(photo: Jure Eržen)
What we think we know and believe to be true, and what we are convinced we know and understand, may in fact be completely different because we are mistaken. This is usually the case. The vast majority of people are constantly mistaken about the vast majority of things. This mistake can be corrected, but it is difficult.
Introduction
Andraž Teršek holds a Doctorate in (constitutional) law from Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. As a legal theoretician and philosopher, but above all as a modern constitutionalist, he is a representative of the legal avant-garde. He worked for ten years as a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Since 2008 he has been a university professor at the Faculty of Education and at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Primorska (Koper), where he teaches Media Law, Law and Ethics in Education, and Active Critical Citizenship. Until 2021 he was also employed at the European Faculty of Law, New University (Ljubljana & Nova Gorica), where he has been teaching Constitutional Law and Theory and practice of the Welfare State. In his lectures, he combines constitutional law, legal theory and practice, ethics, philosophy, political science, psychology, educational sciences and active critical citizenship. He is the author of several scientific and professional monographs, the editor of several thematic scientific collections of papers and the author of numerous scientific, professional and popular-science articles. As an active critical citizen and “political animal” (in the Aristotelian sense), he works with frequent public appearances in the form of newspaper articles, commentaries, interviews, round table discussions, and lectures. For several years he was an assistant editor at the first Slovenian scientific journal for human rights DIGNITAS. He designed and co-founded the first Slovenian scientific journal for constitutional law and philosophy of law REVUS. In 2013 and 2016 he received the “Prometheus of Science – for outstanding achievements in communicating science” award. He is counted among the “Ten most influential lawyers.” In 2014 he published his literary debut “Brutalci” (Brutals, published by UMco), and in 2018 the book of philosophical poetry “Razmetanost pozlačenega drobca” (Scattering of Gilded Crumb, published by Primus). In June 2020, the President of the Republic of Slovenia nominated him for the office of Judge of the Constitutional Court Republic of Slovenia to the National Assembly. He was not elected to this office, although he was publicly assured and promised a firm majority of votes – at least 50. He received only 42 votes (of the required 46), and 8 ballots were invalid. As a rebel against mainstream ideology and a vocal critic of the government’s pandemic measures, including mRNA vaccines, he was forced to end academic career in 2022. He is the founder and president of the Institute Constitutionalist – Law Institute Dr. Andraž Teršek.
(photo: BoBo)
(photo: Jože Suhadolnik)
Born in 1975, Professor of Constitutional Law, Media Law and Law and Ethics in Educational Sciences at the Faculty of Education & Faculty of Humanities, University of Primorska (Koper) and at the European Faculty of Law, New University (Nova Gorica).
- Holds the Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Constitutional Law from the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana (2006).
- Began an academic career as a Teaching Assistant at the Department of Theory and Sociology of Law at Faculty of Law in Ljubljana; 1999 – 2008.
- Faculty Prize for Excellent Final Paper (1998)
- Best Young Lawyer Reward (2002)
- Former assistant editor of the Dignitas – The Slovenian Journal for Human Rights
- Co-founder and first editor of Revus – Journal for Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law(https://journals.openedition.org/revus/ ).
- Editor of several collections of scientific papers: Legal Questions about the Beginning and End of Life. Abortion and Euthanasia; Human Dignity and Mental Health; Ethics-Selected Issus in Medicine, Sports, and Law);
- Author of several monographs (Freedom of Expression (2007), Constitutional Democracy and the Rule of Law (2009), (co-author) Preludium of Democracy – Civil Society and the Freedom of Public Communication; Theory of Legitimacy and Modern Constitutionalism (2014), Ignorantia Iuris Nocet-The Critique of Legal Practice 1 & 2 (2015 / 2016), The Lawyers’ Constitutionality. The Right to a Lawyer and the Lawyers’ Rights (2015), (co-author) Political Alternatives Today (2015); Social Constitutional Democracy (2017), Ethics of Politics: Essayist Commentary of the Constitution, With the New Constitution (2018); Freedom of Expression, Media and Democracy in Post-Factual Society (2018)), Freedom of Expression (2020), Thinking and Instructive About Today’s Society (2020), Return to the Constitutional Past (2020)).
- Author of numerous scientific articles, essays and research papers, professional and newspaper articles.
- The most common research and lecture topics: Constitutional Law, Constitutional Adjudication, Freedom of Expression, Constitutional Democracy and New Constitutionalism; Social State (Welfare State), Constitutional Lawmaking, Political Ethics and Pluralism; Political Theory & Philosophy, Commenting the Constitutional Court decisions and ECtHR case-law.
- Employed at the Faculty of Education (Koper), Faculty of Humanities (Koper), Faculty for Tourism (Koper) (all at the University of Primorska, Koper) and at the European Faculty of Law in Ljubljana and Nova Gorica (New University).
