Constitutional Courts Represents Us. Strategic and Cooperative Adjudication in Transformative Constitutionalism

Abstract

This article presents a proposal for the design and operation of judicial review with the aim of strengthening the system of separation of powers and channeling social change. It is a conception of judicial review within the framework of deliberative democracy and transformative constitutionalism. Under this perspective, the role of constitutional judges is to defend the basic elements of representative democracy, take seriously the presumption
of constitutionality of laws and interact dialogically with the legislator. In addition, constitutional justice helps to detect the blind spots of the democratic system, strengthens deliberation as a public dialogue and channels public interest litigation exercises. The article concludes that judges must attend to the context in which they operate without undermining the fundamental elements of the democratic conversation. Likewise, judicial review has a representative character that reduces its tension or democratic deficit and establishes it as a scenario for a strategic and cooperative adjudication.