Still on constitutional interpretation methods and principles

a descriptive and exploratory investigation

Abstract

This research paper describes the results of a descriptive-exploratory empirical investigation on the use of principles and methods of constitutional interpretation by the Federal Supreme Court, against the background of the way Brazilian constitutional scholarly work engage with this subject and Virgílio Afonso da Silva’s theoretical criticism found in Constitutional interpretation and methodological syncretism (2005). An analysis of a select sample of ten Constitutional Law textbooks, some of them authored by Brazilian Federal Supreme Court Justices, revealed that Silva’s theoretical challenge is yet to be faced. However, the sample size prevented the conclusion that Silva’s work had no impact on Brazilian constitutional doctrine. Furthermore, analyzing a set of 1,109,958 decisions handed down by the Federal Supreme Court from 2010 to 2019, it was observed that in only 2,225 (176 collegiate decisions and 2,049 monocratic decisions) any method or principle of Constitutional interpretation was explicitly mentioned. Having described and elaborated on the results, and discussed its limitations, this research paper concludes suggesting further issues that should be investigated in future works.