The Constitutional Value of Sunset Clauses

Symposion 2022

“…Sunset clauses, defined as "dispositions that determine the expiry of a law or regulation within a predetermined period", 16 are increasingly used in response to crisis situations, particularly in connection with the passing of legislation the contents of which is regarded as controversial, and which may require the suspension of other laws. Kouroutakis (2017) has provided an historical overview, which focusses primarily on the use of sunset clauses in mediaeval and early modern England, but the phenomenon is also known from other jurisdictions. 17 Esù (2021) has recently argued that, in fifth-century Athens, a decision to grant adeia could serve to permit decree proposals to be made in the Assembly in contravention of entrenchment clauses in existing enactments, and that as a constitutional instrument adeia served similar purposes to those of modern emergency legislation.…”

Editorial

“…Experimental legislation has existed for centuries and can be dated back to French legislation enacted in the 17th century (Ranchordás, 2014). Legal experiments were also used in the 19th century in the former British Empire to help govern certain provinces (e.g., in India) (Kouroutakis, 2016;Ranchordás, 2014). Yet, experimental legislation remained unknown and underused for centuries.…”

The Social Epistemology of Scientific Dissent: Responding to William Lynch’s Minority Report

“…There are certainly enough precedents in the history of politics and law to enable it to happen. I alluded to the ‘sunset clause’ in much legislation (also much favoured by Plato), which in the context of science would remove the presumption of indefinite continuation to an established knowledge claim (Kouroutakis 2017). In other words, a knowledge claim’s epistemic status would expire, unless it is somehow renewed.…”