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The overproduction of material hinting at or announcing the emergence of a form of constitutional law beyond the State (sometimes defined as transnational constitutional law) has caused sceptic reactions increased in recent years. Many scholars have either been wary of employing the constitutional vocabulary too easily or as a form of crystallization of power structures, or have attempted to elaborate new concepts while emphasizing the descriptive and normative appeal of pluralism, or resorting to the less ambitious vocabulary of administrative law. While it is not the purpose of this essay to do justice to the complexity of the debate on constitutionalism beyond the State, its aim is to single out one distinctive element of this project: its transformative nature. In particular, it argues, against H. L. A. Hart’s idea that international law is a static legal order, that the notion of constitutional time is crucial for the purposes of framing the contours of the debate on constitutionalism in general and on its applicability beyond the confines of the traditional State., Athena – Critical Inquiries in Law, Philosophy and Globalization, Vol. 1 (2021): Sovereignty, International Law, Democracy and Global Constitutionalism

In a previous post, I have argued that the recent decision of the Italian President of the Republic, Pierluigi Mattarella, to refuse to appoint as Finance Minister Paolo Savona, was constitutional. Soon after that initial post, other posts on this and other blogs have argued either in favour or against Mattarella’s decision, either from legal or political perspective, or both. My argument is as follows: (a) the decision to refuse Savona’s appointment is not only legal, but also legitimate, as confirmed by the legal-historical context, in which the Italian form of government has developed; (b) the reasons behind Mattarella’s decision are deeply linked with the “security of the European project”, a rationale which has been a constant feature of European integration. Yet conflicts and contradictions have been concealed for too long and should be addressed more directly.

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Book review. Reviewed work: Intimations of Global Law / Neil Walker. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2014. 240 pages. ISBN: 9781107091627. Non

Verfassungsblog: On Matters Constitutional