The judicial doctrine of constitutional identity: genesis, issues, and perspectives

---

This article continues a series of Russian-language publications devoted to the judicial doctrine of constitutional (national) identity, which began to appear extensively after 2016 due to the adoption of a number of judgments of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. In the first section, the author seeks to reveal the meaning of the concept of “identity” and to demonstrate its usefulness (along with the concept of “constitutional tradition”) in law in general. In the second section, the author describes in some detail the evolution of this doctrine in the practice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (in conjunction with the concepts of “ultra vires control” and the “Solange technique”) and the French Constitutional Council (considering the concept of “essential conditions for the exercise of sovereignty”). In the third section, the author demonstrates the spread of this doctrine beyond the borders of these two states and even beyond the borders the of EU law in connection with disputes on the ratification of international treaties, the holding of a referendum, etc. Contiguous legal doctrine, which is “the identity of the constitution” and which is important to the constitutional law of India, is revealed as well. In the fourth section, the author tries to predict the relevance of the doctrine of national (constitutional) identity for building a dialogue with the EAEU Court, which should have the character, firstly, of pre-emption rather than the resolution of conflicts, and, secondly, of coordination rather than subordination. Attention is also drawn to the deep discrepancy between the categories of constitutional identity, on the one hand, and the identity of the constitution, as well as national identity, on the other. As a result, the author concludes that the domestic science of constitutional and international law, focused on the question of the primacy or subordination of various sources of law, was not quite ready to substantiate this new idea. Unlike most scholars who have written on this issue, the author seeks not only to review the sources of foreign constitutional law, but also to reveal the philosophical and social foundations of the doctrine of constitutional identity and to reveal its logical contradictions and problems of application.

About the author: Pavel Blokhin – Candidate of Sciences (Ph.D.) in Law, Adviser to the Judge, Russian Constitutional Court; Senior Lecturer, Law Faculty, Higher School of Economics, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Citation: Blokhin P. (2018) Sudebnaya doktrina konstitutsionnoy identichnosti: genezis, problemy, perspektivy [The judicial doctrine of constitutional identity: genesis, issues, and perspectives]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.27, no.6, pp.62–81. (In Russian).

References

Antonov M.V., Polyakov A.V., Chestnov I.L. (2013) Kommunikativnyy podkhod i rossiyskaya teoriya prava [Communicative approach and Russian legal theory]. Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy. Pravovedenie, no.6, pp.78–95. (In Russian).

Besselink L., Claes M., Imamović Š., Reestman J.H. (2014) National Constitutional Avenues for Further EU Integration, Brussels: European Union.

Bezrukov A.V. (2005) Konstitutsyya, Osnovnoy zakon i mezhdunarodnyy dogovor: pravovaya priroda i sootnoshenie [Constitution, Basic Law, and international treaty: legal nature and relationship]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipal'noe pravo, no.7, pp.9–11. (In Russian).

Bezrukov A.V. (2016) Konstitutsionnoe i mezhdunarodno-pravovoe regulirovanie obespecheniya pravoporyadka v Rossii: sovremennoe sostoyanie i sootnoshenie [Constitutional and international legal regulation of law enforcement in Russia: current status and correlation]. Yuridicheskiy mir, no.2, pp.11–15. (In Russian).

Blankenagel A. (2016) “Proshchay, Sovet Evropy!” or “Sovet Evropy, davay pogovorim!”?: Kommentariy k Postanovleniyu Konstitutsionnogo Suda Rossii ot 19 aprelya 2016 goda ob ispolnimosti Postanovleniya ESPCh po delu Anchugova i Gladkova ot 4 iyulya 2013 goda [“Good-bye, Council of Europe!” or “Council of Europe, we got to talk!”?: A commentary to the Russian Constitutional Court Judgment of 19 April 2016 on the implementation of the Anchugov and Gladkov Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 4 July 2013]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, no.6, pp.135–150. (In Russian).

Blokhin P. (2014) Zashchita osnovnykh prav sredstvami konstitutsionnogo pravosudiya v Germanii [The Protection of fundamental rights by means of constitutional justice in Germany]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.23, no.3, pp.81–104. (In Russian).

Blokhin P.D. (2015) Konstitutsionnyy sovet Frantsii kak organ konstitutsionnogo pravosudiya: nekotorye nablyudeniya po itogam predshestvuyu­shchikh pyati let deyatel'nosti [The Constitutional Council of France as a constitutional justice body: some observations on the results of the previous five years of activity]. Konstitutsionnyy Sovet Frantsii na sovremennom etape, Moscow: Izdatel'skaya gruppa “Yurist”, pp.83–118. (In Russian).

