Abstract
Proportionality test is a legal method used by courts, typically constitutional courts, to decide hard cases, which are cases where two or more legitimate rights collide. In such cases a decision necessarily leads to one right prevailing at the expense of another.
In order to decide such cases correctly, the court must balance the satisfaction of some rights and the damage to other rights resulting from a judgment. This entry overviews the proportionality test and the four steps of implementing the test.
We also discuss the incommensurability problem, which is the main criticism of the balancing approach.