The Past, Present, and Future of Legislation with Supermajority

This book revisits the main challenges raised by the implementation of supermajority legislation – a constitutionally prescribed subcategory of statutory norms that covers, at least in principle, the most important fields of legislation, and which is subject to stricter procedural requirements than the ordinary legislative process. The book puts the issue in a broader context, yielding valuable comparative insights.

It lays the theoretical groundwork for the interdisciplinary assessment of supermajority law concepts, which are ranked somewhere between the constitutional and statutory level in the legal pyramid. To cite the most important example, there is still no coherent standard to help constitutional courts decide whether individual statutory provisions should be covered by supermajority legislation or ordinary legislation. The three main points of departure are the following:

Firstly, the book posits that supermajority shall be distinguished from ordinary laws as a separate constitutional concept and a category of legal sources with a legal rank falling clearly under the constitution, but over ordinary laws. The second assumption states that due to several short-comings, the current procedural frameworks of supermajority law could not maximize its efficiency as a constitutional instrument. Other tools might better highlight the role of supermajority laws as safeguards vis-á-vis their currently mostly restrictive character. Thirdly, the book relies on the assumption that the current concept of supermajority law covers an overbroad range of statutes. Therefore, the volume argues for the necessity of narrowing the supermajority legislation to counterbalance the distortive effects of this framework.

In light of these three considerations, more legitimate alternative directions can be identified to further develop the existing main models: the scope of this legal instrument might be diminished; mandatory a priori review might be established; while the reconsideration of the legislative process; or the elaboration of precise contours for the hierarchy of norms might also be necessary.

This book is intended for policymakers, scholars and university students interested in understanding the mechanisms of parliamentary legislation in more depth.