On Wednesday, 9 May 2012, Àlex Bas, a member of the Statutory Rights Council of the Catalan government, gave a lecture to UIC law students as part of the continuing education programme. The talk was titled "Legislating in turbulent times: constitutional principles in parentheses? (A comparative overview)".
During
his lecture, Professor Bas set out to
demonstrate the constant state of uncertainty we find ourselves in these days.
He said, “From a legal point of view, we don't really know where we are
heading. We are constantly waiting to find out what will happen next week”. To
illustrate his point, he compared the situation to the cliffhangers found at
the end of long television series.
Running
through the history of constitutionalism, from the formation of key laws, Bas
talked about the changes in the foundations of the welfare state:
constitutionalism and codification. He went on to say, “It seems to be changing
and starting to flounder. An obvious example is the rapid reform of the Spanish
Constitution that took place over a period of three weeks last August compared
to the slow statutory process that has been going on for over three years”.
Bas
concluded that we have entered a new era full of challenges for the legal
profession in which the new generation of lawyers will play a vital role.
