The modern relevance of juridical interest in Constitutional proceedings and public law affairs

Abstract

The notion of ‘Juridical Interest’ is a well established one in the field of Civil Law. The Courts tend to stress on evaluating whether the parties that appear before it have successfully satisfied the requirement of proper standing. This could be so for various reasons including the fact that to ensure good administration and smooth running of the justice system, the courts cannot constantly deal with vexatious claims.

Lack of legislation and possibly wrong interpretation of the law has led to a transposition of the notion of juridical interest into the realm of public law, and public interest litigation. Through case law and a comparative approach of foreign jurisdictions, including jurisprudence from the ECtHR, this Term Paper seeks to primarily clarify the demarcation between the realms of civil law and public law, stressing that not all procedures should apply across the board, and secondly to examine the most beneficial manner to employ juridical interest in the ambit of Public Law.

The author shall analyse the application of juridical interest in the ‘actio popularis’, human rights action, constitutional measures which may be ultra vires as well as other public law affairs, including judicial review. Furthermore, the author aims to consider the current practice and offer solutions and progressive methods to resolve certain issues that may be imperilling the rule of law.