08 August 2025
Colombia’s Ketchup-Bottle-Case
It may well be Colombian literary culture shining through when the presiding judge of the case against former President Álvaro Uribe cited the French aristocrat: “As Montesquieu rightly said, the law must be like death, which spares no one”. The verdict of 12 years in prison has been 14 years in the making. The most important implication of this case is neither the verdict itself, nor the length of the sentence – it is its nature as a “Ketchup-Bottle-Case”: the opening for more than 100 cases in the system that include crimes against humanity carrying life-in-prison sentences. Continue reading >>
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Litigation v. Politics
The Trump Administration appears committed to crush any and all opposition by the aggressive use of national power. Given the constitutional status of federalism within the United States, these attempts at control from Washington are provoking a wave of litigation. However, it is also important to pay attention to the political means by which states can engage in resistance. A major issue of the moment is whether the Texas Legislature will adhere to the strong demand by Donald Trump that it redraw the legislative districts; and whether Democrats within the state will succeed in their defiance. Continue reading >>
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07 August 2025
Warum politisch denkende Verfassungsrichter kein Problem sind
Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf hat ihre Kandidatur für die Wahl zur Bundesverfassungsrichterin zurückgezogen. Die Debatte gibt Anlass, einmal deutlich zu machen, dass sich Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit und Politik in der Art ihrer Entscheidungsfindung unterscheiden, und gerade dieser Unterschied ein Gewinn für demokratisches Regieren ist. Denn es erhöht die Rationalität des Regierens, wenn politische Regelungen noch einmal aus verfassungsrechtlicher Perspektive geprüft werden. Betrachtet man dieses Potential der Verfassungsrechtsprechung, dann stellt sich heraus, dass die Bedenken gegen die Wahl von Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf der Arbeitsweise des Verfassungsgerichtes nicht gerecht wurden. Continue reading >>Game, Set, Review
The long-standing tension between private sports arbitration and the EU’s system of fundamental rights came to a head on 1 August 2025, when the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its judgment in RFC Seraing v. FIFA. The case addresses whether arbitral awards rendered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport can be insulated from review by EU national courts when EU law is at stake. The judgment represents a restrained but meaningful intervention by the CJEU into the autonomy of sports arbitration, seeking to balance the authority of CAS with the imperative of protective fundamentals rights under EU law. Continue reading >>Three Opposites in Taiwan’s Refracted Constitution
Civil society groups have initiated a mass recall movement in Taiwan, targeting the main opposition party KMT. On 26 July, it received an electoral setback. The movement has been hailed as the most recent evidence for Taiwan’s robust democracy. But its result suggests a more complicated and nuanced story concerning Taiwan’s constitutional image. Continue reading >>
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Sex Testing on Trial
Two global sport governing bodies – World Athletics and World Boxing – decided to institute genetic testing. Both now require all athletes intending to compete in women’s events to undergo a genetic test. The intent is to exclude some women, including those with certain congenital “differences of sex development”, from women’s sport. This revives an old model – last widely used in 1990s – which was deemed unscientific, unethical, and ultimately unworkable. In today’s legal landscape, this renewed approach faces even more pitfalls. Continue reading >>
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06 August 2025
Weigerung verweigert
Immer mehr Krankenhäuser sind wegen der Ökonomisierung gezwungen, mit anderen zu fusionieren. So fusioniert sowohl in Flensburg wie in Lippstadt ein evangelisches mit einem katholischen Haus. In beiden Fällen setzten sich die katholischen Träger durch und verankerten in den Gesellschaftsverträgen, dass in dem neuen Krankenhaus keine Schwangerschaftsabbrüche mehr angeboten werden dürfen. Doch gemischt-konfessionelle Krankenhäuser haben kein kollektives religiöses Recht, Schwangerschaftsabbrüche zu verweigern. Continue reading >>
