Between justice and politics: the role of the Spanish Constitutional Court in the state of autonomies

Abstract

This study focuses on the role of the Spanish Constitutional Court in the state of autonomies from 1980 to 2014. It questions the evolution of the Court in two fields. Firstly, it demonstrates that the Court profoundly shaped the contours of the devolution process through a dynamic of ‘judicialization’. Secondly, this research analyses the politicization process of constitutional justice by territorial actors. This dynamic led to the quasi-paralyzation of the Constitutional Court from 2008 to 2012 through the ruling of the reform of the Catalan statute. This article concludes the Court can be best interpreted as a ‘trustee’ aspiring to remain an independent arbiter within a framework lacking alternative fora for regulating intergovernmental relations.