Prospects and Limits of Constitutional Oversight of Legislative Omission
Considering divergent jurists' opinions and interpretation of the legislator's omitting intent (A Descriptive Analytical Study – Multidisciplinary Perspective)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.68825/m8ssmk53Keywords:
Legislative omission, constitutional review, constitutional adjudication, legislative intentAbstract
The phenomenon of legislative omission is considered perplexing in the legal community, as it has generated divergent opinions among legal scholars and in comparative constitutional jurisprudence from multiple perspectives. These include its content and definition, its types, forms, and manifestations, its causes and motivations, and the extent to which constitutional review of legislative omission is permissible in general, and the distinction between partial and total omission in particular. This is especially true given the lack of understanding of the legislator's intent behind such omissions and the failure to deduce their underlying causes and motivations, which could help in assessing the appropriate stance, determining whether there is a necessity of constitutional review or not, and deciding the suitable penalty.
This research aims to describe and analyze the phenomenon of legislative omission, its definitions, and the various jurisprudential opinions surrounding it. It employs methods of analogy, correlation, and synthesis between different concepts and theories in an attempt to reconcile the opinions of jurists and bridge differing perspectives on the definition of legislative omission and its various types, both partial and total. Furthermore, it seeks to find a way to interpret the legislator's intent behind such omissions and their causes by analogy with the interpretation of laws and legislation. This will enable the development of a sound understanding and a valid opinion regarding the permissibility of constitutional review of both partial and total legislative omissions, and the types of rulings—declaratory, prescriptive, supplementary, or remedial—that the constitutional judiciary deems appropriate to address these omissions considering its interpretation of the legislator's intent.
This research examines the definitions and various types of legislative omission, then explores its causes and distinguishes it from other related legal phenomena, such as usurpation of legislative authority, negative legislative authority, legislative deficiency, and legislative deviation. It then addresses the topics of methods of constitutional review of legislative omissions, both partial and total, and the rulings issued by constitutional courts when addressing such omissions. These rulings include instructive, interpretative, supplementary, and exculpatory judgments. The study also presents and analyzes the opinions of legal scholars regarding the permissibility of constitutional review of legislative omissions and methods of interpreting the legislator's intent.
The research concludes that the divergent views of legal scholars regarding the permissibility of constitutional review over legislative omission—whether partial or total—can be reconciled. This is achieved by first reframing a "total legislative omission" concerning a specific matter as a "partial legislative omission." This reframing employs a mathematical "relative" approach—drawing an analogy or comparison with a broader, more comprehensive issue than the original one. Consequently, the situation shifts from a total omission to a partial or relative one in relation to this new, broader context—a scenario where there is scholarly consensus on the permissibility of constitutional review.
Furthermore, the research finds that applying this mathematical relative analogy to characterize legislative omission - and viewing it from multiple angles by comparing it to broader legislation - does more than just resolve debates surrounding the terminology and classification of legislative omission in comparative legal scholarship and jurisprudence. It also aids in interpreting the legislator's intent behind the omission and facilitates a solution to the problem posed by total legislative omission. Specifically, it addresses the argument that no sanction can be imposed because the legislation in question has not yet been enacted; by relating the omission to a broader issue for which legislation has already been enacted, the constitutional court can impose a sanction on that broader legislation. This allows the court to alert the legislator or issue other appropriate rulings to remedy the omission, guided by its interpretation of the legislator's intent.
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III. Law and Legislation
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