Defensive Democracy and Human Dignity: Means to an End. A Look at the Romanian Case
Defensive Democracy and Human Dignity: Means to an End. A Look at the Romanian Case
Author(s): Elena Mădălina NicaSubject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Published by: Editura Universitatii Transilvania din Brasov
Keywords: defensive democracy; militant democracy; human dignity; liberal constitutional democracy; Romanian Constitutional Court; Decision no. 355 of 10 July 2025; freedom of expression; abuse of right; art. 17 ECHR;
Summary/Abstract: In its practice of militant democracy in 2024, the Constitutional Court of Romania did not explicitly refer to human dignity as a justification for the judicial outcome. In 2025 the Court expressly advanced human dignity, “the foundation of constitutional democracy”, as a legal argument to justify the constitutionality of amendments and supplements of criminal law provisions sanctioning, inter alia, expression. The Court activated, as a first, art. 17 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of abuse of right) and, in relation to it, quoted the Strasbourg Court on the notion of defensive democracy, thus contributing to a beneficial dialogue on human dignity in the logic of defensive liberal democracy in Romania.
Journal: Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov, Series VII: Social Sciences and Law
- Issue Year: 18/2025
- Issue No: Suppl
- Page Range: 353-362
- Page Count: 10
- Language: English
