column by
Heribert Prantl
In a democracy nobody is infallible – not the Federal President, not the Parliament, not the Federal Constitutional Court either. The phrase “Roma locuta, Causa finita” is a legal tenet in the Roman Catholic Church; Saint Augustine is said to have invented it in the 4th century. It says that one thing is done when the pope has spoken in Rome, the highest authority in the church: his decision is final, there is no more room for discussion. Thinking about power like this doesn’t fit into a democracy based on the rule of law – because controversial issues are never over, even if parliament decides them with a two-thirds majority. There is no democratic translation for the “Roma locuta” phrase.