Notes on the constitution of the public law in the modern age: the doctrine of the basic laws

Abstract

Unlike the old concept of "fundamental law", the contemporary idea of "constitution" is not suitable to describe the institutional life of the Ancien Régime. Even though it was created to limit monarchical power, the concept of "fundamental law" could be politically used not only by the opponents of Absolutism, but also by its supporters. The concept spread quickly, contributing to the development of a new conception of king/subject relations, according to which Law and Crown begun also to be identified with the "State". The idea of "fundamental law" stimulated the interest for the positive norm and for the legal history of each individual country. lt gave modern public law one of its basic references and legitimated the autonomy of public law itself. The substitution of the "fundamental law" by the "constitution" retlected the passage from the Ancien Régime to Liberalism.