Doctrine “counter-limits” and doctrine “ultra vires” in the context of protection of national constitutional identity

The article is devoted to the study of the connection between the doctrine of constitutional identity with the doctrine of “counter-limits” and the doctrine of “ultra vires”. All these concepts are applied in the practice of European constitutional courts in cases related to the resolution of conventionally constitutional conflicts. Since the doctrine of “constitutional identity” in domestic theory and practice is in its infancy, in the author’s opinion, it is necessary to take into account the foreign experience of protecting national constitutional identity. And also carefully consider all related concepts, such as the doctrine of counter-limits and the doctrine of “ultra vires”, paying special attention to the topic of their relationship. The author, analyzing the doctrine of “counter-limits” and the doctrine of “ultra vires”, comes to the conclusion that these doctrines, along with other instruments for protecting national constitutional identity (the doctrine of the margin of appreciation), can be used in relation to the dispute between the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the ECHR on “the right of the last word”.

constitutional identity, conventionally constitutional conflicts, constitutional review, the right to the last word, the doctrine of counter-limits, the doctrine of the margin of appreciation, the doctrine of “ultra vires”, the German Constitutional Court, the Italian Constitutional Court, the European Court of Human Rights