Chigrinov S.P. (2016) Konstitutsionnaya identichnost' i konstitutsionnoe razvitie v XXI veke [Constitutional identity and constitutional development in the 21st century]. Zhurnal zarubezhnogo zakonodatel'stva i sravnitel'nogo pravovedeniya, no.3, pp.32–38. (In Russian).

Filatova M. (2016) Sootnoshenie pravoporyadkov i ierarkhiya mezhduna­rodnykh i natsional'nykh norm: novye voprosy i podkhody k ikh reshe­niyu v praktike Konstitutsionnogo Suda RF [Relations of legal orders and hierarchy of international and national norms: new issues and solutions in the Russian Constitutional Court’s case-law]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, vol.6, no.3, pp.88–100. (In Russian).

Fletcher G.P. (1994) Constitutional Identity. In: Rosenfeld M. (ed.) Constitutionalism, Identity, Difference, and Legitimacy: Theoretical Perspectives, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp.223–232.

Foskule A. (2012) Al'yans evropeyskikh sudov i zashchita prav cheloveka [Alliance of the European courts and the protection of human rights]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.21, no.3. pp.136–140. (In Russian).

Foskule A. (2014) Piramida ili mobil'?: Zashchita prav cheloveka evropey­skimi konstitutsyonnymi sudami [A pyramid or a mobile?: Protection of human rights by European Constitutional Courts]. Prava cheloveka, no.4. pp.8–12. (In Russian).

Gadzhiev G.A. (2017) O sudebnoy doktrine konstitutsionnoy identichnosti [On the judicial doctrine of constitutional identity]. Sud'ya, no.12, pp.31–35. (In Russian).

Gadzhiev G.A. (2013) Ontologiya prava (kriticheskoe issledovanie yuridi­cheskogo kontsepta deystvitel'nosti): monografiya [The ontology of law (a critical study of the legal concept of reality): Monograph], Moscow: Norma; INFRA-M. (In Russian).

Gracheva S.A. (2018) Razvitie kontsepta konstitutsionnoy identichnosti v svyazi s poiskom podkhodov k razresheniyu konventsionno-konstitutsionnykh kolliziy i konfliktov [Development of the concept of constitutional identity in connection with the search for approaches to the resolution of conventional constitutional collisions and conflicts]. Zhurnal rossiyskogo prava, no.9, pp.52–64. (In Russian).

Ispolinov A. (2014) Trebuyutsya pragmatiki: Konstitutsionnyy Sud Rossii i evraziyskiy pravoporyadok [Pragmatics required: the Russian Constitutional Court and the Eurasian legal order]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.23, no.5, pp.14–20. (In Russian).

Ispolinov A. (2017). Prioritet prava Evropeyskogo Soyuza i natsional'naya (konstitutsionnaya) identichnost' v resheniyah Suda ES i konstitutsionnykh sudov gosudarstv – chlenov ES [The priority of EU law and national (constitutional) identity in the decisions of the European Court of Justice and the constitutional courts of the EU member-states]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.26, no.4, pp.47–68. (In Russian).

Jacobsohn G.J. (2010) Constitutional Identity, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Kalinina E.Yu. (2015) Natsional'naya identichnost' v sovremennoy Ispanii: istoriko-pravovoy analiz kontsepta [National identity in modern Spain: historical and legal analysis of the concept]. Vestnik Altayskoy akademii ekonomiki i prava, no.3, pp.66–70. (In Russian).

Kazantsev S.M. (2013) Osobennosti kontrolya konstitutsionnosti Tamo­zhennogo kodeksa Tamozhennogo soyuza [Peculiarities of the control of the constitutionality of the Customs Code of the Customs Union]. Zhurnal konstitutsionnogo pravosudiya, no.2, pp.1–9. (In Russian).

Lyubbe G. (2005) Pravo ostavat'sya inym. K filosofii regionalizma [The right to remain different. To the philosophy of regionalism]. In: Poli­ticheskaya filosofiya v Germanii: Sbornik statey Izenzee J. i dr. [Political philosophy in Germany: Collection of articles Izensee Y. et al.], Moscow: Sovremennye tetradi, pp.53–61. (In Russian).

Marochkin S.Yu. (2006) Kakie mezhdunarodnye normy i dogovory pod­lezhat primeneniyu sudami [Which international rules and treaties are subject to application by the courts]. Yuridicheskiy mir, no.4, pp.16–23. (In Russian).

Marochkin S.Yu. (2011) Yuridicheskaya sila norm mezhdunarodnogo i rossiyskogo prava: Zakonodatel'stvo, nauchno-prakticheskie kommentarii, sudebnaya praktika [Legal force of the norms of international and Russian law: legislation, scientific and practical comments, and judicial practice]. Evraziyskiy yuridicheskiy zhurnal, no.2, pp.27–34. (In Russian).

