Constitutions, Courts and History
Historical Narratives in Constitutional Adjudication
Renáta Uitz is Assistant Professor of
Comparative Constitutional Law in the Legal Studies
Department at Central European University.
Emphasizes the role history and historical narratives
play in constitutional adjudication. Uitz provocatively
draws attention to the often-tense relationship between
the constitution and historical precedence highlighting
the interpretive and normative nature of the law. Her
work seeks to understand the conditions under which
references to the past, history and traditions are attractive
to lawyers, even when they have the potential of perpetuating
indeterminacy in constitutional reasoning. Uitz conclusively
argues that this constitutional indeterminacy is obscured
by 'judicial rhetorical toolkits' of continuity and
reconciliation that allow the court's reliance on the
past to be unaccounted for. Uitz' rigorous analysis
and extensive research makes this work an asset to legal
scholars and practitioners alike.
The inquiry in this volume hopes to attract observers
of constitutional adjudication, may they be reading
constitutional jurisprudence from the quarters of constitutional
law, constitutional history, political science or history
departments.
""... focuses on the concept of historical
narrative, the role played by the history and traditions
of a people or nation... views supreme judicial decision
making when courts look to
history for continuity and stability, including many
comparative examples. Relying on French, Canadian, Hungarian,
and Czech examples, the author shows that reliance on
history may serve a legitimating purpose, but may also
be deceptive. Summing Up: Recommended. Comparative law
collections; graduate students, researchers, faculty,
and
practitioners. - Choice
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements; Introduction
Constitutional Adjudication Haunted by Indeterminacy
Chapter One Historical Narratives in Constitutional
Reasoning: Intuitions and Myths Revisited Chapter
Two An Overview of Arguments Used in Constitutional
Adjudication Chapter Three The Constitutional
Text in the Light of History Chapter Four Behind
Historical Narratives: The Promise of Continuity Chapter
Five The Fruits of Reconciliation: A Bittersweet
Harvest Conclusion, Index
2005
354 pages
ISBN 978-963-7326-32-5 cloth $47.95 / €35.95 /
£32.00
ISBN 978-963-7326-03-5 paperback $24.95
/ € 19.95 / £16.99
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