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Crisis and Legal Scholarship
References to crisis abound. Since the 2008 financial crash and with the popularisation of the term “polycrisis” after the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea that we live in times of crises shapes public opinion, political discourse, and academic debates. A review of posts published on Verfassungsblog between January and July 2025 reveals an average of 15 posts per month mentioning some kind of crisis. Crisis is certainly a catchword, and these are hard to resist. But the pervasiveness of this term can also tell us something about the kind of knowledge produced by legal scholarship. Continue reading >>Rodina And Borisova V. Latvia And The Principle Of Self-Defending Democracy
The ECtHR, in its recent judgment on 10 July 2025 in the case of Rodina and Borisova v. Latvia, examined the applicants’ complaints regarding the refusals of domestic authorities to authorize the assemblies they wished to hold on 9 May and 23 September 2014. The ECtHR analyzed the freedom of peaceful assembly within the context of the principle of self-defending democracy. It reaffirmed that no one should be permitted to invoke the provisions of the ECHR to weaken or destroy the ideals and values of a democratic society. Continue reading >>
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05 August 2025
Rechtswissenschaft und Citizen Science
Citizen Science als Forschungsansatz hat in der Rechtswissenschaft bisher keine Verbreitung gefunden. Der Beitrag stellt das Konzept der Citizen Science aus Anlass des Projekts „Offener Zugang zum Grundgesetz“ vor und lädt alle Interessierten dazu ein, am ersten bürgerschaftlichen Review einer Grundgesetzkommentierung mitzuwirken. Continue reading >>04 August 2025
Taxation Without Representation
What started as a trade war in 2018 – and a domestic policy aimed at recalibrating the U.S. trade policy – has quietly transformed into a tool of hidden taxation, enabling the U.S. executive branch, meaning the President of the United States, to raise revenue and dramatically influence fiscal policy without legislative consent or even minimal participation in the legislative process by Congress. This divergence from legal norms represents a constitutional rupture – what I call the rise of a shadow fiscal state: a parallel tax system designed and executed solely through executive discretion rather than transparency and congressional legislation. Continue reading >>
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Behemoth v. The Dual State in the Gaza War
Fraenkel’s The Dual State (1941) and Neumann’s Behemoth (1942) offer two diverging accounts of the legal reality under National Socialism. The controversy between the two is important not only for the Gaza War, but also for the future of international humanitarian law writ large. The picture, according to which if lawyers had more power post-World War I, democracies in Europe would not have collapsed, affected both constitutional and international law. Yet, the claim that Weimar and the world could have been saved if only the law and lawyers had possessed more power is inaccurate. We are now reliving the consequences of this mistake in the Gaza War. Continue reading >>
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01 August 2025
Tat und Territorium
Am 23. Juli 2025 wurde Sebastian Hotz alias „El Hotzo“ vom Amtsgericht Berlin-Tiergarten vom Vorwurf der Billigung von Straftaten, § 140 StGB, freigesprochen. Die Bedeutung des Falls erschöpft sich nicht in der bekannten Streitfrage um das Verhältnis von grundrechtlicher Meinungsfreiheit und strafrechtlichen Meinungsäußerungsdelikten. Tatsächlich wirft er noch ein anders gelagertes Problem auf: Kann das deutsche Strafrecht die Billigung einer Tat erfassen, die im Ausland begangen wurde? Dass § 140 StGB auch solche Anlasstaten erfassen kann, gilt als gefestigt. Diese Auslegung bricht aber mit dem historischen Sinn der Norm und weitet das Strafrecht in Bereiche aus, in denen es nichts zu suchen hat. Continue reading >>Niemals normal
