19 January 2017
Sklavenhalter auf Europa-Urlaub: Nicht unser Problem?
Am Dienstag, überlagert vom NPD-Urteil, kam eine Kammerentscheidung des EGMR in Straßburg, die mehr Aufmerksamkeit verdient hätte. Es geht darin um eine Familie aus Dubai, die drei filipinische Frauen wie Haussklavinnen hielt. Continue reading >>
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17 January 2017
Die eventuell, aber nicht potenziell verfassungswidrige NPD
Die NPD, das hat das Bundesverfassungsgericht heute festgestellt, ist verfassungsfeindlich, aber nicht verfassungswidrig. Dazu fehlt ihr zum Wollen das Können. Das wirft die Frage auf: was fangen wir mit einer solchen Wollen-aber-nicht-Können-Verfassungsfeindpartei jetzt an? Continue reading >>14 January 2017
Strangers, Adversaries, Enemies
On party bans, on constitutional courts as tools and objects of political pressure, and on the various ways Muslim dress codes for girls and women further the evolution of constitutional law in Europe. Continue reading >>
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07 January 2017
Us and Them
On racial profiling, on what is part of Europe and what is not, and on apes in cages. Continue reading >>22 December 2016
Cleaning up after 2016
The end of this year of 2016 draws close, and relief about that fact, ill-founded as it may be, is palpable wherever I go. It has been a rough ride for constitutionalists, and we all deserve some days of rest and peace, if we can afford it. Therefore, I will spare you with seasonal reviews and reflections on these almost consistently dreadful twelve months past and highlight only one fact hopefully suitable to lift your spirits a bit: Since Brexit, support for European integration has jumped by 5 percent throughout the EU and by 7 percent in the UK. Continue reading >>
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10 December 2016
Freedom of Assembly in Poland: Next in Line?
Public protest seems to be the best hope civil society now has in Poland against its increasingly authoritarian government. It would be only consequent that the the next obstacle to their power for the Law and Justice party to dismantle would be the right to freedom of assembly. Continue reading >>06 December 2016
Die Menschenwürde des Staatskonzerns Vattenfall: zum Atom-Urteil des Bundesverfassungsgerichts
Grundrechte leiten sich aus der Menschenwürde ab. Wie kann es sein, dass ein 100-prozentiger Staatskonzern wie Vattenfall sich in Karlsruhe sein Grundrecht auf Eigentum einklagen darf? Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hat auf diese Frage eine überraschend unakademische Antwort gefunden. Continue reading >>03 December 2016
Christmas Showdown in Poland
Something decidedly un-christmasy is going on right now in Poland. On Thursday, I have talked to a person close to the ongoing conflict about the Polish Constitutional Tribunal on the phone, and here is what I have learnt: Continue reading >>
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02 December 2016
Italy before the Constitutional Referendum: “I do not see any Armageddon Scenario”
On Sunday, Italy will vote on the largest constitutional reform in recent history. Francesco Clementi, constitutional lawyer from the University of Perugia and one of the staunchest supporters of the reform, answers our questions about what will happen in case of a NO or a YES victory. Continue reading >>
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30 November 2016
Statement by the former presidents of the Constitutional Tribunal: Marek Safjan, Jerzy Stępień, Bohdan Zdziennicki and Andrzej Zoll
Four former presidents of the beleaguered Polish Constitutional Tribunal have issued a powerful statement calling on the legal community and the President to defend the Court and, indeed, the constitutional order of the Republic. Continue reading >>
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