21 September 2018
36 Jahre Sabra und Shatila und die Frage der Strafverfolgung
Das Massaker von Sabra und Shatila wurde zum Sinnbild für die Grausamkeiten des Libanesischen Bürgerkrieges. In dieser Woche jähren sich die Ereignisse zum 36. Mal. Grund genug der Frage nachzugehen, ob eine etwaige Strafverfolgung gegen die aktiv beteiligten Milizionäre durch deutsche Strafverfolgungsbehörden auch heutzutage noch möglich wäre. Continue reading >>
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Unter Zeitdruck – Zur anstehenden Regierungsbildung im Freistaat Bayern
Zwischen der Wahl zum Deutschen Bundestag im September 2017 und der Bildung der Bundesregierung im März 2018 verging ein halbes Jahr. Dieses war geprägt von schwierigen Sondierungsgesprächen und Koalitionsverhandlungen einschließlich Sonderparteitagen und Mitgliederbefragung. Der Zeitdruck, unter dem diese Verhandlungen standen, war ein politischer, kein rechtlicher. Das ist im Freistaat Bayern, wo am 14.10.2018 ein neuer Landtag gewählt wird, grundlegend anders. Continue reading >>
20 September 2018
Maaßen bleibt Seehofers Sache: Warum die Beförderung zum Staatssekretär keiner Kabinettsentscheidung unterliegt
Der Kompromiss über die „Personalie Maaßen“ bringt die SPD zum Brodeln. Teilweise wird schon verlangt, dass die Bundesregierung dem von den Koalitionsspitzen errungenen Kompromiss nicht zustimmen soll. Dabei unterliegt die geplante Beförderung von Herrn Maaßen zum beamteten Staatssekretär entgegen der Regelung in der Geschäftsordnung der Bundesregierung aus verfassungsrechtlichen Gründen gar keinem Kabinettsentscheid. Continue reading >>Wahlrechtsstreit in der Schweiz: Parlament weist Bundesgericht in die Schranken
Mit seinen Entscheidungen, kantonales Wahlrecht wegen seiner Nachteile für Wähler kleiner Parteien für verfassungswidrig zu erklären, hat das Schweizer Bundesgericht viele Politiker gegen sich aufgebracht. Jetzt könnte eine Verfassungsänderung der Justiz ihre Grenzen aufzeigen. Continue reading >>
18 September 2018
The Four Elements of the Autocrats’ Playbook
There is truth in the old maxim proclaiming the imperative to try to get to know your enemies well. We outline four key techniques deployed by the autocratic regimes in Poland and Hungary in order to consolidate the constitutional capture and massive assault on European values and take a look at some of the elements of each of the four. Continue reading >>Big Brother Watch and others v. the United Kingdom: A Victory of Human Rights over Modern Digital Surveillance?
The European Court of Human Rights delivered its long-awaited judgment in Big Brother Watch and others v. the United Kingdom. While this landmark decision marks a victory for the fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of expression over surveillance, it is also a missed opportunity for the Strasbourg Court. Continue reading >>
17 September 2018
Es geht auch ohne Seehofer: Wie die Bundeskanzlerin für eine Entlassung des Verfassungsschutzpräsidenten sorgen kann
Der Präsident des Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz ist Bundesbeamter des höheren Dienstes der Besoldungsgruppe B 9. Als solcher ist er politischer Beamter, den der Bundespräsident jederzeit gemäß § 54 Abs. 1 Nr. 3 BBG in den einstweiligen Ruhestand versetzen kann. Rechtlich entscheidender Akteur ist also eine Person, die in der öffentlichen Diskussion über den Fall Maaßen noch überhaupt keine Rolle gespielt hat: der Bundespräsident. Continue reading >>Mango Scented Sovereignty: Pakistan’s Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and Baba-justice
