Social Protests as Constitutional Interpretation

This research deals with a parcel of the protests that have been taking place over the last few years, particularly since 2010: those protests in which the protesters, instead of rebelling against the legitimacy of the system, have preferred to accept the regimes remaining in place and consequently have manifested their discontent via playing by the constitutional rules of the game. Although governmental responses have varied in degree, in the end they have all focused on limiting the right of the people to publicly assemble and express their views. As this work contends, when governments restrict protests (sometimes violently doing so) they ignore the fact that protests involve the exercise of rights and arbitrarily restrict the voices that shape constitutional understanding. By resorting to a mixture of theoretical and comparative approaches, this thesis argues that protests which manifest their acceptance of the regimes remaining in place have, when dealing with matters a lot of people care a lot, the potential of becoming popular interpretations of constitutions. The thesis is composed of three main argumentative lines. The first argumentative line rests on the sociology of social movements and from there proposes some conceptual definitions as to what playing by the rules means to social protests. The second argumentative line builds on a comparative analysis to show what constitutional rights are (usually) involved in protecting social protests and what other rights should be considered in enhancing that protection. Finally, the third argumentative line explains that accepting the regimes remaining in place poses politico-constitutional duties on both sides, that of the citizens and that of institutions. Whereas citizens find themselves committed to submitting their popular understandings to institutions, institutions are bound to open their venues and dialogue with (and not merely to be, depending on circumstances, influenced by) these popular contentions

Beyond futebol and language: what have we missed from not paying Brazilian constitutionalism its due attention? Reflections from Chile

This essay proposes a critical and comparative reflection focusing on the lack of ‘constitutional dialogue’ Chile has developed with Brazil – and vice versa. After proposing a couple of contentions to explain this lack of attention (cultural and constitutional colonialism, on the one hand, coupled with Brazil geopolitical power, on the other), it moves on to lament what this lack of attention has deprived Chile from. As it discusses the means to overcome the lack of legitimacy that affects Chile’s constitutional text, it calls attention to some of the reasons that may explain, and actually justify, the celebratory tone the Brazilian Constitution’s 30th anniversary has acquired

Proceso constituyente en Chile : el plebiscito como transición institucional

El presente trabajo aborda un aspecto de la discusión constituyente que se está desarrollando en Chile. En Chile, existe un relativo consenso en torno a la necesidad de una Nueva Constitución. Este diagnóstico, que en otras latitudes se vio favorecido por estadios de transición desde regímenes autoritarios o dictatoriales—como ocurrió en Brasil—o de fuerte inestabilidad social—como en Colombia—en Chile se ha visto más bien oscurecido por tratarse de una discusión que se presenta (recién) luego de 35 años de vigencia de la Constitución legada por la dictadura de Pinochet. En Chile, la Constitución actual fue promulgada por la régimen militar en 1980 y rige hasta el día de hoy, con modificaciones de distinta intensidad. Mientras en otras latitudes la necesidad del cambio constituyente fue conclusión obvia (mas no fácil) como condición de superación de la ilegitimidad de regímenes autoritarios, en Chile, esa necesidad fue superada a fuerza del mismo terror de la dictadura (con Pinochet como Comandante en Jefe del Ejército desarrollando ejercicios militares en las calles de Santiago, de una parte, y la clase política aceptando las reglas constitucionales para ‗no volver‘ al régimen de facto, de otra). La transición a la democracia supuso un pacto tácito de preservación de las instituciones de la Constitución de 1980

Prognostic and predictive value of Immunoscore in stage III colorectal cancer: pooled analysis of 2,608 cases from the SCOT and IDEA-HORG studies

Purpose Immunoscore (IS) is prognostic in stage III colorectal cancer (CRC) and may predict benefit of duration (6 v 3 months) of adjuvant infusional fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) chemotherapy. We sought to determine IS prognostic and predictive value in stage-III CRC treated with adjuvant FOLFOX or oral capecitabine and infusional oxaliplatin (CAPOX) in the SCOT and IDEA-HORG trials. Methods Three thousand sixty-one cases had tumor samples, of which 2,643 (1,792 CAPOX) were eligible for IS testing. Predefined cutoffs (IS-Low and IS-High) were used to classify cases into two groups for analysis of disease-free survival (3-year DFS) and multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (mvHRs) by Cox regression. Results IS was determined in 2,608 (99.5%) eligible cases, with 877 (33.7%) samples classified as IS-Low. IS-Low tumors were more commonly high-risk (T4 and/or N2; 52.9% IS-Low v 42.2% IS-High; P < .001) and in younger patients (P = .024). Patients with IS-Low tumors had significantly shorter DFS in the CAPOX, FOLFOX, and combined cohorts (mvHR, 1.52 [95% CI, 1.28 to 1.82]; mvHR, 1.58 [95% CI, 1.22 to 2.04]; and mvHR, 1.55 [95% CI, 1.34 to 1.79], respectively; P < .001 all comparisons), regardless of sex, BMI, clinical risk group, tumor location, treatment duration, or chemotherapy regimen. IS prognostic value was greater in younger (≤65 years) than older (>65 years) patients in the CAPOX cohort (mvHR, 1.92 [95% CI, 1.50 to 2.46] v 1.28 [95% CI, 1.01 to 1.63], PINTERACTION = .026), and in DNA mismatch repair proficient than deficient mismatch repair disease (mvHR, 1.68 [95% CI, 1.41 to 2.00] v 0.67 [95% CI, 0.30 to 1.49], PINTERACTION = .03), although these exploratory analyses were uncorrected for multiple testing. Adding IS to a model containing all clinical variables significantly improved prediction of DFS (likelihood ratio test, P < .001) regardless of MMR status. Conclusion IS is prognostic in stage III CRC treated with FOLFOX or CAPOX, including within clinically relevant tumor subgroups. Possible variation in IS prognostic value by age and MMR status, and prediction of benefit from extended adjuvant therapy merit validation

