Constutional Identity in the Practice of the Constutional Courts of Poland and Hungary: Comparative Analysis

Abstract

This study takes into account the ambiguity of understanding the concept of constitutional identity in various judicial doctrines. The authors note significant differences in the interpretation of constitutional identity. The authors also believe that the conceptualization of constitutional identity in Poland and Hungary has a pronounced specificity, both in the approach to defining constitutional identity and in the ways of identifying it. A characteristic feature of the judicial doctrines of Hungary and Poland is the recognition of the importance of factors that go beyond the text of the constitution and the close connection with sovereignty. Whereas in Germany and Italy constitutional identity is constantly based on a certain part of the constitution, in Poland and Hungary its sources are much broader, which opens up the possibility of interpreting constitutionalой identities withinи quite wide limits. All these features, according to the authors, allow us to speak about the rather "defensive" or "confrontational-individualistic" nature of constitutional identity in Hungary and Poland.