European and Constitutional Law (21069)

Year: 2nd
Term: 1
Number of ECTS credits: 6

Syllabus

This course consists of studying the basic concepts of constitutional theory and its projection onto the principles and intuitions of the state established by the 1978 Spanish Constitution, institutional organisation, the system of sources of law and the system of constitutional protection for fundamental rights and freedoms.

On completing the course students will understand the legal significance of the concept of constitution and the guarantees of its supremacy. Likewise, they will know about the main institutions which exercise state power and the system of sources of law. Finally, students will know the basic notions of the system of constitutional protection for fundamental rights and how it interlaces with international systems of protection for human rights. To follow the course students need to develop skills in the understanding and analysis of legal texts, jurisprudence and doctrinal articles, as well as the ability to apply the structures of constitutional argument to conflict resolution and institutional critique.

CONTENTS SECTION I. Constitutional organisation of the state and sources of law

Topic 1. The constitution as a supreme regulation

Topic 2. The guarantees of the supremacy of the constitution

Topic 3. The organisation of state power

Topic 4. The sources of law

 

CONTENTS SECTION II. The protection of fundamental rights

Topic 5. Fundamental rights

Topic 6. The fundamental rights in the 1978 Spanish Constitution

Topic 7. Fundamental rights in Europe and their projection in the Spanish legal system

Topic 8. The rights to personal freedom, effective legal guardianship and the principle of criminal law

The right to personal freedom and habeas corpus. The right to effective legal guardianship without defencelessness. Procedural guarantees. The fundamental right to an impartial judge. The principle of legality in criminal and matters of sanction. The rehabilitation aims of custodial sentences.