Morshchakova T.G. (2008) Doktrinal'nye osnovy implementatsii mezhdu­narodnykh standartov prav i svobod sredstvami konstitutsionnogo pravosudiya [The doctrinal foundations of the implementation of international standards of human rights and freedoms by means of constitutional justice]. Pravo. Zhurnal Vysshey shkoly ekonomiki, no.1, pp.3–16. (In Russian).

Neshataeva T.N. (2014) K voprosu o sozdanii Evraziyskogo soyuza: integ­ratsiya i nadnatsionalizm [Towards the creation of the Eurasian Union: integration and supranationalism]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, vol.4, no.2, pp.57–70. (In Russian).

Neshataeva T. (2016) O problemakh v deystvii resheniy organov EAES v natsional'nykh pravoporyadkakh gosydarstv-chlenov [On ambiguous effects of the EAEU bodies' decisions within national legal systems of the member states]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, vol.6, no.3, pp.10–17. (In Russian).

Ovsepyan Zh.I. (2011) K obsuzhdeniyu konceptsii statusa konstitutsionnogo pravosudiya v sfere zashchity fundamental'nykh prav i svobod na osnove printsipov i norm mezhdunarodnogo prava v period globalizatsii [To the discussion on the concept of the status of constitutional justice in the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, based on the principles and norms of international law, during the period of globalization]. Zhurnal konstitutsionnogo pravosudiya, no.1, pp.1–12. (In Russian).

Pontoro M.-K. (2011) Evropeyskaya konstitutsionnaya i natsional'nye konstitutsionnye identichnosti (Referat) [European constitutional and national constitutional identities (Abstract)]. In: Konstitutsionnaya kul'­tura: Universal'nye tsennosti i natsional'nye osobennosti: Sbornik nauchnykh trudov [Constitutional culture. Universal values and national features: Collection of scientific papers], E.V.Alferova, G.N.Andreeva (eds.), Moscow: INION RAN. (In Russian).

Pozner R.A. (2017) Rubezhi teorii prava [The Frontiers of Legal Theory], I.Kushnareva (transl.), Moscow: Izdatel'skiy dom Vysshey shkoly ekonomiki. (In Russian).

Reestman J.H. (2009) The Franco-German Constitutional Divide. Reflections on National and Constitutional Identity. European Constitutional Law Review, vol.5, pp.374–390.

Rosenfeld M. (1994) Modern Constitutionalism as Interplay Between Identity and Diversity. In: Rosenfeld M. (ed.) Constitutionalism, Identity, Difference, and Legitimacy: Theoretical Perspectives, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp.3–38.

Sadurski W. (2006) European Constitutional Identity?: EUI Working Paper LAW No.2006/33, Florence: European University Institute.

Sansteyn K.R. (1993) Otritsatel'nye kachestva polozhitel'nykh prav [Negative qualities of positive rights]. Konstitutsionnoe pravo: vostochno­evropeyskoe obozrenie, no.1, pp.43–46.

Tolstykh V. (2018) “Printsipial'noe soprotivlenie” resheniyam Evropeyskogo Suda po pravam cheloveka v svete kriticheskoy teorii [“Principled resistance” against European Court of Human rights judgments in the light of critical theory]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, vol.8, no.1, pp.79–89.

Troitskaya A. (2016) Rossiyskiy Konstitutsionnyy Sud i proverka popravok k Konstitutsii: kak raspakhnut' priotkrytuyu dver' [The Russian Constitutional Court and review of constitutional amendments: how to open wide the ajar door]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.25, no.2, pp.96–115. (In Russian).

Turičnik E. (2014) Preliminary Reference Procedure – the Right, the Duty and Exceptions. Journal for International and European Law, Economics and Market Integrations, vol.1, no.1. pp.1–17.

Van Huk M. (2012) Pravo kak kommunikatsiya [Law as communication], Saint Petersburg: Izdatel'skiy dom Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta; OOO “Universitetskiy izdatel'skiy konsortsium”. (In Russian).

Vasil'eva T.A.(2017) Printsip uvazheniya natsional'noy identichnosti go­sudarstv-chlenov ES: Problemy interpretatsii [The principle of respect for the national identity of EU member states: problems of interpretation]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipal'noe parvo, no.6, pp.9–12. (In Russian).

Von Bogdandy A., Schill S. (2011) Overcoming Absolute Primacy: Respect for National Identity under the Lisbon Treaty. Common Market Law Review, vol.48, no.5, pp.1417–1453.

Zor'kin V.D. (2017) Konstitutsionnaya identichnost' Rossii: Doktrina i praktika [Russia’s constitutional identity: doctrine and practice]. Zhurnal konstitutsionnogo pravosudiya, no.4, pp.1–12. (In Russian).