European Yearbook of Constitutional Law (EYCL)

The call for papers for this volume has closed. The fifth volume of the yearbook is expected to be published at the end of 2024.

The call for papers for this volume has closed. The fourth volume of the yearbook is expected to be published at the end of 2022. 

The third volume of the EYCL focuses on constitutional advice, an underexplored topic of legal scholarship today, and addresses this situation by looking beyond constitutional law’s familiar focus on the classic separation of powers and the main legislative, executive and judicial bodies implied by this construct.

The attention is shifted to mapping and analysing the advisory bodies and functions grouped around and in support of the legislators, administrators and judges at the frontline of the constitutional edifice, which is accomplished through national, comparative and transnational perspectives on constitutional advice from Europe and beyond. Addressing the topic of constitutional advice is necessary to broaden and deepen not only our understanding of advice as a field in its own right, but also as a way of rendering a fuller account of contemporary constitutionalism. Also, the increasing political polarisation across many societies today underscores the need to study constitutional advice on topics of significance in an attempt to bridge divides and end gridlock.

Specific to the book:

• Explores the legal and theoretical dimensions of the understudied topic of constitutional advice
• Covers a broad range of constitutional systems from national, comparative and transnational angles
• Brings together authors from diverse constitutional law jurisdictions and cultures

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This second volume examines the constitutional positioning of cities across space and time. Unrelenting urbanisation means that the most people are, or soon will be, living in cities and that city administrations become, in many respects, their quintessential governing units. Cities are places where State power is operationalised and concretised; where laws and government policies transform from parchment objectives to practical realities. In a similar vein, cities are also places for the realisation of the constitutional rights and liberties enjoyed by individuals.  

The book is organised around three sets of relations that await further unpacking in theory as well as practice: that between cities and other institutions in the national constitutional architecture; that between cities and their inhabitants; and that between cities and international organisations. The contributions to this book show the marked diversity in the role and powers available to cities in Europe and beyond, and identify principles and approaches to help stipulate new ways of thinking about the legal role and relevance of cities going forward.  

Specific to the book:

• Interrogates the positioning and powers of cities in the contemporary constitutional context
• Covers a broad range of constitutional systems, both national and supranational and European as well as non-European
• Brings together authors from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and legal cultures

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This inaugurate volume examines the safeguards and limits of judicial power in a variety of constitutional systems, both at the national and supranational level. The book approaches the judiciary as part of the constitutional system operating within a legal order that connects the citizens and institutions of the state to each other. Looking at the judiciary from this broader perspective, the traditional doctrine of the separation of powers would appear no longer to adequately represent the diversity and complexity of constitutional systems and their democratic legitimacy. Judicial independence does not mean isolation, but should better be understood as institutionalizing relationships that legitimize the power of the courts. The notions of ‘safeguards’ and ‘limits’ indicate the reciprocally enabling and protecting nature of these relationships. In recognition of this, the contributions to this volume analyse these safeguards and limits as relations existing within a complex constitutional architecture.

State institutions, today, are involved in a fundamental transformation of their selfunderstanding as a result of changes in political culture. Several contributions to this volume provide examples of political criticism and pressure on the judiciary, against which the usual guarantees are unable to provide adequate protection. A convincing and effective response to threats to the judiciary’s independence requires a detailed and precise analysis of the judiciary’s constitutional safeguards and limits. This book offers a step in that direction.

Specific to the book:

• Examines the judicial function as a source of power in the contemporary constitutional context
• Covers a broad range of constitutional systems, both national and supranational
• Brings together authors from a wide variety of legal cultures

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