12 March 2024
How Populist Politicians Are Weakening the Kenyan Judiciary
The Kenyan President and his parliamentary allies are guilty of constitutional vandalism. In what has become an increasingly popular political move, they conveniently blame the judiciary for their unfulfilled promises, making the courts an easy target in a democracy backsliding. Lacking public outreach – judges neither organise rallies nor post on social media –, the judiciary has become a scapegoat to rally political support. While courts aren't beyond criticism, some attacks are self-serving, often from those with pending or impending court cases. Continue reading >>
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11 March 2024
Weichenstellungen gegen drohenden Demokratieabbau
In vielen Parlamenten europäischer Staaten kooperieren konservative oder christdemokratische Parteien mit rechten Parteien. Rechtspopulistische Regierungsbeteiligungen bedeuten zumeist einen Demokratieabbau. Doch Deutschland muss sich diesem Trend nicht anschließen. Garant dafür, die extreme Rechte auf Abstand zur Exekutive zu halten, kann die CDU sein. Continue reading >>Shipwreck after Shipwreck
On 26 February 2024, the European Ombudsman issued a decision OI/3/2023/MHZ on the fundamental rights obligations of Frontex with regard to search and rescue in the context of its maritime surveillance activities. While affirming Frontex’s compliance with the applicable rules and protocols, the inquiry exposed significant shortcomings in how the Agency handles maritime incidents, including the issuance of emergency signals. Given the persistent scale of recurrent shipwrecks, I argue that integrating AI systems into Frontex’s activities has the capacity to significantly improve the decision-making process in responding to boats in potential distress and the overall SAR system. Continue reading >>
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A Constitutional Dignitary Conceived in the Orbán-Regime
On 26 February, Tamás Sulyok, the former President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, was elected Head of State by the Parliament. The election of Tamás Sulyok as a member of the Constitutional Court and then as its president was part of the process during which Fidesz took over the Constitutional Court. Sulyok’s presidency (2016-2024) was a testimony to the fact that the Constitutional Court has become subservient to the Fidesz-dominated political branches, and there is no sign that he has actively tried to do anything against it. Based on what we have seen so far, therefore, Tamás Sulyok is part of the Orbán-regime, and nothing suggests that he will exercise greater autonomy and independence in his role as Head of State. Continue reading >>
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09 March 2024
Ecocide à la Bruxelloise
Belgium's new ecocide provision has been hailed as a resounding victory for environmental activists, particularly so for the burgeoning Stop Ecocide campaign. But is the widespread excitement justified? Can the new law deliver on the lofty expectations? And how does it fit within the soon-to-be adopted revision of the Environmental Crime Directive at the EU level? Despite constituting a highly symbolic step, I argue that the Belgian law’s constrained scope makes it a toothless tool to punish environmental outlaws in practice. Continue reading >>Enshrining Abortion Rights in the French Constitution
On International Women’s Day 2024, President Emmanuel Macron signed an amendment, that enshrines abortion rights in the French Constitution. Abortion is now a constitutionally “guaranteed freedom” for women in France: but constitutionally guaranteeing this freedom is also — if not even more — a call-out to the rest of the world. By constitutionalizing the right to abortion, French parliamentarians and government officials aimed to signal this commitment to the global community, with a particular emphasis on the United States. Continue reading >>08 March 2024
Wehrpflicht – demnächst auch für Frauen?
Wer glaubte, dass in Deutschland die Wehrpflicht in Friedenszeiten endgültig ausgedient hätte, wird derzeit eines Besseren belehrt. Die Debatte um die Wehrpflicht ist nicht neu. Sie wird aber immer drängender geführt, je länger der Angriffskrieg Russlands auf die Ukraine andauert. Die alte Wehrpflicht will allerdings sowieso kaum einer zurück. Das BMVg prüft deswegen alternative Modelle. Im Fokus steht das schwedische Modell (värnplikt gleich Wehrpflicht). Dessen Übernahme würde allerdings ein Bündel an Verfassungsänderungen erfordern, da es die Wehrpflicht nicht nur auf Frauen erstreckt, sondern auch mit dem Verfassungsgrundsatz der Wehrgerechtigkeit in Konflikt gerät. Continue reading >>Hélène Cazes Benatar
Based in Casablanca, Hélène Cazes Benatar not only assisted a great number of refugees fleeing from Europe to North Africa, but also helped with the liberation of internees in Saharan forced labor and internment camps run by the Vichy regime. Her social, political and even clandestine activities were significant and extend far beyond the Jewish community until well after the Second World War. Continue reading >>
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07 March 2024
The Digital Services Act as a Global Transparency Regime
On both sides of the Atlantic, policymakers are struggling to reign in the power of large online platforms and technology companies. Transparency obligations have emerged as a key policy tool that may support or enable achieving this goal. The core argument of this blog is that the Digital Services Act (DSA) creates, at least in part, a global transparency regime. This has implications for transatlantic dialogues and cooperation on matters concerning platform governance. Continue reading >>
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Bar oder mit Karte?
