This panel investigates the role that institutional failure performs in comparative constitutional law. It interrogates the concept’s meaning, the ways in which it manifests in practice, and its consequences for particular claims in constitutional theory. The papers examine, in particular, (a) the role of regional human rights bodies in addressing institutional failure at the national level, (b) the breakdown in the separations of powers in Central Europe as an instance of institutional failure, and (c) the relationship between the presence/absence of institutional failure and the types of remedies that courts issue for violations of constitutional norms.