Politiikan vaikutus perustuslain tulkintaan – esimerkkinä lakien ennakollinen perustuslainmukaisuuden valvonta perustuslakivaliokunnassa

Författare

  • Maija Dahlberg Itä-Suomen yliopisto

Abstract

The influence of politics on constitutional interpretation – Ex ante
constitutional review by the Constitutional Law Committee as an example

In this article, I analyse the interplay between law and politics in ex ante constitutional review in Finland. I use the Finnish ex ante non-judicial constitutional review as an example of a process in which the influence of politics on constitutional interpretations is an integral element. In this case, the body responsible for the constitutional review of forthcoming legislation is a parliamentary committee – the Constitutional Law Committee (CLC) – which consists of Members of Parliament. Interestingly, however, Finnish constitutional custom requires CLC members to base their interpretations on legal argumentation and set aside their political interests. In this article, I study empirically how law and politics interact in constitutional interpretations through a qualitative case study incorporating 49 semi-structured interviews with key actors involved in the work of the CLC. More precisely, I analyse how the distinction between law and politics is understood in constitutional interpretation by the key actors themselves, and whether constitutional interpretation entails features of both political and legal decision-making. In order to do so, I draw on interviews with (a) MPs who have worked in the CLC, (b) secretaries of the CLC, and (c) legal experts who have acted as external advisors to the CLC.

Sektion
Artikkeleita

Publicerad

2024-06-13

Referera så här

Dahlberg, M. (2024). Politiikan vaikutus perustuslain tulkintaan – esimerkkinä lakien ennakollinen perustuslainmukaisuuden valvonta perustuslakivaliokunnassa. Lakimies, 122(3-4), 364–387. Hämtad från https://journal.fi/lakimies/article/view/143562