Nach langem Ringen trat im November 2024 endlich das Selbstbestimmungsgesetz (SBGG) in Kraft. Nun hat das Bundesinnenministerium einen Referentenentwurf vorgelegt, der die antidiskriminierende Zielsetzung des SBGG weit verfehlt: Der alte Geschlechtseintrag und die alten Vornamen einer Person sollen nach einer Änderung gemäß SGBB Bestandteil ihres behördlichen Datensatzes bleiben und diese Daten mit anderen Behörden geteilt werden. Das kreiert eine unnötige Datenflut und gefährdet Grundrechte. Continue reading >>
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A State Without Statehood
One year after New Caledonia was tormented by violent demonstrations, resulting in the deaths of 14 people and causing over 2 billion euros worth of damage, representatives of New Caledonia and the French State signed the Bougival Accord to bring an end to the situation and pave the way for peace. While Emmanuel Macron hails the Accord as “historic”, the overseas minister Manuel Valls celebrates it as “the best response to the fear”. However, a closer look at the agreement reveals that the Accord continues to entrench the French hold on the island and renders New Caledonian independence more elusive than ever. Continue reading >>
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31 July 2025
Der Preis der Deeskalation
Mitten in einer transatlantischen Zollschlacht hat die Europäische Union einem US-Handelsdiktat zugestimmt, das einen drohenden Handelskrieg abwendet – und zugleich fundamentale verfassungsrechtliche Fragen aufwirft. Hat Brüssel aus Notwendigkeit seine Prinzipien preisgegeben? Oder beweist der Deal die bemerkenswerte Elastizität des EU-Verfassungsraums unter äußerem Zwang? Zwar schafft das Abkommen kurzfristig Stabilität, langfristig aber lotet es die Grenzen von Kompetenzen, Demokratie und Rechtsstaatlichkeit in der EU aus – eine Gratwanderung zwischen Souveränität und Submission. Continue reading >>Holistisch, praktisch, gut?
Am 24. Juli 2025 fiel das Urteil gegen Yekatom und Ngaïssona und mit ihm ein Stück klassischer Dogmatik im Völkerstrafrecht. Unter Effizienzdruck setzte der IStGH auf Tempo, Kontext und strukturierte Gesamtschau statt auf starre Zurechnungs- und Beweisregeln. Ein Verfahren, das nicht nur Täter verurteilte, sondern auch Maßstäbe für die Rolle der Verfahrensführung in der internationalen Strafjustiz verschob. Continue reading >>30 July 2025
Parteiverbotsverfahren in der öffentlichen Debatte
In der seit einigen Monaten kontrovers geführten Debatte um ein mögliches AfD-Verbot werden immer wieder Positionen mit rechtlichen Argumenten unterfüttert, die mit Blick auf das Verfassungsrecht kaum haltbar oder zumindest stark umstritten sind. Ihnen soll im Folgenden besondere Aufmerksamkeit gelten: als Mahnung an alle, die sich öffentlich zu diesem Thema äußern, dass die juristische Methodik auch dort nicht vernachlässigt werden darf, wo (gefühlte) politische Dringlichkeit auf normative Komplexität trifft. Continue reading >>“We Were Just Cooperating!”
On June 12th 2025, Advocate General (AG) Ćapeta delivered her Opinion in Case WS v Frontex (C-746/23 P), concerning Frontex’ responsibility for violations of fundamental rights in joint return operations (JROs). The AG first exposes serious logical and legal flaws in the General Court’s approach before explaining why Frontex can be held directly accountable for fundamental rights violations when acting in cooperation with Member States; a question that was central to the applicants’ case but one that the General Court failed to address entirely. Continue reading >>
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Wenn Städte sterben
Zerstörte Städte sind mehr als Trümmer. Sie sind gezielte Angriffe auf soziale Vielfalt und urbane Identität. Der Begriff „Urbizid“ rückt diese systematische Vernichtung ins Zentrum völkerrechtlicher Debatten. Doch das geltende Recht greift zu kurz: Zwischen Eigentumsschutz und Kriegsverbrechen bleibt eine Schutzlücke. Könnte ein neuer völkerstrafrechtlicher Tatbestand für den urbanen Lebensraum diese Leerstelle endlich schließen? Continue reading >>
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The Legal Profession in the Executive Branch
