Derecho Constitucional II (GED70060)

General information

Type:	OB	Curs:	1	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	5 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Sec: A	Elia Marzal Yetano	Derecho	ESP

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Sec: B	Elia Marzal Yetano	Derecho	ESP

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Sec: C	Elia Marzal Yetano	Derecho	ESP

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Sec: D	Elia Marzal Yetano	Derecho	ESP

Workload distribution:

- Classroom activities: approx. 40% of total credits
- Guided activities: approx. 20% of credits
- Independent study: approx. 40% of credits

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.

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.

3. Taking decisions / making judgments

21. To acquire values and ethic principles

1. Constitution and the sources of Law Lesson 1. The system of the sources of Law. The source of Law concept. 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. Constitutional principles on the legal structure (Article 9.3, Constitution) 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 reform: initiation, proceedings and limits. Constitutional interpretation. Lesson 3. Relation between the Spanish legal system and European and international systems. International treaties: types of treaties according to the Constitution. Position in the system of sources and incorporation into national Law. Original and derived law: a brief examination of the European Union's sources. Article 93 in the Spanish Constitution and relation between the EU and Spanish legal systems: direct effect, primacy of EU law and institutional independence. Lesson 4. Law: types of laws and parliamentary regulations. The Liberal concept of Law and its crisis. The notion of laws within the Constitution. Legal discretion. Ordinary law. Legislative proceedings: phases and specialisations. Types of laws in the Constitution: organic laws, budgetary laws, and other types (remission). Parliamentary regulations. Lesson 5. Government norms: Government norms as legally-binding. Legislative decrees in the Constitution and in practice. Enabling assumptions, material limits and parliamentary intervention. Legislative delegation and legislative decrees: types of delegation, limits and constitutional requirements. Problems with controling legislative delegation. The Government's power to regulate. Regulation concept and types. Their relation with the principle of legality. Lesson 6. Control over the constitutionality of legally binding norms: the role, object, type of control and control parameters. Appeal due to unconstitutionality: legitimation and proceedings. The question of unconstitutionality: legitimation, proceedings to raise the question and the Constitutional Court's acceptance to review. Parts of the constitutional process. Self-questioning unconstitutionality. Prior control over international treaties. Conflicts in defence of local autonomy. Types of sentences, their content and effects.

2. Autonomous Community regime Lesson 7. The State of Autonomous Communities. Origin. General Traits. Principles: unity, autonomy and solidarity. Evolution of the State of Autonomous Communities. Local autonomy. Lesson 8. The 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. Constitutional nature and function of Statutes. Statutes 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 national 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 9. System of competencies (or powers). Concept of competencies and their delimitation. Types of competencies: exclusive, shared (basic laws and developments), executive, and others. The system to distribute competencies between the State and Autonomous Communities. Constitutionality. 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. 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 10. 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 over 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.

ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN

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, 2015.
APARICIO PEREZ, M.A. et al., Manual de Derecho Constitucional. Atelier, Barcelona, 2012.
CASTELLÀ ANDREU, J. M. (ed.), Derecho constitucional básico, Huygens, Barcelona, 2015.
LÓPEZ GUERRA, L., et al., Derecho Constitucional, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2013.
PÉREZ ROYO, J., Curso de Derecho Constitucional, Marcial Pons, Madrid-Barcelona, 2014.

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., Estado autonómico y reforma federal, Alianza, Madrid, 2014.

Group	Teacher	Department
Sec: A	Elia Marzal Yetano	Derecho

Group	Teacher	Department
Sec: B	Elia Marzal Yetano	Derecho

Group	Teacher	Department
Sec: C	Elia Marzal Yetano	Derecho

Group	Teacher	Department
Sec: D	Elia Marzal Yetano	Derecho