29 April 2017
Much Ado About Nothing? Legal and Political Schooling for the Hungarian Government
After his infamous law against the Central European University, the EU Commission has announced a treaty infringement procedure against Hungary. That will probably be of limited help against the systemic threat to the rule of law in Viktor Orbán's state. Politically more effective might be the pressure exerted by the European People's Party. Continue reading >>
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Safeguarding Democratic Institutions
A discussion of courts and populism begs for definitional boundaries. […] Continue reading >>
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28 April 2017
Trapped in the Age of Trump: the American Supreme Court and 21st Century Populism
The American Supreme Court is currently ill-equipped to confront populism. […] Continue reading >>
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27 April 2017
Courts in a Populist World
“I did not come to in order to be loved […] Continue reading >>
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Pakistan’s Reluctant Constitutionalism
On 20 April 2017, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled in one of the greatest cases in its turbulent history: the impeachment of the prime minister for involvements in shady financial dealings that bubbled up after the Panama Papers. Nothing happened; the court only showed Nawaz Sharif the yellow card. But while Pakistan narrowly missed her constitutional moment by a single judge’s vote, the court’s ruling displayed tremendous democratic maturity. Continue reading >>26 April 2017
Populist Constitutionalism and the Democratic Minimum Core
Democratic “populism” is on the rise worldwide. In the last […] Continue reading >>
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25 April 2017
Vertrauenswürdigkeit und Rechtsstaatlichkeit: Was die Kritiker der EU nicht sehen (wollen)
Es gibt Probleme der Rechtsstaatlichkeit im europäischen Rechtsraum. Viele sprechen gar von einer Vertrauenskrise in die Europäische Union. Trägt Vertrauen als europapolitische und juristische Perspektive, und was sind die Implikationen? Continue reading >>Populism and the Courts
The antagonism of populist governments to apex courts is a […] Continue reading >>
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24 April 2017
The Spanish Constitutional Court on the Path of Self-Destruction
Recently, the Spanish Constitutional Court has published one more decision in application of the new reform of the Law on Constitutional Court which increased its powers for the execution of its own decisions. It is clear that Catalonian sovereignist politicians are acting irresponsibly and provoking the Spanish powers. The only good way to answer to this challenge is a balanced and neutral response of the Constitutional Court every time they adopt an illegal act. Instead, the Court assumed a political role. He tries to stop even any talk about independence. By doing so, it fails to respect its own role as keeper of a Constitutional framework where very diverse ideologies can be discussed. Continue reading >>23 April 2017
No Compromises on Reproductive Rights – Why Ireland Needs Constitutional Change
On April 22, the Irish Citizens Assembly has in an overwhelming majority confirmed the need for change in Irish abortion laws. According to the majority of members of the assembly, the 8th amendment of the Irish Constitution, that de facto imposes a constitutional ban on abortion in most scenarios, needs to be amended or replaced. What constitutional change is needed? Continue reading >>Populist Constitutions – A Contradiction in Terms?
The meaning of “populism” is deeply contested. It is striking, […] Continue reading >>22 April 2017
How Old is 14 Really? On Child Marriage and Case-by-Case Justice
A bizarrely archaic hiccup for old-school historicists, curiously ambivalent and legally intriguing to others, child marriages currently enjoy an unforeseen centrality in Germany’s public life. Europe today is hard pressed to look beyond its shores for instructive twenty-first century survival scripts. India’s past offers some lessons on child marriages for the current German predicament. Continue reading >>Introduction: Constitutional Courts and Populism
This mini-symposium is a joint project between the editors of […] Continue reading >>21 April 2017
Türkei-Referendum vor dem EGMR: Warum der Gang nach Straßburg diesmal wohl nicht helfen wird
Nachdem die türkische Wahlkommission den Antrag einiger Oppositionsparteien auf Annullierung des Verfassungsreferendums vom 16. April verworfen hat, erwägt die oppositionelle CHP Medienberichten zufolge den Gang nach Straßburg. Dem halten türkische Spitzenpolitiker entgegen, der EGMR sei hierfür nicht zuständig. Was ist hiervon zu halten? Continue reading >>How Could the ECJ Escape from the Taricco Quagmire?
