Some new thoughts on the so called “dogmatic unity” between liberty rights and social rights in times of financial emergency

Abstract

A recent Portuguese doctrinal current intends to equate the classic liberty rights and social rights and to demonstrate that the latter cannot actually qualify as “weak rights” – this is the thesis that holds the dogmatic unity of liberty rights and social rights. The present study pretends to critically appraise the contribution of the doctrinal current that defends this dogmatic unity of fundamental rights. Moreover, it pretends to further assess whether the judicial protection of social rights violated by legislative measures in the context of the financial crisis was due to the thesis of the indivisibility of liberty rights and social rights.