Judicial Protection of Fundamental Rights

The implementation and enforcement of fundamental rights through judicial protection, national individual complaints procedures, non-judicial remedies and the international level of human rights conventions is a crucial element in legal systems. The objects of judicial control for the protection of fundamental rights are acts emanating from state powers, i.e. judicial control of norms is presented in various forms, e.g. abstract control of norms and concrete control of norms. The essential requirements for the admissibility of individual or constitutional complaints are also discussed. Constitutional complaints may be lodged by individuals and by legitimate bodies. Individual constitutional complaints are identified in the chapter as the most prominent element of constitutional review for the protection of fundamental rights. The exhaustion of all legal remedies before filing a constitutional complaint is a legal rule that is in line with the principle of subsidiarity. Quasi-judicial remedies are mainly provided by ombudspersons, who have a wide range of functions, including the protection of fundamental rights as an instrument of preventive supervision and monitoring of executive acts. The chapter concludes by noting that the judicial protection of fundamental rights takes different forms and modalities in national constitutional systems. Even though mostly retroactive, judicial protection against all acts, whether through the courts or in the form of individual constitutional complaints, is an effective safeguard against infringements of fundamental rights.