Chairs
• Thomas ACAR thomas.acar@u-bordeaux.fr
• Carolina CERDA-GUZMAN carolina.cerda
• Hector GONZALEZ hector.gonzalez@ubordeaux.fr

SPEAKERS

Hugo	Flavier
José Raymundo	Díaz Fernández
Rodrigo	UPRIMNY YEPES
William	Zambrano-Cetina

The concept of constituent power is a recurring theme in constitutional doctrine. Linked to that of popular sovereignty, it permeates seminal texts of our discipline, including The Social Contract by J.J. Rousseau, The Federalist Papers by J. Madison, A. Hamilton, and J. Jay, What is the Third Estate? by E-J. Sieyès, and Carl Schmitt’s Constitutional Theory. We owe to them the classic dichotomy between two forms of constituent power. The first is responsible for drafting and establishing the Constitution; this is the original constituent power. The second has the function of amending the Constitution according to a procedure and within limits set by the first; this is the derived constituent power.

However, the concept of constituent power has always aroused suspicion among jurists, particularly positivists. Raymond Carré de Malberg went so far as to consider that ‘there is no place in public law for a chapter devoted to a legal theory of coups d’état or revolutions and their effects’.

Despite these criticisms, the concept of constituent power is a fertile subject that is currently undergoing renewed consideration. It is presently undergoing transformations that reveal tensions both within the theory itself and between theory and constitutional practice. These tensions raise questions that cannot fail to challenge constitutionalists. Can we still speak of the uniqueness of constituent power? How can we consider the existence of legal constraints on the exercise of constituent power? How can we design a constituent power that meets the requirements of sustainable constitutionalism?

The theory of constituent power is set to be renewed by contemporary constitutional experiences, constitutional jurisprudence, and the theoretical developments that feed into it. It is precisely with this in mind that this workshop has been organised. Recent constituent movements in Latin America, such as in Chile and El Salvador, or those to come, notably in Bangladesh or Sudan, and the issues that underlie them, justify re-examining the question of constituent power in its various aspects. Moreover, they require legal scholars to renew their frameworks of thought.