The evolution of socio-economic constitutional rights conceptions in the context of democratisation processes : the case of Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia

Abstract

This thesis is primarily concerned with examining changes in the conceptual understandings of socio-economic rights in the constitutions of countries that have undergone processes of democratization. In particular, it focuses on the processes of constitution-building, but most importantly on questions such as justiciability of social and economic rights and their materialization in the effective socio-economic policies of democratic states. Through the examination of theories of constitutional interpretation of these rights in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the thesis further explores the argument of a constitutional intra-institutional dialogue. In this sense, the interpretation of socio-economic constitutional rights is not simply read off from the constitution and made into legislation. Instead, it is claimed, there is a dynamic exchange between state institutions where constitutionalization takes place and where parameters are being set for the ultimate aim of the constitutional formulation of these rights, that is, of ascribing to them the attributes of legal rights. The aim of this thesis is to examine the continuous process of the realization and enforcement of socio-economic rights, with respect to the cross-penetration of constitutions and ordinary legislations, judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, constitutional judiciary, other constitutional organs, and governmental and administrative institutions, all of which shape the general performance of the countries in the creation and exercise of social and economic policies. Consequently, the claim of Constitutional Courts' activism in socio-economic matters adjudication is juxtaposed with a broader concept of the constitutional dialogue theory. The interdependent relationship between the state and individual is the subject addressed in the thesis and is used as a theoretical basis for the definition of constitutional socio-economic rights. In particular, three rights are studied in depth: the right to health care, the right to social security and the right to education.