COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM
This course, which follows on from Constitutional Law I, contributes to the Bachelor in Law degree by fostering the skills students need to participate in proceedings before the Constitutional Court and in actions taken by public authorities in applying the Spanish Constitution. In particular, our focus centres on the study of State and Autonomous Community legal sources as well as the system distributing competencies between the State and the Autonomous Communities.
Course Learning Objectives
The student should be able to:
- Advise and participate in all manner of legal actions related to preparing and approving norms by national and Autonomous Community institutions, as well as applying and interpreting the different types of norms in the Spanish legal system.
- Advise and participate in all manner of proceedings before the Constitutional Court, especially as regards processes to ensure the constitutionality of the various laws and competency suits between the national and Autonomous Community governments.
- Know the different types of competencies as well as their distribution in the established Autonomous Community system as regards constitutionality and the ways in which collaborative relations between the State and the Autonomous Communities and amongst the Autonomous Communities themselves are structured.
CONTENT
1. Constitution and the sources of Law Lesson 1. The system of the sources of Law. Norms and the legal structure. The Constitution, source of sources: regulations regarding the production of laws. Plurality of regulations and norms regarding the system of sources: hierarchy and competencies.
Lesson 2. The Constitution as the supreme norm: The constitution as norm. Link to public powers and individuals, the repeal of pre-constitutional norms. Type of constitutional norms. The Constitution, source of sources (remission). Rigidity, unconstitutionality and posterior determination of unconstitutionality. Constitutional interpretation.
Lesson 3. Relation between the Spanish legal system and European and international systems. Original and derived law: a brief examination of the European Union's sources. Article 93 in the Spanish Constitutions and relation between the EU and Spanish legal systems: direct effect, primacy of EU law and institutional independence. Participation by Spanish institutions in preparing European norms. International treaties. Their role in the system of sources and incorporation into national Law.
Lesson 4. Law: types of laws and parliamentary regulations. The notion of laws within the Constitution and crisis in the liberal concept of the law. Pre-emption. ordinary law. Legislative proceedings. Types of laws in the Constitution: organic laws, budgetary laws, and other types. Parliamentary regulations.
Lesson 5. Government norms: Government norms as legally-binding. Legislative decrees in the Constitution and in practices. Legislative delegation and legislative decrees: types of delegation and problems with their control. The Government's power to pass legally-binding regulations and directives and how they are related to the principle of legality.
Lesson 6. Control over the constitutionality of legally binding norms: the role, object and control parameters. Appeal due to unconstitutionality: legitimation and proceedings. The question of unconstitutionality. Prior control of international treaties. Conflicts in defence of local autonomy. Types of sentences, their content and effects.
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2. Autonomous Community regime Lesson 7. Statutes of Autonomy and the system of sources in Autonomous Communities. Elaboration, approval and reform of Autonomous Community statutes; their content and position in the system of sources. The Statute as source of sources. Legislative power of the Autonomous Communities (specialisations): Autonomous Community law, types of law. Government norms as legally binding. Regulations. Territoriality of Autonomous Community norms. Relations between State and Autonomous Community Systems: principle of competencies or separation: blockage and integration clauses. The prevalence and supplementary nature of State law over Autonomous Community law.
Lesson 8. System of competencies (or powers). Concept of competencies and their delimitation. The system to distribute competencies between the State and Autonomous Communities. Extra-statutory modification of competencies through the laws mentioned in Article 150 of the Spanish Constitution: framework laws, organic laws of transferal and delegation, standardisation laws. Transfer decrees. The impact of belonging to the European Union on the system of competencies. Types of competencies: exclusive, shared (basic and development laws), executive and others. Collaborative relations in exercising competencies and their instruments. Financial autonomy of the Autonomous Communities: principles, systems and the role of the Organic Law on Financing of Autonomous Communities (LOFCA).
Lesson 9. Conflicts between the State and Autonomous Communities. Appeal to unconstitutionality due to issues of competencies. Specificities of appealing due to the unconstitutionality of Autonomous Community laws. Suspension of Autonomous Community norms. Conflicts of competency. Contestation foreseen in Article 161.2 of the Spanish Constitution. Final political control of the State over Autonomous Communities: obligatory execution clause in Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution.
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Relation between Activities and Contents
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Class participation |
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Case study |
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Test on reading |
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Exam |
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Methodology
Teaching types: Lectures, participatory sessions, analysis of jurisprudence and case study resolution
Teaching-learning methodology: lecture classes and case studies.
Relationship with the competences that the student should acquire: to be able to acquire the assigned competence, students have to base their study on the explanation given by the lecturer in the lecture class on the topic under study; this will provide them with basic conceptual frameworks and make special reference to the problems posed in daily practice. In addition, we will also examine constitutional jurisprudence to foster critical analysis and thereby develop the necessary critical thought for the development of the assigned competence. In the classroom, faculty will promote students' use and handling of the most relevant normative texts.
Bibliography
Short bibliography:
In general, students are advised to use the textbooks and course materials commonly recommended to students studying Constitutional Law in Spanish universities. The following publications are the ones recommended for this programme:
ÁLVAREZ CONDE, E. y TUR, R., Derecho Constitucional, Tecnos, Madrid, 2012.
APARICIO PEREZ, M.A. et al., Manual de Derecho Constitucional. Atelier, Barcelona, 2012.
LÓPEZ GUERRA, L., et al., Derecho Constitucional, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2010.
PÉREZ ROYO, J., Curso de Derecho Constitucional, Marcial Pons, Madrid-Barcelona, 2012
The use of the latest edition of a political law collection is also essential. The most complete publications are published by Aranzadi, Civitas and Tecnos.
Complementary bibliography:
OTTO, I de., Derecho Constitucional. Sistema de fuentes. Ariel, Barcelona, 1987.
AJA, E., El estado autonómico, Alianza, Madrid, 2007.