María Jesús García Morales

Intergovernmental Relations in Spain and the Constitutional Court Ruling on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia: What’s Next?

The Spanish Constitution (SC) of 1978 represents the advent of democracy in Spain after a long dictatorship and also the construction of a politically decentralised state, the so-called State of Autonomies, formed by the central government, 17 autonomous communities (ACs), and 2 autonomous cities. The territorial decentralisation process in Spain has dismantled a traditionally centralist state, has occurred in parallel with the consolidation of democracy, and moreover has coincided with the integration of Spain in 1986 in the European Union.

Encuesta: el método comparado en Derecho constitucional

En esta encuesta un grupo de Catedraticos de Derecho Constitucional contestan un conjunto de preguntas sobre el uso del metodo comparado en el derecho constitucional espanol, y sobre la influencia de modelos o referentes extranjeros durante el proceso constituyente, en la actividad legislativa y en la del Tribunal Constitucional, asi como tambien algunas preguntas sobre los estudios de derecho constitucional comparado. In this academic survey a group of Constitutional Law Professors answer some questions about the role of the comparative method in the Spanish constitutional law, and the influence of foreign models in the constitutional process, the legislator and the Constitutional Court, as well as about the present situation of comparative constitutional law studies.

Investigación y federalismo: la reforma de la ley fundamental de Bonn de 2014, ¿qué cambia?

Con efectos desde el 1 de enero de 2015, la ultima reforma de la Ley Fundamental de Bonn ha dado una nueva redaccion al parrafo 1 del articulo 91b LFB donde se regulan las relaciones entre la Federacion y los Lander en materia de fomento de la investigacion cientifica. El nuevo precepto ha pretendido resolver las graves consecuencias que habia generado la redaccion que le dio al mismo la gran reforma federal de 2006. Con ello, la reforma de 2014 constituye la respuesta al debate abierto en la ultima decada en Alemania sobre la necesidad de suprimir una regulacion que impedia a la Federacion participar financieramente junto a los Lander en instituciones de investigacion de los centros de ensenanza superior y, en particular, de las Universidades. En este articulo, se analiza el alcance de esta nueva regulacion que ha abierto notables expectativas sobre todo respecto a la mejora de la financiacion de dichos centros, pero tambien interrogantes que deberan concretarse en la practica. Effective as of January 1 2015, the latest reform of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany has redrafted Paragraph 1 of Article 91b of the Basic Law, which regulates the relationships between the Federation and the Lander regarding the promotion of scientific research. The new provision has sought to resolve the serious consequences created by the wording given to same by the great federal reform of 2006. The 2014 reform thus constitutes the response to the open debate in the last decade in Germany on the need to remove a regulation which prevented the Federation from participating financially alongside the Lander in research institutions of higher education establishments and of the Universities in particular. This Article analyses the scope of this new regulation, which has raised significant expectations for improved funding for these establishments, but also questions that will need to be specified in practice.