EU Inc. and the Myth of the Perfect Legal Basis
The debate surrounding the proposed EU Inc. has become one of the most vibrant discussions in European corporate law. Recently, however, attention has shifted to a different question. In a thoughtful contribution, the European Company Law Experts Group argued that the proposal rests on shaky constitutional foundations. These concerns deserve serious consideration. Yet they also risk obscuring a more fundamental reality. When political consensus exists, institutional and legal solutions usually follow. The constitutional debate therefore risks putting the cart before the horse.
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Normalising Lawlessness via Membership
The European Law Institute has recently welcomed Poland’s (compromised) Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court as its latest institutional members. Beyond this professional network, two judicial networks known as the Conference of European Constitutional Courts (CECC) and the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the EU (NPSJC) have similarly failed – through inaction – to take account of CJEU and ECtHR rulings as regards their Polish members. This post will look at the negative spillover effects created by these networks’ membership (in)action.
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Das Heizungsgesetz, die Demokratie und der Rechtsstaat
Die deutsche Wirtschaft steckt in der Krise. Um „Überregulierung“ und „Bürokratisierung“ abzubauen, rückt zunehmend das Umwelt- und Klimaschutzrecht in den Fokus. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist eine Debatte entbrannt, ob die geplante Änderung des Heizungsgesetzes gegen (verfassungs-)rechtliche Vorgaben verstößt. Zugleich wird diskutiert, ob im Umwelt- und Klimaschutz eine mit Blick auf das Demokratieprinzip problematische „Überkonstitutionalisierung“ besteht.
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Power Without Oversight
Last week, the Indian Supreme Court delivered an important verdict on the power of the Election Commission of India (ECI) under the Indian Constitution – specifically, whether, and in what manner, it can conduct the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise for the revision of electoral voter rolls. Unlike minor revisions, SIR is a large-scale revision exercise to clean the electoral rolls by removing duplicate entries and names of those who have either migrated or died. The legal backdrop in which the judgment was delivered offers important insights for comparative constitutional law scholars, particularly those studying fourth branch institutions, electoral management bodies, and constitutional design.
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The Rise and Fall of the Mafia-State in Hungary
Ever since the elections, there has been a sense of euphoria sweeping the country that surpasses even the democratic transition of 1989. Yet, one of the key lessons drawn from both the revolutionary 1989 and the counter-revolutionary 2011 constitution-making processes is that both were elite-driven, lacking any participatory dimension – which may have contributed to the fall of liberal democracy. Today, the overwhelming euphoria could yet channel itself into genuine “constitutional enthusiasm”. Perhaps Hungary has yet another chance to seize that constitutional moment.
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Again, the European Defence Community Is Dead, Let It Rest in Peace
Can the 1952 European Defence Community (EDC) be revived to supranationalize European defence in 2026? My earlier post had raised serious doubts about the legal feasibility of this idea championed by ALCIDE; and these doubts have now been scrutinized by the project’s two senior jurists: Federico Fabbrini and Franz C. Mayer. This rejoinder addresses their counterarguments, and it also questions, once more, the political wisdom of reviving the NATO-led executive organization today, especially when alternative forms of European defence integration are currently explored.
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“Selvar” the Courts
On 28 May 2026, the Provincial Court of Sucumbíos ruled in favour of the A'i Cofán community of Sinangoe: formal land titles for 63,755 hectares of Amazonian territory. The ruling followed an intercultural hearing held in the rainforest itself – beginning at 4 a.m. with the taking of yoco, ending with children presenting hand-painted maps of rivers they swim in and paths their grandparents walked. The community's territorial mapping was cited as decisive evidence: an ethnographic tool showing how a people conceptualise their place within their own cosmology.
