SPECIAL WORKSHOP TITLE: Legal Argumentation in Constitutional

Courts
CHAIR: Giovanni Damele, Rachel Herdy
LANGUAGE: English
CONTACT: giovanni.damele@fcsh.unl.pt, rachelherdy@direito.ufrj.br

Chairs:
- Dr. Giovanni Damele, Professor and Post-Doc Fellow, Nova Institute of
Philosophy, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universidade Nova
de Lisboa. Contact: giovanni.damele@fcsh.unl.pt
- Dr. Rachel Herdy, Associate Professor, Legal Theory Department,
National Faculty of Law, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.
Contact: rachelherdy@direito.ufrj.br

The objective of this Special Workshop is to discuss various aspects of legal

argumentation in constitutional courts. We welcome proposals focused on
(but not limited to) the following topics: empirical and comparative studies
on argumentative practices in different constitutional courts; argumentation
in constitutional courts as compared to argumentation in other tribunals or
decision-making settings; institutional factors influencing argumentation in
constitutional courts; different legal actors and their role in the
argumentative practices in constitutional courts; sources of law and
constitutional interpretation; the use of factual arguments in constitutional
courts; types and structures of arguments used in constitutional courts; legal
rhetoric and strategic maneuvering. Critical assessments of previous work on
these topics are also encouraged. We will eventually consider contributions
that address the above-mentioned aspects of legal argumentation in non-
constitutional courts. No particular research method or approach will be
privileged. We are interested in how judges actually decide, as well as how
judges should decide cases in constitutional courts.
Confirmed participants
- Alberto Puppo. Doctor in Analytic Philosophy and General Theory of
Law, University of Milan; Full-Time Professor, Law Academic
Department, Instituto Tecnolgico Autnomo de Mxico. Paper title:
Constitutional Argumentation, Meta-Ethics and Democracy. Contact:
almpuppo@gmail.com
- Eduardo Moreira. Doctor in Philosophy, Universidade Federal do Rio de
Janeiro; Doctor in Law, Pontifical Catholic University of So Paulo;
Associate Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Paper title:
Methodological Syncretism in Constitutional Courts. Contact:
moreira.trp@terra.com.br
- Fernando Leal. Doctor in Law, Christian-Albrechts-Universitt zu Kiel;
Associate Professor, Law School, Fundao Getlio Vargas Rio de
Janeiro. Paper title: Less is more: Against Argumentative Saturation in
Legal Decision-Making Processes. Contact: Fernando.Leal@fgv.br
- Noel Struchiner. Doctor in Philosophy, Pontifcia Universidade Catlica
do Rio de Janeiro; Associate Professor, Pontifcia Universidade Catlica
do Rio de Janeiro. Paper title: Legal Audiences. Contact: noel@puc-
rio.br
- Rachel Herdy. Doctor in Sociology, Universidade do Estado do Rio de
Janeiro; Associate Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.
Paper title: Appeal to Epistemic Authorities in Constitutional Courts: A
Comparative Study. Contact: rachelherdy@direito.ufrj.br
- Thomas Bustamante. Doctor in State Theory and Constitutional Law,
Pontifcia Universidade Catlica do Rio de Janeiro; Associate Professor,
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Paper title: [To be confirmed].
Contact: bustamantethomas@gmail.com

Participation
If you wish to participate, send your proposal with a title and an abstract
with less than 500 words to both chairs of the Workshop until Friday, May
26. All participants will be expected to circulate an extended version of their
submitted abstract at least 2 weeks prior to the Congress. Abstracts and
presentations should be in English.