Comparative Constitutional Law (LAW411H1F)

At present there is an unprecedented and ongoing world-wide conversation about how to resolve contentious constitutional questions. There is, in other words, more convergence over answers to constitutional questions and less divergence than has been seen in modern times. A part of that conversation concerns which precedents, issuing out of which jurisdictions, provide models for judicial decision making and which should be strenuously avoided.   

This seminar will examine a sub-set of what might be called the comparative constitutional law canon. Of interest will be the various jurisdictions and cases that serve as both models of constitutional analysis and as anti-models. The focus for discussion this year will be on the role of courts in protecting democracy, with a special emphasis on democratic transition and democratic backsliding. Selected regional approaches, some constitutional theory, and historic moments that inform contemporary constitutional analysis will be examined.