O'Cinneide, C;
(2014)
"Zones of Constitutionalisation" and the Regulation of State Power: The Missing Social Dimension to the Irish Constitutional Order.
Dublin University Law Journal
, 37
pp. 322-347.
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Abstract
Constitutions steer and direct the exercise of state power in various ways. In so doing, they mark out a ‘zone of constitutionalisation’, within which substantive legal and/or political constraints are imposed upon the freedom of action otherwise generally enjoyed by the legislative and executive branches of governments. Different constitutional systems map out their zones of constitutionalisation in different ways: Anglo-American states tend to adopt a narrower approach in this regard than do countries in other parts of the democratic world. In particular, Anglo-American constitutional systems usually lack a ‘social dimension’, ie they do not attempt to direct how the executive and legislative branches of government go about giving effect to principles of social justice, in contrast to the systems of many states in continental Europe and the Global South. The Irish constitutional system has at best an attenuated social dimension, reflected in the hollowed-out provisions of the Directive Principles set out in Article 45 of the 1937 Constitution: in this respect, Ireland adheres closely to the standard Anglo-American constitutional template. However, this lack of a social dimension leaves a gap in the framework of Irish constitutionalism, as illustrated by a comparison with Germany and other jurisdictions. As a consequence, it is time that serious debate started as to how the Irish zone of constitutionalisation could be reconfigured so as to accommodate some recognition of the right of individuals to live in ‘material conditions consistent with human dignity’.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | "Zones of Constitutionalisation" and the Regulation of State Power: The Missing Social Dimension to the Irish Constitutional Order |
| Location: | Ireland |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/dubul... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Laws |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1454525 |
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