Politicization of the judiciary is a global trend. Pakistan’s Supreme Court is a particularly worrying example. With an ad-campaign, the Court is currently collecting donations for an ambitious dam project to resolve Pakistan’s looming water crises. Chief Justice Saqib Nisar would certainly prefer, as he convincingly repeats, a more pliant courtly existence. But the catastrophic shortcomings of the executive and legislature force him to take on big infrastructure projects – the failures have also pushed him to tackle school curriculums, fees for private medical school, pension of bank employees, random quality-checks in hospitals, surprise inspections of lower courts and ordering the arrest of a high ranking police officer who shared indecent images of his estranged wife on Facebook. Continue reading >>Desinformieren und interpretieren: Was Maaßen sagen durfte und was nicht
Der Innenminister kann den Präsidenten des Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz nicht nach Belieben zum politischen Mitstreiter befördern. Äußerungsrechtlich ist der Verfassungsschutzpräsident auf die Optionen beschränkt, die ihm sein Amt eröffnet. Dazu gehört nicht die Kompetenz, sich tagespolitisch zu äußern. Continue reading >>Beyond the Spectacle: The European Parliament’s Article 7 TEU Decision on Hungary
Emotions were high and voices loud while and after the European Parliament adopted its decision to trigger an art. 7 TEU procedure against Hungary this week. Once the dust settles, it might be helpful and disillusioning to look at the possible consequences, the collateral damages and the side-effects of the European Parliament's art. 7 TEU decision. Continue reading >>
16 September 2018
Fixing the Refugee Crisis: Holding the Commission Accountable
In that 2015 State of the Union address, Juncker famously asserted that his Commission would be ‘very political’. ‘Political’ in Juncker’s words, meant facing up to challenges, not just ‘business as usual’. Rather, it was ‘time to speak frankly about the issues facing the European Union.’ In spite of this apparent rhetorical and institutional commitment, our central argument is that the Commission’s weakness during the refugee crisis meant it underperformed not only when measured against the aim of being more ‘political’ (in particular if this means correctly identifying and dealing with the sources of real political problems), but even if we envisage for it a more modest technocratic role. Continue reading >>
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14 September 2018
How likely – and dangerous – is a Kosovo/Serbia “Land Swap” ?
The presidents of Kosovo and Serbia have recently considered an exchange of territories (“land swap”) between their two countries which would lead to Serbia’s formal recognition of the independence of Kosovo. In view of legal and politcial hurdles, one can envisage at least three distinct scenarios of international response to a bilateral treaty between Serbia and Kosovo, concerning specific synchronized border changes. Continue reading >>WTO Option in Practice: How a No-Deal Brexit Would Seriously Damage Key UK Industries
Whilst a no-deal Brexit seemed unrealistic in the immediate aftermath of the UK’s referendum, it seems that now the UK is bracing itself for a Brexit without a withdrawal or transition agreement. What would that mean for the UK's trade relations with the EU and other countries and how would it affect some of the UK's key industries? Continue reading >>
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Trade, Security and Defence: Holding Cecilia Malmström and Federica Mogherini Accountable
The shift away from a technocratic, apolitical European Commission towards a politicized one is a momentous development of the European Union. In the Common Commercial Policy and the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has constitutionalized and institutionalized different degrees of accountability mechanisms in this special domain of foreign affairs Continue reading >>
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13 September 2018
#Aufstehen statt sitzen bleiben: Kann eine Sammlungsbewegung den Parteien Beine machen?