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Mitbestimmung in der Ortlosigkeit
Dass der Betrieb als zentraler Grundbegriff des BetrVG unter Druck steht, ist ein offenes Geheimnis. Die Betriebsverfassung ist auf lineare Führungsstrukturen ausgerichtet und passt deshalb nur eingeschränkt zu neuen Arbeitsformen, die häufig auch eine veränderte Unternehmensorganisation nach sich ziehen. In der Plattformwirtschaft, aber auch darüber hinaus, führt das zu Problemen, überhaupt betriebliche Mitbestimmung zu organisieren. Die aktuellen Probleme legen Strukturdefizite offen, die bis an die Anfänge der Betriebsverfassung zurückreichen.
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Crossing a Line in Plain Sight
On May 15, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe unanimously adopted a political Declaration on the ECHR at their annual session in Chișinău. What was adopted is more measured than the political statements that preceded it. But the underlying tension – driven by the demand of some states to pursue more restrictive migration policies without being constrained by the Convention – remains. By purporting to define what Convention guarantees substantively mean, the member states have crossed a line that no diplomatic phrasing can neutralise.
Continue reading >>„Das Haftsystem ist in Libyen zu einer Industrie geworden“
Im Mai 2026 schloss der Internationale Strafgerichtshof (IStGH) das Verfahren zur Bestätigung der Anklagepunkte gegen Khaled El Hishri ab, einen ehemaligen hochrangigen Offizier der libyschen Special Deterrence Force. Die Anklage richtet sich zwar gegen El Hishri persönlich und betrifft Taten, die zwischen 2014 und 2020 im Mitiga-Gefängnis in Tripolis begangen worden sein sollen. Gleichzeitig macht die Anklageschrift ein System sichtbar, dessen Strukturen weit schwerer zu durchdringen sind. Wir haben mit Allison West, Senior Legal Advisor beim European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), über die Komplexität des Verfahrens gesprochen.
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CURRENT DEBATES
On Law and Politics in the Hungarian Transition
The Hungarian opposition’s landslide victory has raised high expectations in Hungarian and European society. Many now expect Fidesz’s hybrid regime to be swiftly undone and constitutional democracy restored. Hungarian and European institutions therefore face a momentous task. This symposium, emerging from a three-day conference at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL), offers analysis, legal imagination, and constructive critique. It brings together views by Hungarian, Polish, and other European and international experts on the constitutional transition, the judiciary, corruption, market, media, civil society, and the role of supranational actors.
Read all articles >>Reflexive Globalisation and the Law
In October 2025, a new Centre for Advanced Studies was established at the Humboldt University of Berlin’s Law Faculty. Named “Reflexive Globalisation and the Law: Colonial Legacies and their Implications in the 21st Century” (RefLex), the Centre explores the premise that the globalisation of law and legal discourse has entered a reflexive phase: one in which law and knowledge production about law are less and less one-directional exports from or within the Global North but rather dynamic, multidirectional exchanges that confront colonial legacies, epistemic hierarchies, and enduring asymmetries of power. This blog symposium, co-edited by Philipp Dann, Florian Jeßberger, and Kalika Mehta, aims to present and extend these interactions to a broader, accessible dialogue with a wider community beyond the university setting. Featuring contributions from a range of different disciplines and regions, the symposium serves as a public prelude to its official launch, which can be watched live here.
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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
„Das Haftsystem ist in Libyen zu einer Industrie geworden“
Im Mai 2026 schloss der Internationale Strafgerichtshof (IStGH) das Verfahren zur Bestätigung der Anklagepunkte gegen Khaled El Hishri ab, einen ehemaligen hochrangigen Offizier der libyschen Special Deterrence Force. Die Anklage richtet sich zwar gegen El Hishri persönlich und betrifft Taten, die zwischen 2014 und 2020 im Mitiga-Gefängnis in Tripolis begangen worden sein sollen. Gleichzeitig macht die Anklageschrift ein System sichtbar, dessen Strukturen weit schwerer zu durchdringen sind. Wir haben mit Allison West, Senior Legal Advisor beim European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), über die Komplexität des Verfahrens gesprochen.
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.