The Trump administration is reshaping the roles of the U.S. legal profession and the civil service to use them as a tool to support the President’s political interests. This impacts an understudied and politically significant group of bureaucrats: government lawyers. They play a critical gatekeeper role in establishing legal principles that can both enable and hinder the systematic weakening of democratic institutions. The case of Brazil has a lot of important lessons to offer. Continue reading >>
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29 July 2025
Keine Sache der Exekutive
Mit Urteil vom 15. Juli 2025 hat das BVerfG die Verfassungsbeschwerde der Neffen eines jemenitischen Geistlichen, der im August 2012 durch einen US-amerikanischen Drohneneinsatz getötet wurde, verworfen. Das Gericht erkennt mit diesem Urteil zum ersten Mal die Möglichkeit einer Schutzpflicht auch in einer reinen Auslandskonstellation an – selbst, wenn die Gefahr von einem anderen Staat ausgeht. Hier soll ein Blick darauf geworfen werden, inwieweit Gerichte exekutive Völkerrechtsauffassungen einer umfassenden Kontrolle unterziehen können. Das Gericht vergibt die Chance, der ausdrücklich als staatlicher Schutzauftrag operationalisierten Völkerrechtsfreundlichkeit auch Zähne in Form gerichtlicher Kontrollierbarkeit zu verleihen. Continue reading >>
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Frontex vor dem EuGH
Der EuGH hatte in seinem viel kritisierten Urteil vom 6. September 2023 (T-600/21, WS u.a. v. Frontex) im Fall der rechtswidrigen Rückführung einer sechsköpfigen Familie den Zurechnungszusammenhang und damit die deliktische Haftung der EU-Agentur verneint. Aktuell sind EuGH und EGMR erneut mit einer Vielzahl an Fällen befasst, die operative Rückführungsmaßnahmen betreffen. Die nunmehr in der Revision in der Rechtssache WS u.a. v. Frontex ergangenen Schlussanträge machen deutlich, dass der EuGH wesentlichen Fragen in Bezug auf die Verantwortlichkeit von Frontex ausgewichen ist. Continue reading >>
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Up Against It
The Grand Chamber ruled that Caster Semenya did not benefit from a fair hearing contrary to Article 6(1) European Convention on Human Rights. However, it did not extend Switzerland’s jurisdiction to her substantive complaints under Article 8 ECHR, taken alone or in conjunction with Article 14 ECHR, which go to the heart of her case. Although the GC was up against it in the current stormy political landscape of sex and gender, it could have gone further to protect fundamental rights. Continue reading >>
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28 July 2025
Consolidating Parliamentary Democracy in Mongolia
In May 2025, Mongolia witnessed peaceful youth-led protests in Sukhbaatar Square reacting to the Government’s handling of corruption and a perceived lack of transparency. The demonstration led to the Government’s resignation after a failed vote of confidence. Such governmental crises are not unprecedented in Mongolia, but the reaction to it is: the current political episode stands for an emerging constitutional culture in which civil society is reclaiming constitutional mechanisms for a more participatory and responsive democratic system. Continue reading >>
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Ein Strohfeuer für die österreichische Justiz
Am 9. Juli hat Österreich die Einrichtung einer Bundesstaatsanwaltschaft beschlossen: Ein Anfang, doch Österreichs Justiz braucht mehr als ein Strohfeuer. Strukturprobleme und politische Einflussnahmen lähmen die Gerichte. Wer Rechtsstaatlichkeit und unabhängige Verfahren stärken will, braucht langen Atem und einen europäischen Rahmen, der Standards setzt und ihre Umsetzung einfordert. Continue reading >>
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Bullying Universities
David Pozen at Columbia University calls Columbia University’s new agreement with the federal government “regulation by deal”. Of course, Columbia should have learned by now that making a deal does not mean that the pressure stops. Appeasing a bully only empowers the bully – and he will be back for more. Regulation by deal, precisely because it bypasses general lawmaking procedures, leaves open the possibility that any deal can be supplemented with even more demands in the future. It can provide no legal guarantees of security. Continue reading >>
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Can The EU Levy Its Own Taxes?