Jeremy Corbyn, Emanuel Macron, Jean-Luc Mélenchon und nun Sahra Wagenknecht: Auf den ersten Blick könnten diese Charaktere unterschiedlicher nicht sein, aber sie alle eint, dass sie sich an die Spitze einer „Bewegung“ gestellt haben. Sammlungsbewegungen sind hip. Und so unterschiedlich ihre Zielrichtungen sein mögen, sie alle spiegeln den Zeitgeist wider: Sie sind Kinder der Politikverdrossenheit in den westeuropäischen Gesellschaften. Kann #aufstehen die etablierten Parteien hierzulande in Bewegung setzen? Oder werden sie gar ganz entbehrlich? Continue reading >>Toward Political Economic and Euro Governance? Assessing the Political Performance of Moscovici and Dombrovskis
The Juncker Commission began its mandate in the aftermath of a deep crisis affecting the Euro-zone. But was his political Commission able to open up economic and monetary policies to political accountability? Continue reading >>
12 September 2018
Trump, Mueller, and the U.S. Constitution
A dominant story in American politics since early 2017 has been, of course, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of potentially criminal connections between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia. What does all of this have to do with the United States Constitution? Continue reading >>
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Barnier, Bureaucracy and Brexit – a Test for Juncker’s ‘Political’ Commission
At first sight, it may neither be easy nor obvious to assimilate the conduct of the Brexit negotiations to the idea of a ‘political Commission’. A closer look, however, reveals that Juncker's personnel and organisational choices regarding the Brexit negotiations fit that pattern more readily. Continue reading >>
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Regime Collision between EU Law and Investment Law: New Developments in the Vattenfall Case
EU law and international investment law are on collision course. The bone of contention is which court shall decide intra-EU investor-state disputes. While the ECJ indicated in its Achmea judgment that only itself and the domestic courts of the member states may decide such disputes, the Investment Tribunal in the Vattenfall case has now decided in the context of the Energy Charter Treaty that Achmea does not preclude its jurisdiction. How did this clash of courts arise and how can it be resolved? Continue reading >>Self-Protecting Democracy and Electoral Rights
On October 6 the Republic of Latvia will hold its general election. The air is already sparkling with emotions: populism, fake news and other nowadays much discussed components of election campaigns are all part of it. Even the Constitutional Court of Latvia had its say in the upcoming events by delivering a judgment on a law denying access to stand as a candidate in the election. Continue reading >>
11 September 2018
Wer sich traut…
Die „Chefarzt-Saga“ ist um ein weiteres Ausrufezeichen reicher: Einem leitenden Arzt eines katholischen Krankenhauses darf nicht allein deshalb gekündigt werden, weil er sich kirchenrechtswidrig wiederverheiratet hat. Damit stellt sich der EuGH offen gegen das Bundesverfassungsgericht. Das Urteil ist somit nicht nur als weitere Grundlegung eines EU-Staatskirchenrechts bemerkenswert. Es bedeutet auch eine überaus selbstbewusste Behauptung des Unionsrechts im Dreieck kollidierender Rechtssätze von EU-Recht, Kirchenrecht und nationalem Recht. Continue reading >>False Accountability, Elusive Rule of Law
The tale of the ‘political Commission’ is not only bound to weaken the Union’s ability to meet the outstanding challenges touching upon its institutional core but has fundamentally undermined the EU’s action in an area of most fundamental concern: the unfulfilled promise of democracy and the rule of law for all European citizens. Continue reading >>
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VB vom Blatt: Sechs Gedanken zum Chefarzt-Urteil des Europäischen Gerichtshofs
Einem Chefarzt an einem katholischen Krankenhaus zu kündigen, weil er als Katholik gegen das Gebot der Unauflöslichkeit der Ehe verstoßen hat, kann als religiöse Diskriminierung gegen Europarecht verstoßen. Das hat der Europäische Gerichtshof heute entschieden. Sechs Gedanken von Hans-Michael Heinig, Experte für Religionsverfassungsrecht, zu dem heutigen Grundsatzurteil aus Luxemburg. Continue reading >>Better Regulation: Holding Martin Selmayr Accountable
This time was supposed 'to be different', at least this was the motto of the 2014 European Parliament elections campaign. With less than a year before the next European elections, the time is ripe to examine how different this EU political cycle has actually been. Continue reading >>
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On the Fragility of Detainees’ and Prisoners’ Rights in the EU
The further east in the EU one goes, the more one is overwhelmed by the state of prison conditions and the violations of prisoners’ and detainees’ rights. The situation in Bulgaria is particularly challenging because of the scale of the problem and the local authorities’ denial that it exists. Continue reading >>
10 September 2018
@Maaßen – oder His Masters Voice?
