Reply To: Article 1 should (not) link to external legal documents

[Giuseppe Martinico]

The Norwegian case is radically different from ours, because in Norway they introduced a catalogue of rights after constitutional reforms (http://www.iconnectblog.com/2015/06/norway-human-rights-and-judicial-review-constitutionalized/), whereas here we have no provisions on rights in the text of the constitution, so we have to refer to the Charter of Fundamental Rights. If we do not recognise the constitutional value of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, we will undermine the strength of fundamental rights. Yes, it will bind lawmakers but this is what constitutions normally do and this is how the judicial review of legislation works. Courts rely on the constitution to declare the invalidity of pieces of legislation that are seen as in conflict with fundamental rights.