the idea of popular sovereignty with the idea of constitutional state, but cannot answer the question of the constituting power's right to restrain the constituted power. Since its inception, the democratic constitutional state has been a dyadic entity i.e. a democratic & constitutional state. The dilemma is whether to respect the existing constitution & follow the procedure envisioned for amending it, or to make amendments following a revolutionary breach with the existing situation ie, a direct maneuver of the constituting power. The author is in favor of separating what the constituting power may decide upon & what the constituted power may decide upon, since this maintains the balance of both types of powers in a constitutional state. Adapted from the source document.