MULTILEVEL CONSTITUTIONALISM

The course consists of lectures and seminars in which students will be actively involved. They might be requested to read in advance laws and cases in order to discuss them in class. They also might be required to write brief essays and/or to give short presentations on the course's main topics. During the Academic Year 2021-21, Prof. Otto Pfersmann will contribute to the course, delivering a series of lectures as Visiting Professor at the University of Catania.

Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.

Teaching plan: 21 classes scheduled of 2 hours each.

The course aims at analysing the ongoing process of establishing new structures of government, complementary to and built upon existing forms of peoples’ or societies’ public organizations, based on the main principles of constitutionalism. In the main framework of the so-called "european federalizing process", the current concepts of democracy, rule of law and human rights' protection will be assessed, focusing on issues related to their spreading and implementation, mostly in the light of the relationships between national and supranational institutions (Parliaments and Courts, above all).

ATTENDING STUDENTS will be provided with didactic materials during the course both in classroom and via the "Studium" platform.

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS are required to refer to the following texts:

One of the following textbooks (on the choice of students):

R. SCHUTZE, European Constitutional Law, Oxford University Press, 2021 (only Chpters No. 2,3,6 and 12).

or

A. ROSAS - L. ARMATI, EU Constitutional Law. An Introduction, Hart Publishing, 2017 (only Chapters No. 2,6,9, 11 and 14).

 

Other suggested readings:

Paper 1, M. ZURN, The State in the Post-national Constellation. Societal Denationalization and Multi-level Governance, in: ARENA Workin Papers, 35/1999.

Paper 2., T. KLEINLEIN, On Holism, Pluralism and Democracy: Approaches to Constitutionalism beyond the State, in European Journal of International Law, 2011, Vol. 21, No. 4.

Paper 3., I. PERNICE, Multilevel Constitutionalism in the European Union, in: WHI-Paper, 05/2002.

Paper 4., I. PERNICE, The Treaty of Lisbon: Multilevel Constitutionalism in Action, in: The Columbia Journal of European Law (CJEL), V 15/no 3, pp. 349-407.

Paper 5, N. WALKER, The idea of Constitutional Pluralism, in The Modern Law Review, vol. 65, 3/2002, pp. 317-359.

Paper 6, B. GUASTAFERRO, Beyond the Exceptions of Constitutional Conflicts: The Ordinary Functions of the Identity Clause, in Yearbook of European Law, 2012, Vol. 31, No.1, pp. 263-318.

Paper 7, A. CIANCIO, A new uniform electoral procedure to re-legitimate the process of political integration in Europe, in: federalismi.it, 2/2015.

Paper 8, A. VON BOGDANDY, The European Union as a Supranational Federation: A Conceptual Attempt in the Light of the Amsterdam Treaty, in : The Columbia Journal of European Law, 2000, n° 6, p. 27).

Paper 9., G. DELLA CANANEA, “Is European Constitutionalism Really “Multilevel”?”, in: Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht. Heidelberg Journal of International Law ( HJIL ) 70 (2010), 283-317.

Paper 10, M. POIARES MADURO, Three Claims of Constitutional Pluralism, in : Avbelj, Jan Komárek (eds), Constitutional Pluralism in the European Union and Beyond, Hart Publishing, Oxford, 67-84. Draft, accessible under https://cosmopolis.wzb.eu/content/programs/conkey_Maduro_Three-Claims-of-Pluralism.pdf

Paper 11, A. CIANCIO, The European “constitutional core”, key tool for further integration, in Consulta online, 2020.

Paper 12, M. FICHERA - O. POLLICINO, The Dialectics between Constitutional Identity and Common constitutional traditions: which language for cooperative constitutionalism in Europe, in: German Law Journal, 2019, pp. 1097-1118.

Paper 13, A.CIANCIO, European Parties and the process of political integration in Europe, in: www.dirittifondamentali.it, 2016.

Paper 14, A. VINCZE, What Role For Constitutional Courts In A Multi-Level Constitutionalism?, in: Annales of Etvös Lorand Faculty of Law 2012, accessible under: http://www.ajk.elte.hu/file/annales_2012_03_Vincze.pdf.

Paper 15, A. CIANCIO, The 5 May 2020 Bundesverfassungsgericht’s Decision on the ECB’s public sector purchase program: an attempt to “break the toy” or a new starting point for the Eurozone?, in federalismi.it, 2020, n.16.

Paper 16, CIANCIO A., The European Central Bank: Issues of Constitutional Law, in “Przegląd Prawa Konstytucyjnego" (Journal of Constitutional Law), 2016, n.6.

Paper 17, I. PERNICE, Multilevel Constitutionalism and the Crisis of Democracy in Europe, in: European Constitutional Law Review, 2015.

Paper 18, A. Wiener, A. F. Lang jr., James Tully, M. Poiares Maduro, M. Kumm, “Editorial. Global constitutionalism: Human rights, democracy and the rule of law”, in: Global Constitutionalism, 2012, 1:1, 1– 15.

Paper 19, T. Drinoczi* - A. Bień-Kacała, Illiberal Constitutionalism: the case of Hungary and Poland, in: German Law Journal, 2019, pages 1140-1166.

Paper 20, G. ZACCARONI, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: National Constitutional Judges and the EU Constitutional Identity, in: The Italian Journal of Public Law, Vol. 10, No, 2, 2018, special issue "Constitutional adjudication in Europe between Unity and Pluralism, pages 421-446.

Paper 21, G. BECK, The EU Constitution, Sovereignty and the Problem of Primacy, in The rise and fall of European Constitution, Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2019, pp. 155-176.

Paper 22, S. WALLASCHECK, Contested solidarity in the Euro crisis and Europe’s migration crisis: a discourse network analysis, Journal of European Public Policy, 2020, pp.1034-1053,