The budgetary dance in the EU budgetary cycle always starts early and seems to follow similar patterns: the heads of state assess their positions, the press then divides them into camps (usually a frugal and an expansionist one), and the European Commission proposes measures that would expand the Union's budgetary autonomy. With the announcement of a new “Corporate Resource for Europe” (“CORE”), the Commission has relaunched an age-old debate: can the Union levy its own taxes, and if so, on what legal basis? Continue reading >>
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27 July 2025
International Rulings and the UK–Mauritius Chagos Agreement
On 22 May 2025, following negotiations that began in November 2022 and a joint statement of 3 October 2024 (to learn more, see Sebastian von Massow), the United Kingdom and Mauritius concluded an Agreement, stating that “Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Archipelago in its entirety, including Diego Garcia” (Article 1). The Chagos Agreement is not only a diplomatic achievement, but also a “contractual transposition” of the decisions of international courts and tribunals. Continue reading >>
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25 July 2025
Pullbacks in the Channel
Last week, negotiations for a new UK–France agreement culminated in the announcement of a 'one in, one out' pilot scheme, under which the UK will return small boat arrivals to France while accepting asylum seekers selected from France who can demonstrate family ties in Britain. The agreement signals a sui generis evolution in European migration control. For the first time, rather than pushing asylum seekers back to third countries to avoid legal responsibilities under EU and international law, an EU Member State is directly preventing departures from its own territory. Continue reading >>
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Auf Kosten des Rechtsstaates
Erst im Februar 2024 trat § 62d AufenthG in Kraft. Dieser regelte erstmals, dass im Zuge der Anordnung von Abschiebungshaft eine anwaltliche Vertretung verpflichtend ist. Nur knapp 18 Monate später soll er nach dem Willen der Bundesregierung bereits wieder abgeschafft werden. Die Begründung des Gesetzesentwurfes verkennt dabei den Normzweck der ursprünglichen Regelung. Freiheitsrechte und Rechtsstaatlichkeit dürfen nicht dem politischen Ziel schnellerer Abschiebungen untergeordnet werden. Continue reading >>Weg frei für „Berlin autofrei“
Nach dem Erfolg von „Deutsche Wohnen enteignen“ dürfte Berlin bald über das nächste Volksbegehren abstimmen, das die Stadt lebenswerter machen soll: „Berlin autofrei“ will den individuellen Kfz-Verkehr innerhalb des S-Bahn-Rings weitgehend verbieten. Nachdem die Senatsverwaltung das Volksbegehren zunächst gestoppt hatte, hält der VerfGH Berlin es nun für vollumfänglich zulässig. Der Gerichtshof erkennt an, dass es zwar kein „Grundrecht auf Autofahren“ gibt, doch besondere Mobilitätsbedürfnisse durchaus grundrechtlichen Schutz genießen. Dies hätte er allerdings bruchloser argumentieren können, wenn er die Eingriffsqualität anerkannt hätte. Continue reading >>
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24 July 2025
What We Lost in the Skies Above Tehran
The damage that Merz and Steinmeier have inflicted on both Germany’s international credibility and the order put in place with the founding of the United Nations will likewise be felt for decades to come. As things stand right now, as far as the jus contra bellum is concerned, there might not be much left to reconstruct when the community of international law scholars meets up in Berlin in September. In that, the realists may find reason to rejoice. They, too, will come to miss it once it’s gone. Continue reading >>Sterbehilfe endlich regeln
Am Dienstag hat das Bundesverfassungsgericht die Verfassungsbeschwerde eines Arztes verworfen: Der Arzt hatte einem psychisch kranken Mann auf dessen Wunsch eine Infusion mit einer tödlich wirkenden Substanz gelegt. Obwohl der Patient den Zugang selbst öffnete, nahm der BGH einen Totschlag in mittelbarer Täterschaft an. Der Fall zeigt einmal mehr, dass der Fragenkreis von Sterbehilfe und Unterstützung beim Suizid dringend einer durchdachten gesetzlichen Regelung bedarf. Anregungen dazu können neue Normierungen der Materie in Frankreich und England geben. Continue reading >>
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An Elusive Touchdown with a Political Football
On July 19, Congress voted to revoke funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – something it has not done in the 60 years since its creation. In countries with strong public media traditions, this may seem astonishing: Why would Congress defund NPR and PBS after already having appropriated the money? And what does this mean for the First Amendment? To answer these questions, we must consider the peculiar history of public broadcasting in the United States. Continue reading >>
