In the fifth subproject we analyze whether, and if so, to which extent the role of constitutional courts has changed with regard to the organization of public authority. This requires a comparative analysis of the previous role of national constitutional courts in securing the separation of powers and in reviewing legislative acts on the national level. On this basis, we first investigate how the court's role within the national political system has been changing due to TSC, and second how this shift is initiated by the fact that public authority – especially in the realm of TSC – is exercised to an increasing extent on the supranational level. The separation of powers is not limited to the different powers on the national level but includes supranational legislation, jurisprudence and governance. Furthermore, decisions of national courts, governments and legislators can limit the scope of action for corresponding political bodies in other member states. Therefore, we have to take into account a horizontal, transnational dimension of the separation of powers when analyzing the role of constitutional courts with respect to the organization of public powers.
One of the major normative concerns of the research project is the question whether and with regard to which type of conflict the interference of constitutional courts can be justified. The aim is to qualify the legitimate function of constitutional courts in TSC within a transnational, democratic system of checks and balances. The ultimate aim is to evaluate the strategies and normative concepts developed by constitutional courts in order to solve TSC.
In a final step, we want to develop potential procedural solutions for judicial conflict resolution that take into account the transnational structure of public authority within the European judicial realm. In this context, our aim is to create a more inclusive form of conflict resolution by constitutional courts and to involve different constitutional perspectives in a direct dialogue.