“Constitutional Interpretation in European Populist Regimes”

International conference
Budapest, December 5-6, 2019

Organised by the IACL Working Group on Constitutional Interpretation
supported by the EU H2020 project DEMOS
(Democratic Efficacy and the Varieties of Populism in Europe),
the Hungarian Academy of Sciences,
and the Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies
Venue: Tóth Kálmán u. 4. 1097 Budapest, Hungary

The Centre for Social Sciences (CSS), which coordinates DEMOS, will host the international conference Constitutional Interpretation in European Populist Regimes in Budapest between December 5 and 6. The conference investigates whether European populist systems have developed new, specific constitutional theories, doctrines or methods, or whether their constitutional courts and other high courts continue to use the old, traditional interpretative tools in constitutional adjudication.  

The event, organized by the International Association of Constitutional Law Research Group on Constitutional Interpretation (IACL), brings over 20 experts in constitutional interpretation from all over the world. The Group provides a framework for studying the theories and methods of constitutional interpretation and aims to maintain a research network of scholars studying the theme. The Institute for Legal Studies at CSS provides an institutional framework for organizing the activities of the Group. The event is also supported by DEMOS and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

To take part in the event, please email your name and affiliation to szilagyi.emese@tk.mta.hu. Registration is free.

Social Media

Help us get the message about the conference out. Use the hashtag #PopConCSS on Twitter and follow live updates: https://twitter.com/DEMOS_H2020.

PROGRAMME

Day 1 – December 5, Thursday

• 8.30–9.00    Registration

• 9.00–9.15     Welcome remarks by Fruzsina Gardos-Orosz, Director, CSS Institute for Legal Studies; Associate Professor, Eötvös Loránd University

• 9.15–9.30     Introductory notes by Zoltán Szente, Research Chair, CSS Institute for Legal Studies; Professor of Law, National University of Public Service​

Plenary session

Moderator:  Andras Bragyova, Professor of Law, University of Miskolc; Research Chair, CSS Institute for Legal Studies; former member of the Hungarian Constitutional Court

• 9.30–10.00  Keynote speech by Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
  The possibility of autochthonous methods of constitutional interpretation
• 10.00–10.20 Pablo Riberi, Constitutional Law Professor at the School of Law of the National University of Córdoba (UNC) and at the School of Political Science of the Catholic University of Córdoba (UCC)
  Populist and non-democratic reading of the Constitution ‒ Sad lessons from Latin America
• 10.20–10.40 Discussion
• 10.40–11.00 Coffee Break

11.00–12.30 PANEL I: Populism meets constitutional interpretation in post-communist countries

• 11.00–11.20   Zdeněk Kühn, Associate Professor, Charles University Law School; Justice, Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic
  The rise and fall of judicial activism in the Czech Republic
• 11.20–11.40   Nóra Chronowski, Associate Professor, National University of Public Service; Visiting Researcher, CSS institute for Legal Studies & Attila Vincze, Associate Professor, Andrássy Gyula University
  Use and misuse of European frameworks: legal transplants and the 'European constitutional dialogue' in the case law of the Hungarian Constitutional Court
• 11.40–12.00 Wojciech Brzozowski, Adjunct Professor, University of Warsaw
  hatever works: Constitutional interpretation in Poland in times of populism
• 12.00–12.30 Discussion

13.45–15.50 PANEL I (Cont.): Populism meets constitutional interpretation in post-communist countries

Moderator:  Zoltán Szente, Research Chair, CSS Institute for Legal Studies; Professor of Law, National University of Public Service

• 13.45–14.05     Alexandra Mercescu, West University of Timisoara
  Non Sequitur in Constitutional Interpretation: A Populist Tool?
• 14.05–14.25     Eszter Bodnár, Associate Professor, Eötvös Loránd University; Premium Postdoctoral Researcher, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
  The use of the comparative method in the Hungarian Constitutional Court’s practice after 2010
• 14.25–14.45    Djordje Gardasevic (Associate Professor, Zagreb Law School)
  The Concept of Constitutional Identity Against Populist Claims - the Case of Croatia
• 14.45–15.05    Csongor Kuti, University of Arts Târgu Mureş
  Between a rock and a hard place: constitutional conflict cases before the Romanian Constitutional Court
• 15.05–15.25     János Mécs, PhD student, Eötvös Loránd University
  Populism, elections, legal paradigm – the interpretative struggle of the Hungarian constitutional court in electoral matters
• 15.25–15.50     Discussion
• 15.50–16.00    Coffee Break​

16.10‒18.00 PANEL II: Authoritarian trends and constitutional interpretation in consolidated democracies

Moderator:  Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz, Director, CSS Institute for Legal Studies; Associate Professor, Eötvös Loránd University

• 16.00‒16.30    Keynote speech by Anna Gamper, Professor of Law, University of Innsbruck
  An “Instrument of Government” or  “Instrument of Courts”? The Impact of Political Systems on Constitutional Interpretation and the Case of Populism
• 16.30‒16.50    Paolo Zicchittu, Researcher in Constitutional Law and Adjunct Professor, University of Milan-Bicocca & Simone Gianello, Research Fellow, University of Milan-Bicocca
  Limiting Populism through Constitutional Interpretation: A Comparison between the Recent Practice of the Constitutional Courts of Italy and Hungary
• 16.50‒17.10     Gianmario Demuro, Professor in Constitutional Law at the University of Cagliari & Riccardo Montaldo (doctoral candidate at the Universities of Kassel and Cagliari)
  The populist reforms in Italy and the instrument of constitutionally conforming interpretation
• 17.10‒17.30     José Antonio Sanz Moreno, Professor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  Populist theologies and Spanish constitutional court: democratic constitutionalism without intangible clauses vs. Catalan secessionist process
• 17.30‒18.00    Discussion​

Day 2 – December 6, Friday

Plenary session

• 9.00‒9.30       Keynote speech by Martin Loughlin, Professor of Public Law, London School of Economics and Political Science
  Constitutional Interpretation: What can Europeans learn from the US debates?
• 9.30‒9.50       John Morijn, Assistant Professor, University of Groningen
  Populism v. human rights: substantive and interpretational challenges
• 9.50‒10.20    Discussion
• 10.20‒10.40    Coffee Break​

10.40‒12.30 PANEL II: Authoritarian trends and constitutional interpretation in consolidated democracies

• 10.40‒11.00    John McEldowney, Professor of Law at the University of Warwick Law School
  Populism, UK Sovereignty, the Rule of Law and Brexit
• 11.00‒11.20     Konrad Lachmayer, Professor for Public Law, Sigmund Freud University in Vienna
  Formalism and judicial self-restraint as tools against populism? Considerations to recent developments of the Austrian Constitutional Court
• 11.20‒11.40      Apostolos Vlachogiannis, Teaching Assistant, Hellenic Open University
  Constitutional identity as a populist notion? The Council of State and the forging of the Greek constitutional identity through the crisis
• 11.40‒12.00     Irene Spigno, Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law and Human Rights, Inter-American Academy of Human Right-Autonomous University of Coahuila (Mexico)
  Challenges to constitutional interpretation in xenophobic populist hate speech cases in comparative perspective
• 12.00‒12.30    Discussion​

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