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The Great Recall Movement
Confronted with lawmakers they themselves elected just eighteen months ago, Taiwanese citizens have creatively repurposed the antiquated mechanism of "recall" as a last-resort check on a runaway legislature. Sparked by a year of legislative overreach and erosion of constitutional checks, this unprecedented campaign reflects Taiwan's spirit of civic constitutionalism, and its determination to defend its democratic institutions. Continue reading >>
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23 July 2025
Eine Republik wird „neutralisiert“
Julia Klöckner ist seit der Bundestagswahl 2025 Präsidentin des Deutschen Bundestages. Ihrem Schutz anvertraut sind die Einhaltung der Geschäftsordnung, die Fairness der Debatten und die Ordnung des Hohen Hauses schlechthin. Außerdem hat sie „die Würde und die Rechte des Bundestages“ zu wahren. Der Präsidentin Klöckner reichten diese Schutzgüter nicht aus. Sie nahm ein weiteres in Anspruch – die politische Neutralität, die sie etwa durch bestimmte Kleidung oder das Hissen der Regenbogenflagge sieht. Doch Neutralität hat freilich einen politisch vergifteten Kontext. Continue reading >>Respect for International Law in Gaza
Since October 2023, a group of eminent Israeli international law scholars has written numerous letters and memos expressing concerns over many aspects of the Gaza war. Given the importance of these documents both in doctrinal terms and in highlighting the work of these colleagues, we have asked to publish them. So far, only one of the letters has been officially published. Readers interested in more detail can access the full text of the respective documents, which are hyperlinked and archived on Verfassungsblog. Continue reading >>
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Another Step in the Anti-Abortion Agenda
Trump’s recently passed “One Big, Beautiful Bill” bars Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood for one year. The provision is now temporarily blocked after Planned Parenthood filed suit. But it builds on, and must be read against, the backdrop of Medina v. Planned Parenthood, a recent and disastrous Supreme Court ruling initiated by South Carolina. The case starkly illustrates the Court’s continued alignment with an anti-abortion agenda advanced through state governments and forms part of a broader assault on civil rights. Not least, its entanglement with Medicaid signals a deeper campaign against the poor and access to healthcare. Continue reading >>
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22 July 2025
The Demise of Congress
Last week, Congress passed a bill permitting deep cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting programs – just days after enacting what Donald Trump hailed as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” widely seen as a legislative disaster. Congress is increasingly surrendering its constitutional power of the purse and, with it, its institutional identity in relation to the presidency. Its collapse in favor of pure partisanship signals the breakdown of the system of checks and balances at the heart of the U.S. Constitution. Continue reading >>
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Sweden, Sex Work, Screens
Sweden takes its sex work ban online — but at what cost? Criminalising digital intimacy clashes with EU rights and consensus. The new law risks punishing autonomy without protecting anyone. From demand to overreach: privacy in the digital age is at stake. Copying offline laws into online spaces erodes digital freedoms. Continue reading >>
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Halbherziger Schutz für Gaza
Nach einem anderthalbjährigen Entscheidungsstopp aufgrund einer „ungewissen Lage“ im Gazastreifen gab das Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) am 18. Juli 2025 bekannt, wieder über Asylanträge zu entscheiden. Schutzsuchende werden nun also voraussichtlich subsidiären Schutz erhalten. Ein richtiger Schritt, allerdings werden ipso-facto Schutz und Flüchtlingseigenschaft in der behördlichen und verwaltungsgerichtlichen Praxis bislang zu Unrecht weitgehend ausgeblendet. Continue reading >>The EU’s New Climate Targets and the Return of Flexibility
Early in July, the European Commission then released its proposal for a new climate target. The Commission hails the new targets as “ambitious”. But the proposal clearly bows to concerns about geopolitical competition. Greater flexibilities shall square the circle between climate ambition and competitiveness concerns. The idea has a telling history. Continue reading >>
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21 July 2025
Stopping the Davids, Shielding the Goliaths
