The Spanish Constitution of 1978, influence in Latin America and the UK

The Instituto Cervantes Manchester and the Consulate General of Spain in Manchester invite you to celebrate the Day of the Spanish Constitution.On 6th December 2023, we celebrate the 45th Anniversary of the current Spanish Constitution. This document has been widely praised for its pragmatism and for having dealt, successfully, with key questions in both the Spanish legal system and the wider society: 1) The role of the Monarchy; 2) The territorial structure; 3) The religious dimension. In this comparative event, Prof Javier Garcia Oliva (University of Manchester), Dr Ricardo Buendia (University of Manchester) and Dr Ana Cannilla (University of Glasgow) will discuss the main contributions of the 1978 Spanish Constitution, and its possible influences on Latin American jurisdictions, as well as drawing some comparisons with the UK uncodified Constitution.

Javier Garcia Oliva is a Professor of Law at the University of Manchester and he is currently the Head of Law at this institution. Javier has held a number of visiting positions in universities in the UK (Oxford, UCL, Cardiff...), as well as continental Europe, North America and Latin America. Prof Garcia Oliva teaches UK Constitutional Law at the University of Manchester, and his main research interests are the interaction between Law and Religion in a wide range of areas, and the legal position of sub-state entities in different jurisdictions, including the UK, Spain and Canada. Constitutional Culture, Independence and Rights: Insights from Quebec, Scotland and Catalonia, his last book, which he co-authors with Helen Hall, has been recently published by Toronto University Press.

Ricardo Buendía Esteban is a lawyer who graduated from the University of Chile, holding a master's degree in Economic and International Law from the universities of Chile and Heidelberg. He also earned a doctorate in law from the University of Bristol. His research focuses on fundamental labour rights, international labour law standards, and their interaction with competition law in the European Union.

Ana Cannilla is a Lecturer in Public Law at the School of Law, University of Glasgow, where she teaches constitutional law, administrative law, and feminist legal theory. She holds a degree in law from the Complutense University and a Master's in Human Rights Research from UC3M. She completed her doctoral studies in constitutional theory at the University of Reading in 2019, where she also served as a Public Law lecturer. Her research areas include constitutional theory and legal philosophy.