Lire la Constitution à travers le prisme de la philosophie morale

Reading the Constitution Through the Lens of Moral Philosophy. According to the Constitution, limitations to constitutional rights should not infringe the values of dignity, equality and freedom. This requires that the objectives of the state be submitted to a form of control which guarantees all citizens a significant degree of protection against state coercion. The state is obliged to justify any limit imposed upon a right which is protected by the Constitution in neutral terms, or in terms to which any reasonable citizen would attach a certain weight. Analysis of the implications of this test in the areas of freedom of religion and freedom of expression must not obscure the fact that control is of a general nature and may apply in numerous other areas as well. Finally, the obligation for the state to observe a certain neutrality has nothing to do with moral neutrality, neither with respect to the state’s position in the face of social and economic inequalities, nor with regard to the consequences of these inequalities on political life.