Letter from Beirut
I find myself writing these words no longer from Beirut, but about it – my professional home. It is a city to which I am deeply bound, one that was the subject of my doctoral thesis over twenty-five years ago, and where I have had the honour of directing the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB). The asymmetric war between Israel and Hizbollah reignited on 2 March 2026, and once again forced Lebanese civilians south of Beirut to flee through the ruins of the last war. EU member states must find an independent, credible voice. This is not an anti-American stance; it is the fundamental duty of a democracy to act in accordance with its constitution and international law.
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Brief aus Beirut
Ich schreibe diesen Text leider nicht mehr aus, sondern über Beirut, meine berufliche Heimat. Die Stadt, der ich tief verbunden bin, über die ich vor über 25 Jahren meine Doktorarbeit schrieb und in der ich das Orient-Institut der Max-Weber-Stiftung leite. Am 2. März 2026 brach erneut der asymmetrische Krieg zwischen Israel und Hizbollah aus und vertrieb die libanesische Zivilbevölkerung südlich von Beirut erneut aus den Bauruinen des letzten Krieges. Die EU-Staaten müssen jetzt eine eigenständige, glaubwürdige Stimme finden. Das ist keine antiamerikanische Geste; es ist die Pflicht einer Demokratie, nach ihrer Verfassung und dem Völkerrecht zu handeln.
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Beyond Bilateralism
On March 19, 2026, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rendered a historic, unanimous judgment in Sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes/Cayos Zapotillos (Belize v. Honduras) – Application by Guatemala for Permission to Intervene. The ICJ has traditionally been extremely cautious in permitting third-state interventions in cases, but it has now responded to ongoing critiques of that position and has opened up the possibilities for intervention in meaningful ways. In some ways, it may have shifted its approach to intervention toward a more permissive model, similar to that of many constitutional courts.
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Jambato, the Harlequin Toad, the Plaintiff
Frogs and toads are making headlines defending their constitutional rights. In a successful Rights of Nature case in Ecuador, the Jambato – a toad with an orange belly and black back – has now stopped an infrastructure project in Angamarca. RoN cases are often told as David vs. Goliath stories: Indigenous communities or grassroots environmental movements defeat overmighty companies or state agencies in court. The Jambato case illustrates that this narrative tends to oversimplify the conflicts behind RoN cases. They are often shaped by complex power dynamics and deep disagreements within the affected communities.
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Peoples Across Time
A pending advisory opinion before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights raises a question that is novel within the African regional human rights system: can human rights law protect future generations against climate harm? The open-ended notion of “peoples” in the African Charter offers a doctrinal basis for embedding intergenerational justice. Read in light of Article 24 and the Charter’s collective architecture, it could give concrete legal meaning to obligations owed across time.
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Statement on German Foreign Policy in Light of the U.S. and Israeli Attacks on Iran
As scholars specializing in International Law and International Relations, we are concerned about the German government’s response to the attack launched by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28, 2026. The German federal government’s statements to date do not clearly condemn this action. This violates international law and thus contributes to the further erosion of the rules-based and institutional order in Europe and in the world.
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Präventiver Verfassungsschutz durch die Kommune
Am 26. März verhandelt das Bundesverwaltungsgericht über eine Klage des Kreisverbandes der AfD gegen die Stadt Nürnberg. Der Kreisverband will erreichen, dass die Stadt aus einer Allianz gegen Rechtsextremismus austritt. Der Bayerische Verwaltungsgerichtshof gab der Klage statt. Sollte die AfD auch in Leipzig erfolgreich sein, könnten staatliche Behörden dies als Mahnung verstehen, künftig zurückhaltender gegenüber der Partei zu agieren. In diesem Fall hat die Stadt Nürnberg ihre Neutralitätsverpflichtung jedoch nicht verletzt, sondern setzt sich vielmehr für den Schutz der Verfassung ein.
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Losing Liberal Democracy
On March 17th, the Swedish-based Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute released its 2026 annual Democracy Report. “The speed with which American democracy is currently dismantled is unprecedented in modern history,” the report writes. What is happening within our institutions now must be viewed in tandem with V-Dem’s assessment to understand how we have lost our liberal democracy and are presently at risk of capitulating further.
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Limiting Commission Discretion in EU Funding Conditionality
When the Commission sets the criteria for releasing EU funds, can it later decide not to follow them? Advocate General Ćapeta’s Opinion in Parliament v Commission observes that the Commission prematurely released funds despite Hungary not fulfilling many pre-established conditions. The Commission itself had set these criteria. This is part of a broader pattern of conditionality compliance not always being taken particularly seriously.
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Selbstbestimmung hinter Gittern
Vor gut einem Jahr haben wir in ganz Deutschland aufgeregt über das Selbstbestimmungsgesetz diskutiert – vor allem Frauengefängnisse waren in aller Munde. Weitgehend unbemerkt haben in den letzten Jahren zahlreiche Bundesländer an ihren Strafvollzugsgesetzen gearbeitet, um diese für die Unterbringung an die rechtlich anerkannte geschlechtliche Vielfalt anzupassen. Zum 1. März 2026 ist der neue § 17 Landesjustizvollzugsgesetz Rheinland-Pfalz in Kraft getreten. Doch nicht jede neue ausdifferenzierte Regelung ist auch eine gute – und vor allem eine verfassungskonforme – Regelung.
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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
Letter from Beirut
I find myself writing these words no longer from Beirut, but about it – my professional home. It is a city to which I am deeply bound, one that was the subject of my doctoral thesis over twenty-five years ago, and where I have had the honour of directing the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB). The asymmetric war between Israel and Hizbollah reignited on 2 March 2026, and once again forced Lebanese
Continue reading >>Brief aus Beirut
Ich schreibe diesen Text leider nicht mehr aus, sondern über Beirut, meine berufliche Heimat. Die Stadt, der ich tief verbunden bin, über die ich vor über 25 Jahren meine Doktorarbeit schrieb und in der ich das Orient-Institut der Max-Weber-Stiftung leite. Am 2. März 2026 brach erneut der asymmetrische Krieg zwischen Israel und Hizbollah aus und vertrieb die libanesische Zivilbevölkerung südlich von Beirut erneut aus den Bauruinen des letzten Krieges. Die
Continue reading >>