Constitutional Law has undergone many changes since post World War II and its reflex has been felt in all other legal areas. However, little attention has been given to Legal Theory after these constitutional transformations. The present study discusses multiple aspects of such implications. After presenting what is understood by neoconstitutionalism, a correlation is drawn with changes in constitutional interpretation. A new element – defeasibility – is then placed as a necessary counterpoint between deliber- ating constitutional principles and the (...) theory of norms. Only if we take defeasibility into account and understand that constitutional interpretation has undergone certain changes, one is able to grasp the important tenets of neoconstitutionalism.Resumen:El derecho constitucional ha sufrido muchos cambios después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y sus consecuencias se han manifestado en otras áreas del derecho. Sin embargo, poca atención se le ha dado a la teoría jurídica después de estos cambios constitucionales. Este estudio investiga varios descubrimientos de estas implicaciones. Después de presentar lo que se entiende por neoconstitucionalismo, se avanza una correlación con los cambios en la interpretación constitucional. Un nuevo elemento —derrotabilidad— se presenta como una contrapartida necesaria entre la deliberación de los principios constitucionales y las enseñanzas de la teoría de las normas. Sólo a través de la derrotabilidad y el entendimiento de que la interpretación constitucional ha sufrido ciertos cambios, puede uno entender uno de los grandes postulados del neoconstitucionalismo. (shrink)

The article offers a complete vision of the problems tackled by and the fundamental theses defended by neoconstitutionalism (or neoconstitutionalisms), a current which tends to be transformed into a global reply, a new political culture that is present in all contemporary debates on legal and political philosophy. After characterising the model of the constitutional state, the author analyses four types of neoconstitutionalism that are developed from four different problems. In the first place he deals with neoconstitutionalism as (...) a political philosophy that considers the constitutional state as the best form of organising political society. He secondly analyses the contribution of neoconstitutionalism to the theoretical debate on the nature of norms and their interpretation which enables him to present it as a important renewal of the positivist theory of law. Thirdly the author gives the neoconstitutionalist reply in the conceptual debate about what should be understood by law and how to explain its relationship with morality. Fourthly, he presents neoconstitutionalist models of legal science. Finally, by way of conclusion, he sees to respond to the question whether neoconstitutionalism may be an alternative to the dialectic between iusnaturalism and positivism. (shrink)

An increasing number of Italian scholars are beginning to share the idea that the conceptual basis of legal positivism (LP) is wrong, particularly in the field of Public Law. According to a group of theories called “neoconstitutionalism,” constitutionalism is to be understood not only as a principle based on the need to impose legal limits to political power, but also as an aggregation of values capable of continually remodelling legal relationships, positioning itself as a “pervasive” point of reference for (...) legal experience. A recent essay by Professor Antonio Baldassarre, President Emeritus of the Constitutional Italian Court, about the “misery of legal positivism” is a good expression of this view. In this article, the ideas outlined by Baldassarre are examined and criticized. The paper also tries to defend a version of legal positivism, which has both a conceptual and prescriptive meaning, relating to decisions made on the basis of rules. This view is based on the two correlated concepts of primary formalism and secondary formalism of “competence and procedure.”. (shrink)

RESUMEN: Los cambios en la nueva concepción del Estado Democrático de Derecho que surgen a partir de la toma de conciencia de la existencia de determinados derechos que se consideran como fundamentales por la comunidad internacional, influyen de modo directo en el diseño de políticas públicas, de creación de normas jurídicas y en el modo de resolver los casos judiciales. Es así que se presenta a la Teoría Neoconstitucional como una nueva teoría del derecho que permite integrar los derechos con (...) sus respectivas garantías, y que se ocupa tanto de las normas como de los principios y los valores de Derechos Humanos y de su internalización en los ordenamientos de los Estados, es decir, se ocupa del fenómeno de mundialización de estos derechos. Dentro de los derechos fundamentales encontramos los que poseen las mujeres en lo que concierne a vivir una vida libre de toda violencia en la que se respete su dignidad y autonomía de la voluntad, amén de que los índices de violencia contra ellas aumentan día a día en todos los países del mundo. De este modo los Estados deberán cumplimentar con las medidas de acciones positivas tendientes a garantizar el efectivo goce de los derechos reconocidos por los Pactos internacionales de Derechos Humanos.ABSTRACT: The changes in the new conception of the Democratic State of Law that arise from the awareness of the existence of certain rights that are considered fundamental by the international community, have a direct influence on the design of public policies, the creation of legal norms and how to solve judicial cases. This is how the Neoconstitutional Theory is presented as a new theory of law that allows integrating rights with their respective guarantees, and that deals with both the norms and the principles and values of Human Rights and their internalization in the legal systems. of the States, that is, deals with the phenomenon of globalization of these rights. Within the fundamental rights we find those that women possess in what concerns to live a life free of all violence in which their dignity and autonomy of the will is respected, in addition to that the indices of violence against them increase every day in all the countries of the world. In this way, the States must comply with the measures of positive actions tending to guarantee the effective enjoyment of the rights recognized by the International Covenants on Human Rights.PALABRAS CLAVE: violencia, género, derechos humanos, neoconstitucionalismo, EstadosKEYWORDS: violence, gender, human rights, neoconstitutionalism, States. (shrink)

‘Néoconstitutionnalisme’ est assurément le nouveau nom pour une famille de théories du droit bien connues: un nom jusqu'à maintenant utilisé seulement au sein de la théorie du droit du monde latin. Mais contrairement à une critique récente de Riccardo Guastini, et conformément à une plus large analyse de ce mouvement dans mon dernier livre, Manuale di filosofia del diritto, le néoconstitutionnalisme existe effectivement – exactement comme le droit naturel, le positivisme juridique ou encore le réalisme juridique existent. Dans cette contribution, (...) en fait, trois thèmes centraux du néoconstitutionnalisme sont examinés – la connexion droit-morale, la distinction règle-principes et le balancement ou pondération – afin d’en fournir une meilleure théorie positiviste. Ainsi, je reconnais une connexion contigente mais théoriquement essentielle entre le droit et la morale; j’admets une distinction quasiment radicale entre les règles et les principes juridiques, et je fournis une théorie du balancement positiviste, réaliste et axiologiquement pluraliste. (shrink)