Mis-rights and Good Intentions. An Examination of the Right to Resistance in Contemporary Constitutions

Abstract

This paper discusses some aspects of the new paradigm of the right to resistance in many contemporary constitutions of Europe and Latin America. First, we analyze the concept and the constitutional  regulation of the right to resistance in many countries. Second, we examine its legal character, that is, whether it is a moral right or a properly legal right. For  certain  authors,  it  is  just  as  plausible  to  consider  the  right  of  resistance  as  strictly legal right, but we think that this argument  is mistaken.  From a broader  perspective,  we are wondering  about the duty to resist against the rule of law, even in the case of powers that appear  formally  respectful  of rules created  by democratic  institutions.  In essence,  it is  a problem of the concept of rights in consolidated  and unconsolidated  democracies.  In this  sense,  we  propose  a perspective  compatible  with  the  rule  of law  that  differentiates between  civil  disobedience  and  right  of resistance,  avoiding  postulate  theories  of rights from  political  philosophy.  In this context  our thesis  is more  civil  disobedience  and less right to resistance.  Finally, the fourth part indicates some conclusions.