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  • © 2019

National Constitutions in European and Global Governance: Democracy, Rights, the Rule of Law

National Reports

  • A key comparative reference book, with each report systematically structured to cover the same themes
  • Each report contains constitutional amendments, constitutional challenges to the Data Retention Directive, the European Arrest Warrant, the ESM Treaty, austerity cases, judicial review and democratic control in global governance
  • This book takes a bottom-up approach and makes available case law and constitutional debates in the Member States, including those that are considered more peripheral
  • The national reports contain a wealth of assessments and practical policy recommendations from constitutional experts
  • The above-mentioned policy recommendations regard how some of the challenges in the European constitutional and judicial dialogues could be addressed

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Table of contents (32 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiv
  2. Political or Historical Constitutions: The Predominance of Parliament with the Absence of or a Weak Role for a Constitutional Court, and a Generic or ECHR-Based Bill of Rights

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 81-81
    2. Europe’s Gift to the United Kingdom’s Unwritten Constitution – Juridification

      • Alison L. Young, Patrick Birkinshaw, Valsamis Mitsilegas, Theodora A. Christou
      Pages 83-139Open Access
    3. The Netherlands: The Pragmatics of a Flexible, Europeanised Constitution

      • Leonard Besselink, Monica Claes
      Pages 179-220Open Access
    4. The Role of the Danish Constitution in European and Transnational Governance

      • Helle Krunke, Trine Baumbach
      Pages 269-313Open Access
  3. The Post-Totalitarian or Post-Authoritarian Constitutions of the ‘Old’ Member States: An Extensive Bill of Rights, Rule of Law Safeguards and Constitutional Review by a Constitutional Court

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 405-405
    2. European Constitutionalism and the German Basic Law

      • Dieter Grimm, Mattias Wendel, Tobias Reinbacher
      Pages 407-492Open Access
    3. The Constitution of Italy: Axiological Continuity Between the Domestic and International Levels of Governance?

      • Giuseppe Martinico, Barbara Guastaferro, Oreste Pollicino
      Pages 493-541Open Access
    4. The Constitution of Greece: EU Membership Perspectives

      • Xenophon Contiades, Charalambos Papacharalambous, Christos Papastylianos
      Pages 641-683Open Access
  4. The Post-Totalitarian Constitutions of the ‘New’ Member States from the Post-Communist Area: A Detailed Bill of Rights, Rule of Law Safeguards and Constitutional Review Entrenched after the Recent Memory of Arbitrary Exercise of Power

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 685-685

About this book

This two-volume book, published open access, brings together leading scholars of constitutional law from twenty-nine European countries to revisit the role of national constitutions at a time when decision-making has increasingly shifted to the European and transnational level. It offers important insights into three areas. First, it explores how constitutions reflect the transfer of powers from domestic to European and global institutions. Secondly, it revisits substantive constitutional values, such as the protection of constitutional rights, the rule of law, democratic participation and constitutional review, along with constitutional court judgments that tackle the protection of these rights and values in the transnational context, e.g. with regard to the Data Retention Directive, the European Arrest Warrant, the ESM Treaty, and EU and IMF austerity measures. The responsiveness of the ECJ regarding the above rights and values, along with the standard of protection, is also assessed. Thirdly, challenges in the context of global governance in relation to judicial review, democratic control and accountability are examined. On a broader level, the contributors were also invited to reflect on what has increasingly been described as the erosion or ‘twilight’ of constitutionalism, or a shift to a thin version of the rule of law, democracy and judicial review in the context of Europeanisation and globalisation processes.


The national reports are complemented by a separately published comparative study, which identifies a number of broader trends and challenges that are shared across several Member States and warrant wider discussion. The research for this publication and the comparative study were carried out within the framework of the ERC-funded project ‘The Role and Future of National Constitutions in European and Global Governance’.


The book is aimed at scholars, researchers, judges and legal advisors working on the interface between national constitutional law and EU and transnational law. The extradition cases are also of interest to scholars and practitioners in the field of criminal law.


Anneli Albi is Professor of European Law at the University of Kent, United Kingdom.


Samo Bardutzky is Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.







Editors and Affiliations

  • Law School, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    Anneli Albi

  • Law School, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Samo Bardutzky

About the editors

Anneli Albi is Professor of European Law at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. Samo Bardutzky is Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.


Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: National Constitutions in European and Global Governance: Democracy, Rights, the Rule of Law

  • Book Subtitle: National Reports

  • Editors: Anneli Albi, Samo Bardutzky

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-273-6

  • Publisher: T.M.C. Asser Press The Hague

  • eBook Packages: Law and Criminology, Law and Criminology (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-6265-272-9Published: 13 June 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-6265-273-6Published: 29 May 2019

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXIV, 1522

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Constitutional Law, European Law, International Criminal Law , Human Rights, Fundamentals of Law

Buy it now

Buying options

Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access