Mit der sogenannten Bezahlkarte will der Gesetzgeber ein neues Kapitel aufschlagen, um (vermeintlichen) Pull-Faktoren entgegenzuwirken und existenzsichernde Sozialleistungen für Asylsuchende einzuschränken. Dazu hat sich die Bundesregierung letzte Woche darauf verständigt, das Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz zu ändern. Doch einige der aktuell diskutierten Bezahlkartenmodelle werden verfassungsrechtlichen Vorgaben nicht gerecht: Es droht eine Verletzung des Grundrechts auf Gewährleistung eines menschenwürdigen Existenzminimums. Continue reading >>How Europe Dodges the International Arms Control Regime
F-35 fighter jets are the world's most sophisticated weapon. This post argues that the legal basis for Dutch exports in the F-35 programme shows a worrying disregard for international law regulating arms exports. Dutch legislation does not require the government to carry out a detailed and prior assessment of the export of F-35 components. This is a clear breach of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). What’s more, the Netherlands is not the only European state that blatantly ignores its procedural obligations under the ATT, but countries such as Denmark and the UK have adopted a similar approach. Hence, one wonders whether dodging the ATT regime by European states in the F-35 programme is part and parcel of the negotiation package on commercial contracts with the US Continue reading >>
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Mehr Transparenz, aber vorläufig keine weitreichende Entlastung
Am 27. Februar hat das Europäische Parlament nun einer Reform der Zuständigkeiten des EuGH zugestimmt. Die vorgeschlagenen Änderungen der Satzung (EuGH-Satzung nF) sollen einerseits die Arbeitsbelastung des EuGH vermindern und andererseits der Transparenz der Verfahren dienen. Letzteres stellt einen entscheidenden Beitrag zur Offenheit des Gerichtshofs dar. Ob die Reform allerdings zu einer echten, langfristigen Entlastung des EuGH führen wird, lässt sich angesichts der geringen Anzahl erfasster Verfahren sowie der vorgelagerten „Triage“-Entscheidung beim Gerichtshof bezweifeln. Continue reading >>
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06 March 2024
Climate Protests and City Bans
As climate protests are mounting across Italy, there is a corresponding escalation in repressive responses from public authorities. This trend is not unique to Italy but is rather widespread throughout Europe, as evidenced by frequent reports in national newspapers and posts on this blog. What sets Italy apart from other European nations is the spectacular increase in the use of preventive measures by the public security administration. Continue reading >>
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The ECtHR Advances the Battle against Racial Profiling in Wa Baile c. Suisse
On 20 February 2024, the European Court of Human Rights decided in the case of Wa Baile c. Suisse on racial profiling. This blog argues that the judgment represents a cautious step forward in the fight against racial profiling and repairs some shortcomings of earlier case law. The ECtHR holds that Switzerland violated Article 14 in combination with Article 8 ECHR. It reverses the burden of proof and accepts that both the lack of an adequate preventive framework and reports by international human rights bodies and NGOs contribute to establishing a presumption of discrimination. Continue reading >>
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Straflos im Landtag
Einmal angenommen, die AfD bekäme eine absolute Mehrheit im Thüringer Landtag. Und einer ihrer Abgeordneten verharmloste auf einer Parteiveranstaltung den Holocaust. Oder schlüge eine Demonstrantin krankenhausreif. Sofern er nicht bei Begehung der Tat oder im Laufe des folgenden Tages deshalb festgenommen würde, könnte seine Fraktion es zumindest für die Dauer der Legislaturperiode verhindern, dass er dafür zur Verantwortung gezogen würde. Dieser Immunitätsschutz offenbart im Lichte einer möglicherweise extremistischen Parlamentsmehrheit einen blinden Fleck. Continue reading >>
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05 March 2024
Trump and the American Problem of the Commons
Americans missed another opportunity on Monday to reduce the threat Donald Trump presents to constitutional democracy in the United States and in other countries. The Supreme Court in Trump v. Anderson unanimously overturned decisions that held Trump ineligible to run for the Presidency. Three justices acknowledged that Trump is an “oathbreaking insurrectionist.” None challenged that Trump committed treason on January 6. Nevertheless, in an unsigned per curium opinion that had some basis in policy, but little or no foundation in the constitutional text or history of the Fourteenth Amendment, the justices ruled that states had no power to determine whether persons were eligible for the presidency under Section 3. Continue reading >>Ein stabiles Parlament (auch) für Europa
