The Use of Foreign Precedents by Constitutional Judges (Hart Studies in Comparative Public Law)

In 2007, the International Association of Constitutional Law established an "Interest Group on the Use of Foreign Precedents by Constitutional Judges" to conduct a survey of the use of foreign precedents by Supreme and Constitutional Courts in deciding constitutional cases. The purpose of the survey was to determine - through empirical analysis employing both quantitative and qualitative indicators - to what extent foreign case law is cited, thereby testing the reliability of studies describing and reporting instances of 'trans-judicial dialogue' between Courts. This also provided useful insight into the extent to which a progressive constitutional convergence may be taking place between common law and civil law traditions. This book - with contributions by scholars from the US, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania - represents jurisdictions belonging to both common law and civil law traditions, as well as countries employing both centralized and decentralized systems of judicial review. The results, published here for the first time, offer the best evidence yet of the existence and extent, of a transnational constitutional dialogue between courts. (Series: Hart Studies in Comparative Public Law - Vol. 1)