Concrete review in Portugal as a case of weak-form judicial review

I focus on the Portuguese system of concrete review as a case of weak-form review. The dichotomy between weak-form and strong-form judicial review reports on the availability of doctrinal or formal mechanisms that either allow courts to defer the last word on constitutional interpretation to the legislature or empower the political branches to claim such power. Against this backdrop, I propose a new reading of the Portuguese system of concrete review. When the constitutional controversy arises in concrete disputes, the Portuguese system enshrines a diffuse model whereby every court can disapply unconstitutional laws, subject to appeal to the Constitutional Court. The rulings delivered by the Court only produce inter partes effects, unlike those produced under abstract reviews. Although this creates a complex system, it also provides for an intricate mechanism which allows dialogic exchanges between the judiciary and the legislature on complex matters of constitutional interpretation.