Die (Wieder-)Einführung der Sperrklausel bei den Wahlen des Europäischen Parlaments (EP) in Deutschland hat eine wichtige Hürde genommen: Das Bundesverfassungsgericht steht einer unionsrechtlich verbindlich vorgegebenen Zwei-Prozent-Sperrklausel nicht im Weg. Anträge der Partei DIE PARTEI und ihres Vorsitzenden gegen die Zustimmung Deutschlands zu einer verbindlichen Sperrklausel im EU-Direktwahlakt (DWA) verwarf das Gericht in seinem Beschluss vom 6.2.24 mangels hinreichender Begründung eines Eingriffs in die deutsche Verfassungsidentität als unzulässig. Und das lag nicht nur am begrenzten Prüfungsmaßstab des Gerichts. Der von der Zustimmung der Mitgliedstaaten abhängigen Reform des DWA sollte nun von deutscher Seite nichts mehr in die Quere kommen. Continue reading >>Hundred Days of Fico IV Administration
In Slovakia, we are witnessing something truly extraordinary. Within the first hundred days of the new administration, Slovakia has experienced a paradigmatic change in the penal codes, an attack on civil society organizations, an abolishment of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, a bill for a limitation of the whistleblower protection, and politicization of independent institutions. Accordingly, I argue that Slovakia faces a much faster democratic backsliding than what was happening in Hungary and Poland. Based on the pace of the initial steps, we can expect a radical shift in Slovakia’s democratic character and its position in international relations. Continue reading >>
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Wie der Verfassungsgerichtshof sich selbst schützen kann
Ein Gespenst geht um in Thüringen, und es heißt: Beschlussunfähigkeit des Verfassungsgerichtshofes. Die AfD braucht gerade etwas mehr als ein Drittel der Sitze im Landtag, um Wahlen von Mitgliedern zum „obersten Hüter der Landesverfassung“ zu torpedieren und damit den Verfassungsgerichtshof beschlussunfähig zu machen. »Wo aber Gefahr ist, wächst / Das Rettende auch«, wusste schon Friedrich Hölderlin, und das Rettende heißt in diesem Fall: „Selbstergänzung“. Denn mit einer solchen „Auffangregelung“, so eine Hoffnung, könnte der Verfassungsgerichtshof unabhängig von Parteien und Parlament vakante Richterposten besetzen. Taugt die Selbstergänzung aber auch in der Praxis als Schutzstrategie? Continue reading >>
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Presidential Dismissals of Judicial Officers in Tunisia
The situation unfolding in Tunisia serves as a stark example of blatant executive overreach into the realm of the judiciary. On February 12, 2024, Youssef Bouzakher, one of the most senior judges in Tunisia, submitted an individual communication against Tunisia to the UN Human Rights Committee. Through a series of presidential decrees adopted during 2021-2022, he was removed from his position as High Judicial Council member and President and was later dismissed from his judicial position together with 56 other magistrates. In this blog post, I will analyze the centrepiece of the assault on the Tunisian judiciary by President Kais Saied, namely presidential decree 2022-35, in light of international standards on judicial independence, and particularly, the ones from the African system. Continue reading >>
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04 March 2024
Re-Imagining the European (Political) Community through Migration Law
The constant portrayal of migration as an exceptional and problematic phenomenon fuels public anxieties and makes deterrence and harshness seem like the only effective political approaches to managing global migration. By contrast, positive visions of how a society of immigration needs to look like for all members of society to benefit are scarce. Yet to counter apocalyptic scenarios, we need not only such a positive vision but also a theory of societal action that helps to realize it. This blog post offers such a vision and theory that is grounded in the normative and legal framework of the European Union. It argues that we should conceptualize the European society as an inclusive, participatory, and self-reflexive community that is based on constitutional principles as enshrined in Art. 2 TEU. To realize this vision, we must understand practices of claiming and defending human rights not as an overreach into the political latitude of the legislator but as a joint practice of (political) community-building. Continue reading >>The Place of Numbers in Migration Debates
