ABSTRACT
Courts are cornerstone institutions of liberal-democratic constitutionalism. They are at core of liberal-democratic constitutional design and are considered as the most important safeguards for liberal constitutional values. Indeed, liberal-democratic constitutionalism is inconceivable without independent courts. In that regard, Schlegel provides a comparative chapter that sets three case studies within a broader conceptual framework determined by the problems of judicial activism. The chapter concludes by posing the question whether the people are exposed to the emergence of a new conception of the principle ne bis in idem. Kustra-Rogatka explores the shifting role of the Polish Constitutional Court in the context of a process which she defines as ‘illiberal turn’ and ‘counter-constitutional revolution’. The focus of the chapter is on the activist engagement of the Bulgarian Constitutional Court in reshaping the constitutional competences of key state institutions via activist interpretation of constitutional provisions related to emergency situations and to the institutional design of the national defence.
