La pandemia e la centralità del fattore «tempo» nel contenzioso tra enti territoriali di fronte alle giurisdizioni costituzionali. Spunti di riflessione tratti da alcune esperienze europee

Abstract

Pandemic and “time” as a key factor of disputes before constitutional courts opposing different levels of government. Considerations drawn from some experiences in Europe – The paper analyzes the impact of the pandemic on the relationships among the different levels of government. The study is carried out focusing on the conflicts that have arisen before some European constitutional courts, namely the Austrian, the Belgian, the German, the Italian, and the Spanish ones. The data emerging from the constitutional case-law show that the number of conflicts settled by the constitutional courts is considerably low. Furthermore, the few rulings delivered by the constitutional courts in a year and a half of pandemic were mostly delivered only in the last few months. This remark demonstrates the limited role that the constitutional courts have played in resolving disputes between the levels of government. On a more general level, this limited role leads to call into question the effectiveness of constitutional justice systems in times of emergency.