“Police Violence Is Deeply Entrenched in France”
France has been gripped by protests and violence for weeks. One of our authors witnessed last Saturday’s demonstrations firsthand. Carina Bury is a German-French legal scholar who completed her PhD in Hamburg and teaches at the Universities of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Paris Nanterre. We spoke with her about the ongoing protests, the response of the justice system, and the role of the police in French society.
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„Polizeigewalt ist in Frankreich tief verankert“
Frankreich wird seit Wochen von Protesten und Gewalt in Atem gehalten. Eine unserer Autorinnen hat die Demonstrationen am vergangenen Samstag aus nächster Nähe erlebt. Carina Bury ist deutsch-französische Rechtswissenschaftlerin, hat in Hamburg promoviert und unterrichtet an den Universitäten Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne und Paris Nanterre. Wir haben mit ihr über die laufenden Proteste, die Antwort der Justiz und die Rolle der Polizei in der französischen Gesellschaft gesprochen.
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The King is Dead, Long Live the King
The 2026 revision of the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) has removed one of its most contested provisions: Article 29(1) which had required Member States to introduce a civil liability regime for violations of the Directive’s human rights due diligence obligations. However, Member States should not deter from harnessing the advantages of private enforcement and provide for civil liability regardless of any legal obligation to do so. In addition, Member States should ensure that victims can effectively pursue damages claims in European courts.
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Flawed, but Forward
The conviction of Hashim Thaçi and three other former KLA leaders marks a major moment for accountability in Kosovo. But the judgment’s reach comes with legal costs, from an expansive interpretation of joint criminal enterprise to unresolved questions about crimes against humanity and the legality of the convictions themselves. Its legacy will depend on whether the appeal can address these flaws without undermining the accountability the verdict seeks to secure.
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Cornell and Criminalization
The Cornell Seven case has become a rallying cry for tougher sex-crime laws, but outrage can be a dangerous lawmaker. The debate exposes a profound legal dilemma where the entirely natural fluidity of consent mid-encounter clashes with the rigid boundaries of criminal law. In the rush to close legal loopholes, the line between protecting sexual autonomy and undermining it risks getting lost.
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Proscribing Normal People
The announcement by Faber, the publishers of Sally Rooney’s novels, that her books will no longer be available for sale in the UK has been met with surprise. While some in the British media have downplayed this announcement, it is nevertheless the case that Britain’s pervasive counter-terrorism laws have made it de facto impossible for Faber to continue selling them to a British audience. At considerable personal cost, Rooney is exposing how far the UK’s counter-terrorism regime reaches, and how much it depends on the government’s discretion and restraint.
Continue reading >>Beyond Defining Ecocide
When the Oskil dam in the Kharkiv region was damaged in 2022, the reservoir drained and land downstream flooded. The damage altered the river system and the ecosystems connected to it. Ukrainian prosecutors have brought ecocide charges against two Russian generals over the attack. But the case raises a difficult question for investigators and courts about what exactly counts as harm. This now sits at the centre of Ukraine’s reform of its ecocide offence and of international efforts to define the crime.
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Repression and Resistance
In less than a month, high school protests over a lack of resources in the Paris suburbs have escalated into a striking wave of police violence and mass arrests. How did a student demonstration over school conditions transform into a major public order crisis? The violence is primarily the result of a political choice by the Ministry of the Interior – prioritising arrests over negotiation – enabled by expanded pre-emptive offences and a hostile image of youth.
Continue reading >>Die goldenen Zügel im Bundesstaat
Nach der Landtagswahl in Sachsen-Anhalt und der Wahl zum Berliner Abgeordnetenhaus dürften erstmals die AfD in einem Bundesland den Ministerpräsidenten und die Linkspartei in der Bundeshauptstadt den Regierenden Bürgermeister stellen. Das führt zu Gegenreaktionen. So fordern die Ministerpräsidenten Bayerns und Hessens, dass kein Geld für Extremisten ausgegeben werden dürfe. Der bundesstaatliche Finanzausgleich müsse grundlegend reformiert, der Hauptstadtfinanzierungsvertrag einer kritischen Kontrolle unterzogen werden. So sehr diese Erwägungen politisch nachvollziehbar sein mögen, so wenig stehen sie auf dem Boden des geltenden Verfassungsrechts.
