EU’s Digital Sovereignty and the Rights-Based Imperative
On 18 November 2025 in Berlin, during the Summit on European Digital Sovereignty, the EU Member States signed the Declaration for European Digital Sovereignty. The Berlin Declaration rightly highlights the need to mitigate digital dependencies and to advance the EU’s technological capabilities. Yet what remains strikingly absent is an explicit recognition of the fundamental rights and a stronger commitment to enforcement. Sovereignty is not only about building European chips, clouds, or AI models, it is also about ensuring that EU law can be effectively applied and enforced – including against powerful non-EU companies.
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The Ominous Omnibus
The European Commission’s Digital Omnibus proposal to impose additional limits on the right of access to personal data is not a technical clean-up of EU digital law, but a near verbatim reproduction of industry lobbying demands. The proposal restricts the very tool used by citizens, NGOs, journalists, workers, researchers, and civil society to uncover systemic unlawful practices. Instead of strengthening EU digital competitiveness, the proposal threatens to dismantle a tool of counter-power and a cornerstone of data protection.
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Taiwan’s Constitutional Grey Hole
Since late 2024, the Taiwan Constitutional Court has been unable to issue merits-based decisions. The Court is neither resolving separation-of-powers disputes between the executive and legislature nor providing fundamental rights protection for individuals. This institutional deadlock constitutes a constitutional “grey hole”, where only the form of the legal order exists, without any substantive protections. All proposed solutions carry limitations, and some may even exacerbate rather than alleviate the problem.
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An der Sache vorbei
Nachdem der Wahlprüfungsausschuss des Bundestages lange auf sich hat warten lassen, liegt nun seine Beschlussempfehlung zum Antrag des BSW auf Nachzählung des Ergebnisses der Bundestagswahlen vor. Die Bezeichnung als „Antrag auf Nachzählung“ ist keine Petitesse, wie sich zeigen wird. Denn mit diesem Antrag sind vielfältige Probleme verbunden, auf die weder der Wahlprüfungsausschuss noch die juristische Debatte bisher eingegangen sind. Letzlich kann die Beschlussempfehlung des Wahlprüfungsausschusses nicht überzeugen: Er fordert Unmögliches, indem er die Anforderungen an die Substantiierungspflicht deutlich überspannt.
Continue reading >>Die Verfassungstreue der deutschen Agenten-Ausbilder
Das Bundesverwaltungsgericht bestätigte in einer Entscheidung Disziplinarsanktionen, die der Bundesnachrichtendienst gegen einen bei ihm beschäftigten Professor ausgesprochen hatte. Das Verfahren offenbarte grundsätzliche Erkenntnisse: Wissenschaftsfreiheit und Selbstverwaltungsgarantie werden weniger stark gewichtet, wenn ein Hochschullehrer zugleich den Nachwuchs der Staatsverwaltung ausbildet. Und nicht zuletzt staatsdelegitimierende Tendenzen bei den Ausbildern können künftig eine größere Rolle spielen.
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The Trojan Horse of Free Movement Law
On 25 November 2025, the EU Court of Justice confirmed in “Trojan” that Member States are obliged to recognise the marriage between two same-sex EU citizens lawfully concluded in another Member State in the exercise of their freedom of movement, even if their national legislation does not allow such marriage. While this outcome was largely foreseeable, the CJEU’s reliance on Article 21(1) of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights on the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation is striking, introducing a new, potentially transformative approach to equality in EU law.
Continue reading >>„Als hätten sie etwas verbrochen“
Fünf Fragen an Christina Clemm
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Wovon wollen uns die Plattformen bloß überzeugen?
Der zehnte Senat des KG Berlin stellt LinkedIn in einer aktuellen Entscheidung (10 U 95/24) unter den Schutz der Meinungsfreiheit. Er knüpft damit an die Facebook-Entscheidungen des BGH aus den Jahren 2021/2022 an. Der Beitrag zeigt, warum dieses Verständnis die Meinungsfreiheit verfehlt und dogmatisch problematische Folgen für das Plattformrecht hat.
Continue reading >>Undermining Asylum Protection Through Administrative Shortcuts
What happens to transparency and the rights of asylum seekers when a government takes an administrative shortcut? As Constantin Hruschka argued on this blog, Germany is dismantling access to asylum in everyday practice while leaving the law itself formally intact: Asylum remains a symbolic guarantee, yet administrative measures systematically block meaningful access. One illustration of this is the German government’s recent legislative proposal to designate “safe countries of origin” (SCO) via executive decree (Rechtsverordnung) rather than through Parliament.
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CURRENT DEBATES
Algorithmic Fairness for Asylum Seekers and Refugees
The impacts of digitisation and automation across migration and asylum governance for are profound. Automated systems are increasingly used to make decisions about would-be travellers, asylum seekers and refugees, yet their impacts remain underexplored. This Symposium emerges out of the AFAR Final Conference, held at the Hertie School in Berlin on September 18–19, and presents findings of the Algorithmic Fairness for Asylum Seekers and Refugees (AFAR) Project alongside wider reflections on the implications of these technologies for governance and rights. Co-convened by Mirko Đuković and Cathryn Costello, the Symposium and the AFAR Project have been made possible with funding from the Volkswagen Foundation through its “Challenges for Europe” programme.
Read all articles >>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 symposium proposes ways out of the copyright conundrum by rethinking copyright as an access right. It is the outcome of a conference held in the European Parliament on 10 July 2025.
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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
Friedrich Zillessen, Anna-Mira Brandau & Lennart Laude (Hrsg.)
Das Justiz-Projekt. Verwundbarkeit und Resilienz der dritten Gewalt
Weltweit gerät die unabhängige Justiz unter den Druck des autoritären Populismus. Wie verwundbar ist die rechtsprechende Gewalt in Deutschland? In rund 70 Recherchegesprächen hat das Justiz-Projekt gemeinsam mit Expertinnen und Experten aus der Praxis Einfallstore identifiziert und Szenarien entwickelt, die plastisch machen, wie und wo die Justiz angegriffen werden kann. Antizipation beginnt jetzt.
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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.
Das Justiz-Projekt
Weltweit gerät die unabhängige und unparteiische Justiz unter den Druck des autoritären Populismus.
Wie verwundbar ist die rechtsprechende Gewalt in Deutschland – im Bund und in den Ländern?
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.