The semantics of constitutional sovereignty in post-sovereign "new" Europe: A case study of the Czech Constitutional Court's jurisprudence

Abstract

The article discusses recent constitutional developments and conflicts in the Czech Republic. These are used as an example of the semantic persistence of sovereignty and the new jurisprudence emerging in the post-sovereign constellation of the European Union. After a brief introduction to the problem of sovereignty in the EU and its member states, constitutional conflicts in the Czech Republic at the time of the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty are analysed to show different conceptualizations of sovereignty by different constitutional bodies. In this struggle, the Czech Constitutional Court eventually formulated the concept of sovereignty as part of political and legal globalization. The Court considers sovereignty as an instrument for achieving the post-national rule of law and constitutional accountability beyond the classical notions of international politics and state organization. This approach is profoundly different, for instance, from the German Federal Constitutional Court’s more traditional dualistic perspective of national and European law. It also has not been affected by the Czech Constitutional Court’s recent conflict with the Court of Justice of the EU in the Landtova case. The article, therefore, concludes by stating that the Court’s doctrine of sovereignty significantly contributes to the Court’s tradition of fundamental value judgments and interventions.