Continue reading >>The Legal Structure of the Incumbency Advantage
Imagine that you intend to run for president of the Republic, governor of a state, or mayor of a municipality. During the campaign, you can choose to run either as an ordinary candidate or as the current holder of the office you seek. Which option would you choose? The answer is intuitive: your chances of success are usually greater if you are running for reelection. This incumbency advantage is a well-known phenomenon. Less well known is the way electoral rules can contribute to mitigating or amplifying such an advantage. Recent presidential elections in Brazil and judicial decisions illustrate how a country’s legal structure interacts with the electoral advantage incumbents enjoy.
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CURRENT DEBATES
Recht und Scham
„Die Scham muss die Seiten wechseln.“ Mit diesem Satz hat Gisèle Pelicot eine Debatte darüber ausgelöst, dass Scham längst nicht dort verortet ist, wo das Recht sie vermuten ließe. Doch in welcher Beziehung stehen Recht und Scham überhaupt miteinander? Vor allem: Inwiefern beeinträchtigt Scham die Ausübung und Durchsetzung von Rechten und sollte das Recht darauf hinwirken, Scham abzubauen? Inwiefern darf das Recht Menschen gezielt beschämen, um seine Steuerungswirkung zu effektivieren? Und inwiefern ist Recht selbst von gesellschaftlichen Schamgefühlen getrieben? Das Symposium sucht nach (vorläufigen) Antworten auf diese weitgehend ungeklärten Fragen und will aufzeigen, dass es sich lohnt, die Rolle von Scham im und für das Recht stärker als bislang in den Blick zu nehmen. Herausgegeben von Paula Rhein-Fischer und Luna Rösinger.
Read all articles >>Thinking Machines, Thinking Lawyers
As AI's capabilities enhance and it gradually seeps into the legal field, what happens to how lawyers think and write? This symposium aims to initiate a conversation around many such unanswered questions and explores epistemic justice, research integrity, institutional and regulatory responses, and the comparative and archival dimensions of knowledge production in the age of AI.
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Volume 7,Issue 2
July 2025
JUS COGENS
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Killing Hitler Word by Word: The Oath as Apocalyptic Lawmaking
GREGOR NOLL
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Adjudicating Climate Protest as a Tool of Modern Republicanism
DMITRII KUZNETSOV
OUR LATEST PUBLICATION
Christophe Geiger & Bernd Justin Jütte (eds.)
Enabling Access, Fostering Innovation: Towards a Digital Knowledge Agenda in Europe
Access to knowledge and information is essential to foster innovation. In the EU, existing copyright rules pose significant barriers to research and education. Instead of promoting access to knowledge resources, copyright creates legal uncertainty for researchers and educators and enables information intermediaries to exercise strict control over the use of protected works. This edited volume proposes ways out of the copyright conundrum by rethinking copyright as an access right.
Discover the Open Access digital edition here.
EDITORIAL
“Police Violence Is Deeply Entrenched in France”
France has been gripped by protests and violence for weeks. One of our authors witnessed last Saturday’s demonstrations firsthand. Carina Bury is a German-French legal scholar who completed her PhD in Hamburg and teaches at the Universities of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Paris Nanterre. We spoke with her about the ongoing protests, the response of the justice system, and the role of the police in French society.
VB SECURITY AND CRIME
In cooperation with:
VB Security and Crime is a cooperation of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law (MPI-CSL) and the Verfassungsblog in the areas of public security law and criminal law. The MPI-CSL Institute is a member of the Max Planck Law network.