Dissertation von Dr. Jakob Gašperin Wischhoff
Dr. Jakob Gašperin Wischhoff: "Rethinking National Constitutional Identity in the EU"
Shedding Light on Identity Claims Through Civil Disobedience and Conscientious Objection
National constitutional identity articulates constitutional conflicts between national and supranational legal orders, manifesting as judicial resistance against the (primacy of) EU law. This dissertation critically engages with national constitutional identity at the level of constitutional theory and through a detailed analysis of its practical application, as interpreted by the CJEU and apex courts across the Member States. Furthermore, it introduces a novel framework of ‘identity clusters’, which evaluates identity claims based on their justificatory reasons or underlying rationales. Finally, it draws a structural comparison between claims of national constitutional identity and the concepts of civil disobedience and conscientious objection. On one hand, similar to civil disobedience, identity claims highlight deficiencies in the legal system and resist EU law until these deficiencies are addressed. On the other hand, in relation to conscientious objection, identity claims emphasize individual circumstances that cannot be reconciled within the broader legal framework.
Dissertation an der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, 2023