Abstract

DRINOCZI, Tímea. The identity of the constitution and constitutional identity: Opening up a discourse between the Global South and Global North. Iuris Dictio [online]. 2018, n.21, pp.63-80. ISSN 2528-7834.

The paper is an invitation to start a public law oriented discourse about the legal concept of “constitutional identity”, which conceived here as the “identity of the constitution”. It is seen as a part of the constitution, with which the constituent people/nation can identify with as they created it in the course of constitution-making and constitutional amendment, or which the constitutional interpretation shaped. It can adequately reflect the actual identity of the constituent people, rooted in the past and overarching the future. Provisions that are entrenched by eternity clauses and a multi-tier system of constitutional amendments help to locate the identity of the constitution. This contribution uses the constitutional identity of Hungary as a model to illustrate how and why constitutional identity could become detrimental, with some other EU Member States (Germany and Italy, together with the Court of Justice of the European Union) exemplifying at the same time how the very same constitutional identity can be used to further unify and consolidate European integration. Based on these trains of thought, public discourse about the interrelationship and interdependency of constitutional identity (a non-legal term) and the identity of the constitution (a legal concept) may take place in which experiences of the Global South should feature. Evidences show that the legally conceptualized and applied ““identity”” of a constitution, which is thus basically seen as a Global North - more specifically EU - phenomenon, can be a double-edged sword even in the Global South. Even if it can contribute to the realization of a legal project, such as the EU, or regional human rights protection, and to the greatly strengthened protection and involvement of indigenous and vulnerable peoples in the Global South, in the hands of autocratic and populist leaders and subservient constitutional courts, it can be abused. This abuse can lead to the dismantling of regional and national legal achievements by relying on the very same ““identity””, which could quickly be turned into autarchy. If it is not abused, the challenge seems to be the reconciliation of new and traditional ideas of constitutionalism, the engine of which must be an independent judiciary.

Keywords : Constitutional identity / Identity of a constitution / Models of constitutional identity / Global North / Global South..

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