The identity of the constitution and constitutional identity Opening up a discourse between the Global South and Global North

Abstract

The paper is an invitation to start a public law oriented discourse about the legal concept of “constitutional identity”, which conceived here as the “identity of the constitution”. It is seen as a part of the constitution, with which the constituent people/nation can identify with as they created it in the course of constitution-making and constitutional amendment, or which the constitutional interpretation shaped. Provisions that are entrenched by eternity clauses and a multi-tier system of constitutional amendments help to locate the identity of the constitution. This contribution uses the constitutional identity of Hungary as a model to illustrate how and why constitutional identity could become detrimental, with some other EU Member States (Germany and Italy, together with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)) exemplifying at the same time how the very same constitutional identity can be used to further unify and consolidate European integration. Based on these of trains of thought, public discourse about the interrelationship and interdependency of constitutional identity (a non-legal term) and the identity of the constitution (a legal concept) may take place in which experiences of the Global South should feature.