System of legal guarantees: functions and institutions of guarantee in Luigi Ferrajoli

Abstract

This text is an essay approaching the theory of the system of legal guarantees developed by Luigi Ferrajoli. According to him, fundamental rights exist because of their constitutional enshrinement, which obliges the ordinary legislator to provide them with the essential guarantees for their practical effectiveness. To guard this effectiveness is the proper function of guarantee institutions in the constitutional state. A function which has been historically neglected, and which in this new context is called to fulfil a role of the greatest importance: the management and guardianship of the area of what may not be politically decided, since it is removed from the discretion of politics.