A constitued constituent process? Chile’s failed attempt to replace Pinochet’s constitution (2013-2019)

Chile’s 1980 constitution was forcibly imposed by a bloody dictatorship. Its original sin, however, was not the only democratic fault. The rules or constitutional locks were designed to have a protected democracy that limited the exercise of popular sovereignty. Until today, Chile is the only Latin American democracy that has not yet replaced the substantive normative grounds upon which the dictatorship cemented its power. The paper examines how the theory of constituted constituent power may have ambivalent results, by taking Chile’s case study. In particular, it assess the attempt of former President Bachelet to replace the Constitution under the current rules. Although such project initially had the potential to truly transform Chile’s constitutioA Constituição do Chile de 1980 foi imposta à força por uma ditadura sangrenta. O seu pecado original, porém, não foi a única falha democrática. As regras ou fechaduras constitucionais foram concebidas para ter uma democracia protegida que limitava o exercício da soberania popular. Até hoje, o Chile é a única democracia latino-americana que ainda não substituiu os fundamentos normativos substantivos sobre os quais a ditadura cimentou o seu poder.  O documento examina como a teoria do poder constituinte constituído pode ter resultados ambivalentes, tomando o estudo de caso do Chile. Em particular, avalia a tentativa do ex-Presidente Bachelet de substituir a Constituição ao abrigo das regras actuais. Embora tal projecto tivesse inicialmente o potencial de transformar verdadeiramente o quadro constitucional do Chile, falhou sob as limitações dessas regras de emenda

NORMAS DE CONSTITUCIÓN, NORMAS DE LEY: UNA RESPUESTA IMPROBABLE A LA LUZ DEL CASO CHILENO

One of the cross-cutting debates generated by the proposal for a new Constitution offered by the Constitutional Convention — later rejected by the people —, was the question of which matters should be included in a Constitution and which, on the other hand, should be left to the law (or other normative sources). The purpose of this paper is to sort out the arguments upon which these objections were formulated. They are divided into four reasons. The first stems from a certain expectation or conception about the function of constitutions. The second rests on a view of how constitutions might encourage or undermine democracy by transferring decision-making powers to non-representative institutions such as the judiciary. The third claims a breach of what would be a globally accumulated constitutional experience. The fourth, and last, is formulated from a certain social and/or national culture that must be respected. Each of these criteria will be subjected to scrutiny with reasons that, just as the criteria themselves, are echoed in the specialized literature.Uno de los debates transversales que generó la propuesta de nueva Constitución ofrecida por la Convención Constitucional — rechazada, luego, por el pueblo — fue el relativo a las materias que deberían incluirse en una Constitución y cuáles, en cambio, dejadas a la ley (u otras fuentes normativas). Este trabajo tiene por objetivo ordenar los argumentos a partir de los que se formulaban esas objeciones. Se dividen en cuatro razones. La primera de ellas arranca de una cierta expectativa o concepción respecto de la función de las constituciones. La segunda reposa en una visión sobre la forma en que las constituciones podrían alentar o menoscabar la democracia al transferir poderes de decisión a instituciones no representativas. La tercera reclama una supuesta infracción a la experiencia constitucional acumulada globalmente. La cuarta, y última, se formula desde una cierta cultura social y/o nacional que debe respetarse. Cada uno de esos criterios será sometido a escrutinio con razones que, desde luego — así como los mismos criterios —, encuentran eco en la literatura especializada

El Informe de Chile ante el Comité de Derechos Económicos Sociales y Culturales: El Papel del Derecho

c) Comentarios sobre Informes, recomendaciones y otros desarrollos en derechos humano

El Informe de Chile ante el Comité de Derechos Económicos Sociales y Culturales: El Papel del Derecho

c) Comentarios sobre Informes, recomendaciones y otros desarrollos en derechos humano