Chapter 4 examines the role of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, which in the first decade of its operation (from 1993 to the beginning of the new millennium) dealt mainly with the protection of fundamental rights, as well as with cases concerning transitional justice. With reference to this matter, the Court was called on to rule on particularly divisive issues concerning the country’s past, such as the law on the illegitimacy of the Communist regime, the laws on the restitution of property, as well as the “lustration laws,” which were aimed at preventing individuals involved with the Communist regime, or considered to be in favor of a return to Communism, from occupying higher positions in the state apparatus for a certain period. Compared to the previous generations, a distinguishing feature of this third generation of courts is the interplay between the democratic transition, constitutional justice, and accession to the Council of Europe and the European Union.

Chapter 2 analyzes the role played by the Italian Constitutional Court. This court belongs to the first generation of constitutional courts, and as a result its configuration and role at the time when it was established were largely experimental, if not a leap in the dark. The constitutional judges, especially during the initial phase (from 1956 until the end of the 1960s) focused on the elimination of the Fascist legislation that continued to severely constrain civil, political, religious, and social liberties. In this way the court made a break with the past, as it contributed to putting an end to the continuity between Fascism and post-Fascism, at least from a legislative point of view. Indeed, with the striking down of Fascist legislation and the upholding of constitutional rights and freedoms the country experienced a transition from an “uncertain” democracy (that was the case in Italy in 1956) to a “mature” democracy. The role of the constitutional court also needs to be assessed in light of the fact that in most cases it was required to take decisions in conflict with the prevailing conservative stance of the government, the parliamentary majority, and the superior courts.

Chapter 3 deals with the Spanish Constitutional Court. In this second generation of constitutional courts there are fewer unknown factors and more instances of courts in other countries to draw inspiration from, including the Italian Constitutional Court. All this contributed to the establishment and consolidation of constitutional justice. In the period from 1980 to the early 1990s, the Spanish Court dealt with four main issues, concerning the normative value of the constitutional provisions, the preconstitutional legislation, fundamental rights, and the territorial organization of the state. From the very beginning, the constitutional court upheld the normative value of all the provisions of the Constitution, and played an important role in determining whether the preconstitutional laws were in conflict with the provisions of the Constitution laying down fundamental rights and freedoms. Moreover, it succeeded in setting up an effective system of protection of fundamental rights, as well as ensuring a rational functioning of the State of Autonomies. The territorial question represented one of the most complex issues to be addressed, and the outcome of the transition to democracy was largely dependent on this matter.