Ein Geheimdienstchef, der naturgemäß im Geheimen wirkt, ist unheimlich, doch einer, der in der Öffentlichkeit verschwörerisch daherredet, ist gruselig. Was hat Hans-Georg Maaßen, Chef des Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz, überhaupt auf einem Podium zu suchen? Wieso fühlte er sich gedrängt, post festum zu einem Ereignis Stellung zu nehmen, das seine Behörde nach landläufigem Verständnis geheimer Dienste qua Gefahrenprävention eher zu verhindern gehabt hätte? Was treibt einen Beamten der Inneren Sicherheit dazu, Medienberichte zu korrigieren und sensible Sprachkritik am Terminus „Hetzjagd“ zu betreiben? Continue reading >>Die Minimalvariante: Der Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung zur Dritten Option
Die Bundesregierung hat am 15. August 2018 den Referentenentwurf des Bundesinnenministeriums zur Umsetzung des Dritte-Option-Beschlusses des Bundesverfassungsgerichts angenommen. Der Gesetzesentwurf wird damit ins gesetzgeberische Verfahren gehen. Mit ihm soll der Dritte-Options-Beschluss in einer Minimalvariante umgesetzt werden. Dies wird den Interessen und Rechten intergeschlechtlicher Personen nur ansatzweise gerecht. Continue reading >>Evaluating Juncker’s Political Commission: The Right Idea in the Wrong Hands?
The idea of a political European Commission may be the defining idea of the Juncker Presidency. It was the idea that gave Mr. Juncker the Presidency in the first place. As he stated in 2015, he wanted a 'very political Commission'. This ambition raises many questions, particularly: What does the political Commission mean? Did it work and should it be repeated? Continue reading >>
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How to Stop Funding Autocracy in the EU
The EU finds itself in the perverse situation of providing some of the largest transfers of funds precisely to those governments who most prominently thumb their nose at its democratic and rule-of-law norms. The legal debate about this misses the fact that the EU already has a sufficient legal basis to suspend the flow of funds to states in which rule-of-law norms are systematically violated. The real problem to date has not been the lack of adequate legal tools, but the lack of political will on the part of the European Commission to use the tools that already exist. Continue reading >>
09 September 2018
Decriminalising Homosexuality in India as a Matter of Transformative Constitutionalism
What worth is a Constitution if it does not seek out the emancipation of a society’s most marginalized and excluded? Indeed, what vision ought a Constitution espouse if it isn’t a commitment to basic fundamental rights and freedoms? Ultimately, what polity must a Constitution nurture if it isn’t towards imbibing the widest and most deepest sense of inclusion and pluralism in society? All these searching questions and much more came to form a distinct part of the decision of the Indian Supreme Court (Court) when it was called upon to rule on the constitutional validly of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Continue reading >>
08 September 2018
Gute Lücken, schlechte Lücken? Zur objektiv-rechtlichen Dimension des IT-Grundrechts
Staatliches Hacking von Computern und Smartphones hat Konjunktur. Online-Durchsuchung und Quellen-TKÜ mittels „Staatstrojanern“ zählen seit 2017 zu den Standardmaßnahmen im strafrechtlichen Ermittlungsverfahren. Dagegen richtet sich nun eine Verfassungsbeschwerde, die die Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte e.V. koordiniert hat. Sie rügt vor allem eine Leerstelle: Der Gesetzgeber ist seinen Verpflichtungen nicht nachgekommen, die sich aus der objektiv-rechtlichen Dimension des IT-Grundrechts ergeben. Continue reading >>Unter Beobachtung
Gerade schlägt die Entscheidung über eine Maßnahme der wehrhaften Demokratie hohe Wellen: Soll die AfD durch den Verfassungsschutz beobachtet werden? Die Nachricht, dass die Junge Alternative, die Jugendorganisation der AfD, in Bremen und Niedersachsen von den Verfassungsschutzbehörden überwacht werde, hat nun zu einer ungewöhnlichen Reaktion geführt: Auf einem außerordentlichen Bundeskongress soll die Auflösung der beobachteten Landesverbände beschlossen werden. Rechtlich stellen sich zwei Fragen: Erstens, unter welchen Bedingungen dürfen politische Organisationen durch den Verfassungsschutz beobachtet werden? Zweitens, wie steht es mit der Auflösung von Landesverbänden der JA? Continue reading >>
07 September 2018
Talk to me like Lawyers do – Celmer returns to the High Court of Ireland
The Celmer case is back before the High Court of Ireland, which gave a further judgment on 01 August 2018. The decision provides a first insight into the practical application of the CJEU's ruling, most notably its encouragement of executing judicial authorities to enter into dialogue. Continue reading >>
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06 September 2018
Parteienrecht en marche?
