A project of research to highlight the value of the Constitution.
Fernando Simón, professor at Constitutional Law: "We believe that the main constitutional tensions and conflicts of our time are due not so much to the convenience of reforming the Constitution, as to the need to take it seriously".
PhotoManuelCastells/Principal investigators of project, Ángel J. Gómez Montoro and Fernando Simón Yarza.
31 | 01 | 2024
The recovery of the constituent consensus as budget and guarantee of eventual reforms: prospects of success and pending challenges. This is the name of the project of research that will be developed by the professors of Constitutional Law of the School, Angel J. Gómez Montoro and Fernando Simón, with a funding of 24,200 euros from the Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness (MINECO).
The last goal of project: to highlight the value of the fundamental rule after 45 years of its approval. Fernando Simón explains these and other issues of the project.
What is the main goal of project from research?
Over the course of forty-five years, the collective effort made by the Spanish Constitution has made democratic coexistence in Spain possible. As is logical, some deficiencies of the model have also been revealed, making reforms advisable. In general terms, however, we believe that the main constitutional tensions and conflicts of our time are due not so much to the convenience of reforming the Constitution as to the need to take it seriously. With our project of research, we intend to distinguish one from the other. By exploring the fundamental branches that backbone the Constitution, we try to make a realistic diagnosis that puts in value our fundamental rule and shows in which aspects we have moved away, due to a political malpractice and even to a questionable jurisprudence, from the constituent project .
Is the recovery of this constituent consensus possible?
Above all, it is urgent and necessary. Without recovering the constituent consensus, we are doomed to live in an unsustainable tension, and that is something that people do not want.
What obstacles must be overcome to achieve it?
The eagerness of some to sow divisions instead of building bridges and seeking concord is one of the problems. Certainly, polarization is the result of a moral and spiritual crisis that transcends our country, and whose causes should be studied in detail and recognized with honesty and truthfulness. At the same time, in this context of global tension, it is a fact that each country experiences the deterioration of coexistence in a partly different way, in its own way; and that the elements with which to rebuild harmony are not identical in all countries. In Spain, we have a normative framework of coexistence that, less than half a century ago, was widely applauded. Obviously, it is not the panacea for all our social problems, but it is the framework in which they must be solved. We will hardly advance as a society by ignoring or transgressing the constitutional pact of concord that unites us. The fact that we have moved away from the constituent spirit on important points requires us to take a step back to regain consensus. The most recent news is not encouraging on this point, but it is more necessary than ever to reclaim the constituent consensus.
What are the reforms that will require this consensus?
The committee of State indicated some of them some years ago. To give just a few examples, it is worth mentioning the reform of the succession to the throne or some territorial reforms to clarify constitutionally the autonomous model . In other cases, such as that of the Judiciary, what is required is not so much reform as a return to the constituent spirit.
