Mistaking the Tree for the Forest
More than six decades after the assassination of the first prime minister of the newly independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba, and his collaborators Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, Étienne Davignon is the only defendant to stand trial before a criminal court for colonial-era war crimes. The Lumumba litigation marks a historic step forward. But it risks producing the illusion of a legally contained resolution of the colonial past – by individualizing responsibility for a structural crime and offering the Belgian state an opportunity for self-absolution.
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Pioneers Wanted
With full-scale war on the European continent and doubts about US support, the EU still treats this existential security crisis like a regular bureaucratic undertaking. It is against this backdrop that Commissioner Kubilius is expected to engineer a genuine European Defence Union – and in our view, raising the right legal questions amounts to answering them: differentiated integration, pursued by a core group of willing member states, is the way forward.
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An Off-Ramp for the Plaumann Paradox
On 16 April 2026, AG Ćapeta delivered an Opinion in the Medel case (C-555/24) on the standing of NGOs to bring actions for annulment under conditions that they are directly and individually concerned. Instead of copying the ECtHR’s approach in KlimaSeniorinnen, she gives an elegant and simple spin to the Plaumann formula. At its core, AG Ćapeta recognises that associations protecting collective interests have a separate identity of their own with a distinct interest. The Opinion gives the Court an argumentative avenue to finally amend its self-inflicted access to justice paradox.
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Invisible by Design
The EU AI Act will fail to adequately protect trans asylum seekers because it regulates system outputs while the harm lies in the binary assumptions that make their exclusion appear technically compliant. When the Act’s high-risk regime becomes fully applicable on August 2nd, 2026, AI systems for automated decision-making in migration and asylum processes will need to meet stricter compliance requirements. This is an advance in regulatory and constitutional accountability under the EU Charter. It nonetheless leaves untouched the administrative architecture the Act takes for granted.
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Trump Derangement Syndrome or the Foolish Fear of Tyranny
Recently, a diagnosis has spread through American political commentary. Critics of the administration find themselves accused of suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS): an inability to identify or critically think about the actions of Donald Trump or his administration objectively. TDS is not the first term invented to pathologise the fear of tyranny. Tyrannophobia, the foolish fear of tyranny, has a longer history.
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Making Abuse More Costly
What happens when executive power in a German federal state falls into the hands of authoritarian populists? Everyone knows by now that this can happen – and will, perhaps rather soon. Elections are scheduled in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in September; within six months, the AfD could control two of Germany's 16 state justice ministries. We are taking a close look: with additional editorial capacity, we will follow both states before, during, and after the elections – in a dedicated Spotlight section on Verfassungsblog.
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Den Missbrauch teurer machen
Was passiert, wenn in einem deutschen Bundesland die Exekutivgewalt in autoritär-populistische Hände fällt? Jeder weiß mittlerweile, dass das passieren kann – wahrscheinlich schon ziemlich bald. In Sachsen-Anhalt und Mecklenburg-Vorpommern wird im September gewählt; in einem halben Jahr könnte die AfD zwei der 16 Landesjustizministerien kontrollieren. Wir schauen genau hin: Mit zusätzlichen Kapazitäten in der Redaktion begleiten wir beide Länder vor, während und nach den Wahlen – in einer eigenen Spotlight-Sektion auf dem Verfassungsblog.
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A Constitutional Court without a Constitutional Compass
The ruling in the case of the Commission v. Hungary was eagerly awaited by many, but it will have come as a surprise to few. Public statements by prominent members of the EU Court of Justice indicated a clear desire to extend the applicability of Article 2 TEU. The Court’s findings regarding the Commission’s pleas concerning infringements of the various acts of secondary law are well-motivated, but its reasoning on Article 2 TEU clearly demonstrates the suffocating grip of EU constitutional orthodoxy.
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Zeit für ein Tempolimit im Strafverfahren
Während die Politik Strafverfahren beschleunigen will und lange Verfahrensdauern als zentrales Problem adressiert, bleibt eine andere Realität weitgehend ausgeblendet: Tausende Menschen werden in Deutschland verurteilt, ohne je vor Gericht gestanden zu haben. Die Debatte fokussiert auf Effizienz und Verfahrensbeschleunigung, doch sie verkennt, dass rechtsstaatliche Defizite nicht nur aus zu viel, sondern auch aus zu wenig Zeit entstehen können. Wer über Reformen spricht, muss deshalb beides in den Blick nehmen.
Continue reading >>Dieser Zug endet hier
Das Fahren ohne Fahrschein bleibt strafbar – trotz neuer Anläufe zur Entkriminalisierung im Bundestag. Besonders hart trifft das System diejenigen, die ohnehin nicht zahlen können: Geldstrafen münden häufig in Ersatzfreiheitsstrafen. Auch die oft geforderte Verlagerung ins Ordnungswidrigkeitenrecht würde daran wenig ändern. Nicht zuletzt deshalb spricht vieles dafür, den Straftatbestand ersatzlos zu streichen.
Continue reading >>CURRENT DEBATES
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.
Read all articles >>Wem gehört die Wissenschaft?
Wem gehört die Wissenschaft – und wem sollte sie gehören? Obwohl Wissen als öffentliches Gut prinzipiell unbegrenzt teilbar ist, wird der Zugang zu wissenschaftlichen Publikationen und Infrastrukturen durch ökonomische und rechtliche Strukturen beschränkt. Zwischen kommerziellen Verlagsmodellen, staatlicher Finanzierung und Community-getragenen Open-Access-Initiativen stellen sich grundlegende Fragen nach Eigentum, Verantwortung und Unabhängigkeit wissenschaftlicher Arbeit. Das Blog-Symposium „Wem gehört die Wissenschaft?“ greift diese Frage auf und beleuchtet Facetten der Organisation von Wissenschaft als Gemeingut, der Eigentums- und Machtverhältnisse im Publikationssystem und der Bedingungen offener und freier Wissensproduktion.
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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
Jakob Gašperin Wischhoff, Till Stadtbäumer (eds.)
In Good Faith: Freedom of Religion under Article 10 of the EU Charter
Freedom of religion, its interaction with the prohibition of discrimination, and the self-determination of churches are embedded in a complex national and European constitutional framework and remain as pertinent and contested as ever. This edited volume examines the latest significant developments from an EU perspective, placing freedom of religion at the centre of analysis and critically assessing its operationalisation and interpretation in light of the EU Charter.
Discover the Open Access digital edition here.
PROJECTS
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.
EDITORIAL
Making Abuse More Costly
What happens when executive power in a German federal state falls into the hands of authoritarian populists? Everyone knows by now that this can happen – and will, perhaps rather soon. Elections are scheduled in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in September; within six months, the AfD could control two of Germany’s 16 state justice ministries. We are taking a close look: with additional editorial capacity, we will follow both states
Continue reading >>Den Missbrauch teurer machen
Was passiert, wenn in einem deutschen Bundesland die Exekutivgewalt in autoritär-populistische Hände fällt? Jeder weiß mittlerweile, dass das passieren kann – wahrscheinlich schon ziemlich bald. In Sachsen-Anhalt und Mecklenburg-Vorpommern wird im September gewählt; in einem halben Jahr könnte die AfD zwei der 16 Landesjustizministerien kontrollieren. Wir schauen genau hin: Mit zusätzlichen Kapazitäten in der Redaktion begleiten wir beide Länder vor, während und nach den Wahlen – in einer eigenen Spotlight-Sektion
Continue reading >>