- Co-founder and first president of the Club Revus –European Democracy and Constitutionality Research Centre; former research scientist at the Institute Andrej Marušič in Koper (Faculty for Mathematics, Natural Science and Information Technologies Koper; Department for Suicidiology); former Head of the Centre for Single Science and Development at the Institute Andrej Marušič.
- Received (two times) an academic award “Prometheus of Science – for excellence in communicating science,” presented by the Scientific Foundation at the Slovenian Academy for Sciences and Arts.
- In 2014 he published his first novel Brutalci (Brutals) (UMco Publishing). In 2018 he published his first book of poetics Razmetanost pozlačenega drobca (Scattering of gilded crumb) (Primus Publishing).
- A regular member of the official national list “Ten most influential lawyers,” sponsored by the biggest national media for national legal community IUS INFO.
- Currently teaching: Theory and Practice of Social State and Constitutional Law at the European Faculty of Law (New University in Ljubljana & Nova Gorica); Law and Ethics in Educational Science at the Faculty of Education and Media Law at the Faculty of Humanities (University of Primorska in Koper).
- In July 2020, the President of the Republic of Slovenia proposed him to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia as a candidate for the vacant position of a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia. Prior to the vote, parliamentary parties (coalition & opposition) promised him and publicly announced full majority support. In the vote itself, eight MPs from these parties cast invalid ballots, so he was not elected. In this regard he filed a constitutional complaint against the President of the Republic of Slovenia and application for the constitutional overview of the National Assembly Procedures Act at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia. As the Constitutional Court did not want to consider his application and complaint as an “absolute priorities,” he withdrew from the application and complaint.
In the extract of the letter sent to the Constitutional Court on 14 August 2020, in which he withdrew both the initiative to review the constitutionality of the provisions of the National Assembly Rules on Procedures and the constitutional complaint, addressed to the Slovenian public, he wrote:
“The esteemed and respected Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia did not want to consider my application and complaint as an “absolute priority.” I accept this with understanding. Since it is already the second part of the August and the deadline for filing new candidacies for one empty seat at the CC is approaching fast (11.9.2020) there is no available time left for the constitutional issues I raised in my application to the CC to be resolved and clarified properly and in balance with the Constitution, before the procedure – for registering the candidatures, nominating a new candidate and voting on new candidate – officially begins. Available time to assure the constitutionality of this procedure and consequently the political practice as a whole has – realistically speaking – expired. Therefore, I do not wish to complicate the procedure for new candidates. So I am leaving the worry about the legal and, in particular, the constitutional future of the provisions of the Rules of Procedure that regulate the issue of ‘electoral secrecy’ to others: individuals, public officials and public institutions. I have therefore withdrawn the CONSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVE, WITH AN IMPLIED CONSTITUTIONAL COMPLAINT, in case U-I-343/20-3, today, on the 14th of August 2020. I wish the President of the Republic a successful work and a good selection, the future candidates the least burdensome and most successful candidacy and the Constitutional Court an exemplary constitutional work. Andraž Teršek “
Echrcaselaw comment
We have the pleasure of posting an article with excellent content in our blog. The author, Professor Andraž Teršek, has quite a penetrating way of analyzing national and European constitutional issues, combining his scientific analysis and knowledge with the European Convention on Human Rights in depth. His scientific contribution to the promotion of individual and constitutional fundamental rights is very honorable for the contemporary European legal culture as well for Slovenia.
Editor of the ECHRCASELAW.com Blog, Vassilis Chirdaris, Greece
Greetings Andraž,
Thank you for sending me your papers. I have read both with great interest, especially the one on constitutional amendments.
You make a strong case for the unconstitutional constitutional amendments doctrine, though I still believe that this doctrine is problematic and should not be applied, with perhaps a few exceptions, though only rarely, if ever.
Still, I enjoyed reading your perspectives on it.
My sincere thanks for sharing these papers with me.
Richard Albert
Razmetanost pozlačenega drobca / The Scattering of a Gilded Crumb
The extensive volume of poetry The Scattering of a Gilded Crumb deals with the same subject as his novel debut “Brutals” and at several points underlines the realization that democracy is only “conceptual confusion,” while people are “slaves, submissively nailed to the boards of bondage, humiliation and dignity”.
Brutalci. To ni ta roman o nas / Brutals. This is not that novel about us.
Brutal; an individual who is different and can be characterized by being different, even eccentric, but in the positive sense of the word. A man who raises smoke, because of his difference, and other people run into him like wasps, and is attacked by psychopaths, sociopaths, crackpots, poor, rough, indulgent, liars, incompetent, soulless, cheats, naked formalists, ivory columnists, public performers, professional entertainers, lunatics, etc. A man who goes through life intelligently.
