Judicial Activism Against Austeriy in Portugal
International Journal of Constitutional Law Blog, Dec. 3, 2013
17 Pages Posted: 11 Dec 2018
Date Written: 2013
Abstract
An Essay posted in late 2013 on I-COnect critiquing the case law of the Portuguese Constitutional Court on the austerity measures implemented by the Portuguese Government (especially the pay cuts in the public sector) under the so-called Adjustment Program.
This essay articulates a critique of the activism of the Portuguese Constitutional Court against the austerity policies carried out by the Portuguese Government in 2012 and 2013. It relies on the case law concerning the policy of pay cuts in the public sector to illustrate four jurisprudential flaws in the Court’s operation as a ‘Forum of Principle’: unfairness, unpredictability, illegitimacy, and insularity. These errors not only deprive the Court’s agency during the financial crisis of any merit but also attract the negative attention of external lenders which in turn increases the pressure on the domestic political mainstream to take steps that might jeopardize the future of the rule of law in the country.
Keywords: Austerity, Financial Crisis, Judicial Activism
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