Die Diskussion um die Gründung einer neuen Sammelbewegung "Aufstehen" wirft viele Fragen auf. Eine davon lautet: Wie reagiert das Recht? Warum ist unser Parteienrecht so, wie es ist? Eine Anfrage – fast noch ohne Antworten. Continue reading >>Zur Reform der asylprozessualen Rechtsmittel
Aktuell wird wieder wird über eine Reform der Rechtsmittel im Asylprozess diskutiert. Das geltende Asylverfahrensrecht bildet in großen Teilen ein vom allgemeinen Verwaltungsrecht abweichendes Sonderrecht mit erheblichen rechtsstaatlichen Problemen. Es gibt also Bedarf für Reformen, die aber gerade nicht zu weiteren Lasten der rechtsstaatlichen Garantien gehen dürfen. Der folgende Text gewährt einen Überblick über die komplexen Regelungen und gegenwärtige Missstände. Continue reading >>
05 September 2018
Shedding Light or Shooting in the Dark – How to define Fake News?
A proposed legislation against the “manipulation of information” is currently under consideration by the French parliament in order to tackle the problem of fake news. A sufficiently precise definition of fake news is a necessary preliminary condition to have a political or legal debate on the issue. The attempts of the French parliament have some significant shortcomings in this regard, but they can serve as a basis to elaborate a better definition. Continue reading >>
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04 September 2018
Democratic Decay Resource (DEM-DEC): Second Monthly Bibliography Update – September 2018
DEM-DEC aims to provide useful information to academics and policymakers concerned with the creeping deterioration of democratic rule worldwide. Updates to the Bibliography will be issued on the first Monday of each month, based on new publications and suggestions from users of DEM-DEC. Continue reading >>
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03 September 2018
My Body, the Majority’s Choice? A Comparative Overview of Abortion Laws in Ireland and Argentina
Both Argentina and Ireland have tried to move forward in the fight for the decriminalization of abortion. In Argentina, even though the approval in the Chamber of Deputies represented a very important step, the Senate majority followed the religious standards and rejected the bill. In Ireland, the referendum resulted in a victory for women. The next step is to enact the new law and, of equal importance, to create all the practical conditions to implement the new rules. Continue reading >>Spanish Jurisdiction at Stake: Puigdemont’s Judge to be Judged by a Belgian Court?
Tomorrow, a new weird chapter opens up in the „affair Puigdemont“: The Spanish Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena, who unsuccessfully issued the European Arrest Warrant against former Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont, is cited before a Belgian court. He is object of a civil lawsuit filed by Puigdemont who accuses the magistrate of a lack of impartiality and violating the presumption of innocence as well as his right to reputation. What is the most astonishing about this lawsuit is the fact that it is a Belgian court which shall judge the professional actions of a Spanish judge. Continue reading >>
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02 September 2018
The Diciotti Affair: beyond the Populist Farce
After years in which Italy has been the only European country to take seriously the legal obligation to save migrants in the Mediterranean and to accept them on its territory, the Italian government calls for a broader notion of “burden sharing” which involves also a distribution of people and, hence, it proposes to cut off the link between the country of first entry and the obligation to process asylum applications on which the Dublin system relies. At a time when Germany is trying to make the “first country of entry” rule really binding, the Italian position can be hardly dismissed as unreasonable. But there is a serious risk that the current strategy of blackmailing Europe, reiterated in the Diciotti case, will end up compromising the solidity of Italian arguments and eroding the already narrow margins for negotiation in Brussels. Continue reading >>
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30 August 2018
Schengen Entry Bans for Political Reasons? The Case of Lyudmyla Kozlovska
On 13 August 2018, Lyudmyla Kozlovska, an Ukrainian national and the President of the Open Dialog Foundation (ODF) in Poland, was detained at Brussels airport on the basis of a Polish entry ban reported into the Schengen Information System (SIS II). One day later, the Belgian border authorities deported her to Kiev, Ukraine. This case raises questions on the discretionary power of states to use the SIS II for entry bans on ‘unwanted migrants’ and the obligation of executing states, in this case Belgium, to check the legitimacy or proportionality of these other states decisions. Furthermore, this case illustrates the necessity of effective remedies against decisions reported in large-scale databases such as SIS. Continue reading >>Fighting the Backlash – The South African High Court on the Suspension of the SADC Tribunal
