ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the importance that such openness has had to provide the European Convention on Human Rights with a super-legislative authority and, above all, what one could call the unexpected consequences of such a success. Openness and resistance are essential keywords to understanding the nature of the so-called post-totalitarian constitutionalism. Openness is precisely one of the most evident features that characterises these texts, and it is possible to find the roots of this phenomenon even earlier, looking back at what, in the 1930s, Mirkine-Guetzévitch called the ‘internationalization of modern constitutions’. The cases of the Portuguese, Spanish and Italian constitutions share the same spirit of openness, as recalled, among others, by Cassese and Stein. The most important confirmation of human rights treaties’ special ranking in Spain is Article 10.2 of the Spanish Constitution, which acknowledges that they provide interpretive guidance in the application of human rights-related constitutional clauses.
