Regierungsbildung in Spanien: der unbedachte König und der listige Anwärter
Spanien hat fast zwei Monate nach den Parlamentswahlen immer noch keine Regierung. Im Augenblick bemüht sich Pedro Sánchez, der sozialistische Spitzenkandidat, um eine mehrheitsfähige Koalition. Dabei...
View Article“Ein Land hat ein Recht darauf, regiert zu werden”
Vier Monate nach den Wahlen muss das spanische Parlament schon wieder aufgelöst werden, weil keine potenzielle Regierung eine Mehrheit bekommen kann. Man hat den Eindruck, dass das häufiger wird in...
View ArticleScotland, Catalonia and the Constitutional Taboo of Secession
Conventional wisdom suggests that national constitutional orders do not allow secessions. Indeed, the vast majority of constitutions are either silent on the issue of secession or they explicitly...
View ArticleCatalonian Independentism, the Spanish Constitutional Court and the Perils of...
The Spanish Law 15/2015 (Organic Law) was a key element of the last Government of Mariano Rajoy in his fight against Catalonian Independentism – and it might be also important for his new one. The Bill...
View ArticleWhat is the Situation of Constitutional Jurisdiction in Europe? Worrying News...
Verfassungsblog has been continuously reporting about worrying developments concerning the Polish Constitutional Court during the past months. The siege under which this Court has been placed since the...
View ArticleThe Catalan Secessionist Movement and Europe – Remarks on the Venice...
A serious constitutional controversy has erupted in Spain, involving the political struggles over the issue of Catalonia’s secession. On 13 March the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s expert...
View ArticleDamaging the Legitimacy of the Spanish Constitutional Court
In October 2015, in the midst of a legal fight between the Spanish Constitutional Court and the Parliament of Catalonia on the right to hold an independence referendum, Spain passed a reform of the Law...
View ArticleThe Spanish Constitutional Court on the Path of Self-Destruction
Recently, the Spanish Constitutional Court has published one more decision in application of the new reform of the Law on Constitutional Court which increased its powers for the execution of its own...
View ArticleMarriage Equality and the German Federal Constitutional Court: the Time for...
The enactment of marriage equality in Germany two weeks ago has sparked a constitutional debate that is taking place in Verfassungsblog like in many other media. There will probably be constitutional...
View ArticleThe Catalan Self-Determination Referendum Draft Bill: A New Form of...
Last July 3rd, several representatives of the three secessionist parties in Catalonia – PDeCAT, ERC and CUP – presented the draft of the so-called Self-Determination Referendum Act, an ad-hoc statute...
View ArticleThe EU and the Catalan Crisis
The events of the past week in Catalunya (and of the weeks that will follow) are very serious and worrying. Catalunya is a region of a Member State of the EU that has begun a unilateral process of...
View ArticleThe Catalan Self-Determination Referendum Act: A New Legal Order in Europe
Following my blog post from July 18, I would like to bring the readers of Verfassungsblog up to speed on the ‘secessionist process’ in Catalonia. For this purpose, let me briefly recall that the...
View ArticleThe Catalunya Conundrum, Part 1: How Could Things Come to Such a Pass?
Catalan democratic institutions (both Parliament and Government) have called for a popular vote on whether Catalonia, an autonomous region in the northeast of Spain of almost eight million inhabitants,...
View ArticleThe Catalunya Conundrum, Part 2: A Full-Blown Constitutional Crisis for Spain
In Part 1, I have explained the rigidity of the constitutional doctrine of our Constitutional Court on the matter of regional independence movements. There are some evident conclusions that swiftly...
View ArticleThe Catalunya Conundrum, Part 3: Protecting the Constitution by Violating the...
Article 155 CE, if activated, would have offered to the Spanish government a legal tool to take control of Catalan institutions on the terms decided by the Senate after a public debate. Article 116 CE,...
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Die unmögliche Revolution: Bericht aus Barcelona, Teil 1
“Ich habe ETA erlebt, ich habe Terrorismus erlebt”, sagt Carmina, eine ältere Dame mit schwarzem Pelzkragen, mit der ich morgens auf der verregneten Plaça Reial ins Gespräch komme. “Heute geht das...
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Sozusagen ein Referendum: Bericht aus Barcelona, Teil 2
Heute morgen habe ich mich mit Joan Vintró getroffen, einem freundlichen älteren Herrn und Verfassungsrechtsprofessor an der Universität von Barcelona. Vintró ist eines von sieben Mitgliedern einer...
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Eskalation: Bericht aus Barcelona, Teil 3
Vor der Bank kauert ein Obdachloser. Schottische Unterstützer Flaggenverkäufer Unterstützer aus dem Baskenland demonstrieren mit. Die radikalere Truppe. Kurz nach diesem Schnappschuss kommt ein...
View ArticleHomage to Catalonia: How to Lift the Gridlock of Constitutional Crisis in Spain
On 6 October 1934 Lluís Companys proclaimed the Catalan State (Estat Català) within a ‘Spanish Federal Republic’. 83 years later, Catalonia – unbelievable as it may sound – is on the verge of...
View ArticleThe Spanish Constitutional Crisis: Law, Legitimacy and Popular Sovereignty in...
The Spanish constitutional crisis is escalating, and it has now – finally – found broader attention, thanks to the referendum on 1 October and the violence of the Spanish police trying to prevent it...
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