The Place of History in Fundamental Rights’ Adjudication

This volume explores one of the central tensions of contemporary constitutionalism: the interpretation and balancing of fundamental rights in the light of history and tradition. The essays collected in the book trace how historical consciousness shapes judicial reasoning within pluralistic democracies. Through a comparative lens, the author examines the jurisprudence of the United States Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, revealing both the interpretative premise and the methodological ambiguities of invoking tradition in constitutional adjudication. From the incorporation of fundamental rights in American constitutional law to the Dobbs decision on abortion and the European debates on Holocaust denial, these pages reconstruct the cultural and historical foundations upon which legal meaning rests. The book ultimately argues that the balancing of fundamental rights cannot be confined to the technicalities of judicial craft: it demands a deeper engagement with the living histories from which constitutional ideals draw their force.