In Barbara v. Trump, an individual federal district court judge stopped the Administration’s birthright citizenship executive order nationwide. Just when the Supreme Court said this was not allowed in Trump v. CASA, a New Hampshire judge ordered universal relief, this time through a class action. There is a big difference between a nationwide injunction that benefits non-parties and a class action that benefits class members. But what they have in common is that they both empower the “little guy” to enforce the rule of law. The Supreme Court has eliminated the former and is now trying to kneecap the latter. Continue reading >>
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Vertrauen und Vertretbarkeit
Das BVerfG hat mit Urteil vom 15.07.2025 eine völkerrechtliche Verantwortung Deutschlands wegen der von der US-Air-Base Ramstein geflogenen Drohnenangriffe zurückgewiesen. Dennoch bestätigt das Urteil, dass es grundrechtliche Schutzpflichten des deutschen Staates gegenüber Ausländer*innen im Ausland geben kann. Damit ist es auch für die derzeit hochumstrittenen Genehmigungen von Waffenlieferungen an Israel von großer Bedeutung. Continue reading >>Decriminalising Abortion in England and Wales
On 17 June 2025, British MPs took an important step in decriminalising abortion against a backdrop of rising prosecutions for "later" abortion. Once the amended Crime and Policing Bill becomes law, people who voluntarily end their own pregnancies will be exempt from criminalisation. But, unless a further amendment is made, those good faith actors who provide abortion, or support others in getting access, remain at risk of criminal investigation. Five aspects of the recent legal changes are worth emphasising as lessons for a strategic perspective on defending, and even expanding, reproductive freedom. Continue reading >>
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19 July 2025
Against Authoritarian Determinism
A tempting but corrosive thought about Israeli politics – and about many other places – is that we have already embarked on a one-way road to authoritarianism. This “authoritarian determinism”, sometimes presented as a kind of seasoned realism, assumes that political trajectories continue unidirectionally. There is a world of difference between the many political contexts in which authoritarianism seems to be on the rise. And yet, a common question seems to be asked: in the face of authoritarian determinism, what can be saved of the democratic process? Until when does it make sense to hold on? Continue reading >>
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Suspension of EU Association Agreements Does Not Require Unanimity
In its meeting on 15 July 2025, the Council of the EU failed to adopt concrete measures vis-à-vis Israel, limiting itself to an “exchange of views on an inventory of possible follow-up measures”. This hesitant approach stands in contrast to clear indications that Israel is in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement (AA), and to the EU’s own obligation to work towards consolidating human rights and the principles of public international law pursuant to Article 21 TEU. While a suspension of the entire AA was never really foreseeable, an important question relates to the voting threshold within the Council that would apply to such a decision relating to the AA. Continue reading >>17 July 2025
Copyright, AI, and the Future of Internet Search before the CJEU
With Like Company v Google, the first groundbreaking AI copyright case is now headed to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). In this case, a Hungarian press publisher challenges Google and its Gemini chatbot for reproducing and communicating its editorial content without authorisation. The Court’s decision will establish the legal framework for AI’s relationship with copyright and press publishers’ rights across the EU. It will potentially reshape how generative AI systems can or cannot lawfully access, process and reproduce journalistic and other protected content. This may even fundamentally affect the economic and technical architecture of future AI development. Continue reading >>
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16 July 2025
The GPAI Code of Practice
On 10 July 2025, the European Commission published the final version of its Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI (GPAI) – a voluntary rulebook developed by a group of independent experts and more than 1,400 stakeholders from industry, academia, civil society, and rightsholders. The Code is meant to prepare providers for what’s ahead: it offers a straightforward way to start complying with future obligations under the AI Act. Its success will ultimately depend on whether it manages to reduce compliance burdens and provide legal certainty. Even if not universally adopted, it could still serve as a regulatory benchmark under the AI Act. Continue reading >>
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