Abstract

In this Forum, Alessandro Ferrara provides a critical appraisal of Luigi Ferrajoli's «rights-protecting» approach to democratic constitutionalism and raises four points for discussion: a) the role of interpretation within adjudication; b) the way in which the separation of the legislative and judicial branches of government should be understood, in the light of a notion of adjudication receptive to the interpretive moment in adjudication; c) the need to focus on a comparative assessment of «constitutional rigidity» and on the foundations of the substantive legitimation of a constitution; d) the relation of Ferrajoli's democratic constitutionalism and democracy. Ferrajoli offers a comprehensive response on all the critical points raised and further spells out his understanding of the legitimacy of a constitution and of its relation to democratic consensus.