Making Rationality Connection Prong Rational

The proportionality test is the central tool of fundamental rights review. But in practice, courts often rush to balancing and systematically neglect its initial stage - the rational connection prong. This undermines proportionality's core promise to structure justification through transparent and rational reasoning. To avoid this, the paper aims to develop a methodology for the rational connection prong which requires courts to reconstruct explicit logical chains from the measure to the intended objective. This transforms rational connection from an overlooked formality into a rigorous test capable of filtering out manifestly irrational measures before balancing. This structured approach enhances the transparency of judicial reasoning, minimizes arbitrariness, and provides clearer analytical foundations for subsequent necessity and balancing stages.