The Taricco saga shows how difficult has become the coexistence between the doctrines that have been developed so far by the ECJ on one side and the national Constitutional or Supreme Courts on the other side. The ECJ and the Constitutional Courts, in all their isolated splendour (or splendid isolation), preferred so far to follow parallel lines, whose meeting could only take place ad infinitum. However, if the parallelism collapses, the two lines are doomed to crash. Continue reading >>
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20 April 2017
Nonchalance im Rechtsstaat? Anfragen an den Spielhallen-Beschluss des BVerfG
Gut 19 Milliarden Euro werden bei bis vor kurzem sprunghaft steigender Tendenz jährlich mit Geldspielgeräten umgesetzt. Da dabei auch das Suchtverhalten kranker Menschen wirtschaftlich ausgenutzt wird, muss man kein Mitleid mit der Spielgerätewirtschaft haben, wenn die Landesgesetzgeber ihr in Ausführung des 2012 geänderten Glücksspielstaatsvertrags nun massiv zu Leibe rücken. Es gehört aber zum Markenkern des Rechtsstaats, dass die Anforderungen an die Eindämmung vormals erlaubten Verhaltens nicht davon abhängen, wie sympathisch man dieses findet. Vor diesem Hintergrund verdient der jüngste Beschluss des BVerfG zur Spielhallenregulierung Beachtung, weil rechtsstaatliche Mindeststandards hinter den immer wieder betonten besonders herausgehobenen Allgemeininteressen, die mit der Regulierung auch zweifellos verfolgt werden, stark verblassen. Continue reading >>19 April 2017
Of course you can still turn back! On the revocability of the Article 50 notification and post-truth politics
The British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced yesterday the intention to call a ‘snap’ general election to be held on the 8th of June 2017. This announcement, which has caught literally everyone off-guard, makes some strategic sense if read together with another contention stressed by Prime Minister May: that there is no turning back from Brexit. Which is untrue, both from the legal and political point of view. To put it shortly, the PM is lying. Continue reading >>‘Girls belong in school, and not in front of the altar’: Is the German Bill on child marriages violating international law?
As much as international law categorizes child marriage as harmful practice due to its potential wide ranging negative effects on education, health, increased risk of violence and sexually transmitted diseases, and poverty, the regulation of already existing marriages should not aim to be aligned with the age of marriage. Already existing child marriages have to be treated differently, as they already created a lived reality for the partners and cannot just be reversed, as this might end up in unwanted legal and practical consequences for the child. Therefore, with regards to already existing marriages, it is a misconception that the only possible way to end child marriage is to actually ‘end’ child marriage. Continue reading >>18 April 2017
Should we fear a Frexit?
What would a ‘Frexit’ look like? Would Le Pen have to go through a referendum? And if so, would it be binding or advisory? Would the hypothetical President encounter the same difficulties as the British Prime Minister did with the Miller case? Would the French legal system allow for the Courts to have such a crucial role? Continue reading >>
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17 April 2017
Gibraltar and the “Brexit” – New Scenarios within a Historic Dispute. A Proposal.
The "Brexit" draws its consequences also on the legal status of Gibraltar within the EU. This leads to new perspectives on a historic dispute between British, Spanish and Gibraltan sovereignty interests. What could be the solution? Continue reading >>Das Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz: Im Zweifel gegen die Meinungsfreiheit?
Eigentlich soll das geplante Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz Hetze und Falschnachrichten aus Facebook, Twitter und Co. vertreiben. Tatsächlich droht es die Meinungsfreiheit in den sozialen Netzwerken zu beschneiden... Continue reading >>13 April 2017
Stopping forced sterilisation is not enough – the limitations of the recent ECHR judgement on trans rights
The recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in A.P., Garçon and Nicot v. France constitutes an important decision for trans rights in many ways. The ECtHR determined that France’s requirement of sterilisation, applying to persons wishing to legally change their names and gender on their birth certificate to reflect their gender identity, is a violation of the right to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. Continue reading >>
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12 April 2017
Le Pen oder Macron? Scheinriesen werden sie beide sein
Der französische Präsident, so liest und hört man es anlässlich des Wahlkampfs derzeit in deutschen Medien, ist mit einer Machtfülle ausgestattet, die in der westlichen Welt ihresgleichen sucht. Das nährt die Angst vor einem Wahlsieg der Rechtspopulistin Marine Le Pen. Doch so berechtigt die Sorge vor der Symbolkraft eines Sieges der Führerin des Front National auch sein mag – sie wird Frankreich nicht im Alleingang umkrempeln können. Denn während sich die Präsidenten der 5. Republik politisch als Sonnenkönige gerieren konnten, solange sie über eine Mehrheit in der Nationalversammlung verfügten, entpuppten sie sich als verfassungsrechtliche Scheinriesen, sobald sich ihr politisches Lager in der parlamentarischen Opposition wiederfand. Continue reading >>10 April 2017
The Holy Word does not come strictly in Italian – Another Islamophobic Law stopped in Northern Italy
The saga continues: again have regions in Italy governed by the right-wing party Lega Nord tried to use an administrative law to restrict the building of new mosques in the regions. This time, Veneto came up with something new: they made it mandatory to speak only Italian in religious buildings. But the Constitutional Court took a clear stance, for religious freedom and for the importance of language as a cultural good. Continue reading >>Five Scenarios for Europe – Understanding the EU Commission’s White Paper on the Future of Europe
The European Commission has recently published a White Paper on the Future of Europe. With regards to the many crises the EU is currently facing, a coherent plan seems to be urgently needed. Instead of coming up with one single plan however, the Paper reflects five different scenarios... Continue reading >>06 April 2017
Judicial Review of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy: Lessons from the Rosneft case
On 28 March 2017, the Grand Chamber of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) decided in a preliminary ruling that the restrictive measures adopted by the Council against Russian undertakings, including oil company Rosneft, are valid. The judgment is of constitutional significance. It clarifies the scope of the CJEU’s jurisdiction with respect to acts adopted in the sphere of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). In particular, it reveals that the EU system of judicial protection fully applies in relation to restrictive measures against natural and legal persons (so-called ‘targeted sanctions’). Continue reading >>05 April 2017