The governance of migration, in particular of asylum migration, is caught in the contrast between the political relevance of numbers, and the individuum-based structure of the law. For politics, it matters how many persons arrive, require shelter, enter procedures. For the legal assessment, however, numbers mostly do not matter: The right not to be rejected at the border, the right to access an asylum procedure and to shelter during that procedure are individual rights that are independent from the overall number of arrivals. This contrast is visible in periodical debates about a maximum number of asylum seekers per year, or proposals to abolish the individual right to protection altogether. Such proposals disregard that individual rights to protection are enshrined not just in constitutional law, but also in European and international law, and for good reason. However, it is worth taking the perspective of numbers seriously – while respecting the individual right to protection. Continue reading >>
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02 March 2024
Das Bundesgesetzblatt im digitalen Zeitalter
Nach langen Verhandlungen wurde am 12. Februar 2024 endlich ein Bundeshaushalt für 2024 im Bundesgesetzblatt verkündet. Aber was genau wurde da verkündet? 12 Seiten Haushaltsgesetz und als Anlage 12 Seiten Gesamtplan, eine Zusammenfassung des Haushaltsplans. Von den – eigentlich interessanten – ausführlichen Festsetzungen auf ca. 3100 Seiten Einzelplänen keine Spur. Das entspricht ständiger Staatspraxis „zur Vermeidung einer übermäßigen Belastung des Bundesgesetzblattes“. Aber seitdem das letzte Mal ein Bundeshaushalt verkündet wurde, hat sich ein entscheidender Faktor geändert: Das Bundesgesetzblatt erscheint elektronisch und braucht damit keine Entlastung mehr. Die nur teilweise Verkündung des Bundeshaushalts 2024 ist daher nicht gerechtfertigt. Continue reading >>
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29 February 2024
Pushing Back
The CJEU has pending before it a crucial case on the criminalisation of seeking asylum and assistance to those seeking protection. At this critical juncture, this blog post highlights a sample of important decisions in which courts, giving effect to constitutional and international legal principles, set legal limits on this form of criminalisation. These cases reflect not only the appropriate legal limits, but also acknowledge the character of irregular migration and smuggling. Rather than framing individuals as dangerous illegal migrants and exploitative smugglers, they reassert the humanity of both those in search of refuge and opportunity, and those that assist them. Continue reading >>
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No Benefit
On January 18, 2024, the German federal parliament (Bundestag) passed the controversial Repatriation Improvement Act which de facto criminalises humanitarian support for entry by land as well as entry of minors by sea, land, and air. The German provision resembles both in wording and substance Article 12 of the Italian Consolidated Immigration Act (TUI) whose compatibility with EU law the CJEU is set to rule on, following a preliminary reference procedure initiated in July 2023. While the effect of a pending referral is uncertain, in the current case, the German government should have suspended its legislative process. Continue reading >>
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When Treaties are Forbidden
A few months ago the UK’s Supreme Court held that the Secretary of State’s policy to remove protection seekers to Rwanda to have their claims determined there was unlawful. The British government responded to this decision with a Treaty and Bill that seek to legislate the fiction, or indeed, the falsehood, of Rwanda’s safety. This move demonstrates the fragility of the rule of law, both domestically and internationally. Addressing the latter, this essay shifts focus from domestic challenges to international ones, exploring whether STCs could be contested as ‘forbidden treaties’. Continue reading >>
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Humanitarian Externalisation
Why are the reasons given in support of the declared aim of the current asylum policies in the UK, EU and USA of breaking the business model of smugglers expressed in humanitarian terms? It is, no doubt, tempting to simply dismiss this humanitarian rhetoric as hypocrisy, as the compliment that vice pays to virtue. Yet however justified that dismissal may be in particular cases, to turn away too quickly from this phenomenon would be to miss something of political significance in its form and to fail to register the historical entanglement of humanitarianism and border externalisation. Continue reading >>
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No Backdoor for Mass Surveillance
Bulk data retention is the evergreen of European security policy. On February 13, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) – once again – ruled in Podchasov on Russia’s collection of and access to citizens’ private communication. The Court made it clear that weakening the encryption of all citizens cannot be justified. This sends an important message not only to the Russian state, but also to other European governments that contemplate installing “backdoors” on encrypted messenger services like Telegram, Signal or WhatsApp. Continue reading >>
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