Today, the South African Constitutional Court may have the last word on a case concerning South Africa's suspension of the Southern African Development Community Tribunal. On 1 March 2018, the South African High Court found that this foreign policy decision violated substantive human rights. Even though it is easy to criticize the judgment for its scarce reasoning, the decision entails intriguing ideas for building a more principled foreign relations law in the South African context. Continue reading >>
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Prosecuting a Judge that Enjoys Diplomatic Immunity: the Case of Judge Aydın Sefa Akay
After the coup attempt on 15 July 2016, more than 80,000 people have been detained in Turkey. One of the most interesting incidents was undoubtedly the arrest of International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals’ (MICT) (former) Judge Aydın Sefa Akay. The main problem in this situation was whether Judge Akay enjoyed diplomatic immunity even from his own State’s jurisdiction. What happened with Judge Akay has manifested the deficiency of international rules regarding the immunity of international judges and, moreover, that said rules must be so articulated that they leave no room for similar incidents in the future. Continue reading >>
29 August 2018
VB vom Blatt: Vier kurze Gedanken zum Europaschulen-Beschluss des BVerfG
Verfassungsblog vom Blatt: FRANZ MAYER schreibt auf, was ihm beim Durchlesen des heutigen Europaschulen-Beschlusses des Bundesverfassungsgerichts ein- und auffällt. Continue reading >>Disenfranchised by Accident: the Brexit Initiative and Brits abroad
On the 23rd of July 2018, the European Commission registered a European Citizens’ Initiative called “Permanent European Union Citizenship”, with the objective, in the context of Brexit, to ask the Commission to “propose means to avoid risk of collective loss of EU citizenship and rights, and assure all EU citizens that, once attained, such status is permanent and their rights acquired”. The aim of this initiative is, for British citizens, to retain European Union citizenship post Brexit. However, paradoxically enough, a considerable number of British expats, who are the main concerned, are legally unable to support this initiative (or any other as it turns out) because of a legal conundrum. Continue reading >>
27 August 2018
Hund sans scho
„Hund sans scho“ ist in Bayern das höchste Lob für ein Verhalten, das auf mindestens unkonventionelle Weise zum gewünschten Erfolg geführt hat. Besonders wahlkämpfende Politiker lassen sich gern nachsagen, dass‘ fei echt Hund san, weil sie sich mit einer Mischung aus Nachdruck und Bauernschläue für Förderbescheide, Umgehungsstraßen oder ähnlich beliebte Maßnahmen eingesetzt haben. Aber auch der Bayerische Verwaltungsgerichtshof hat das Prinzip verstanden. Er ließ jüngst verlauten, dass man es zur Durchsetzung der bisher schmählich ignorierten Entscheidungen zu Luftreinhalteplänen und Dieselfahrverboten für möglich halte, den Bayerischen Ministerpräsidenten in Zwangshaft zu nehmen. Droht Markus Söder eine Ladung zum Haftantritt in Stadelheim? Continue reading >>
26 August 2018
Constitutional Democracy in Crisis? The Right-Wing Populist Surge
Right-wing populists now govern in Turkey, Poland, Hungary, India, South Africa, Israel, and the United States. They are gaining ground in almost every European nation outside of Scandinavia, most notably in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria. Right-wing populists are weakening the European Union. Even Australia has not been immune to the siren call of a more ethnic and religious nationalism. When empowered, right-wing populists take aim at the inclusive, secular and cosmopolitan commitments of contemporary constitutionalism, and the independent courts designed to foster those commitments. Continue reading >>
24 August 2018
New German Intersex Law: Third Gender but not as we want it
The new German draft law to introduce a third option in personal status law has overwhelmingly been decried as a missed historical opportunity, or even as counterproductive, for a variety of reasons. The main criticisms are that the third option does not fully recognize gender diversity as it will only be available to those with a medical diagnosis of an intersex condition, and that the government failed to genuinely consider the alternative option presented by the Constitutional Court – that of scrapping sex/gender registration altogether. Continue reading >>
23 August 2018