Ayşegül Kula

An Unconstitutional Setback

After almost 10 years after ratification, President Erdoğan issued a decision on Saturday, 20 March, withdrawing Turkey from the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence. This withdrawal constitutes an unconstitutional setback, not only in the protection of at risk women, but also in terms of President Erdoğan’s usurpation of legislative powers. Continue reading >>

Tamar Hostovsky Brandes

Tracking Citizens

Israeli authorities will still be able to use military phone tracking surveillance technology in the combat against the Coronavirus – but not in a way as unbridled as the government had wished. This is the outcome of a recent decision by the Israeli Supreme Court in the case of ACRI v. the Knesset. The Court refrained from declaring the Law authorizing the General Secret Service to track contact persons of infected COVID-19 patients invalid, but limited the cases in which military phone tracking surveillance technology could be used, and required the government to establish clear criteria for such use.  Continue reading >>

Kristian Cedervall Lauta

The Eternal Emergency? Denmark’s Legal Response to COVID-19 in Review

On 11th March 2020 the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen found herself in a historic moment. The infection numbers in Denmark had dramatically increased within the last 24 hours - from just 157 infected in total on the 10th of March to 514 on March 11th – and a, now well-documented, disagreement between the health authorities and the government on the overall strategy had forced the hand of the Prime Minister to take decisive action. Dressed all in black, the prime minister ceremonially opened the press conference with the, now famous, words: “What I will tell you tonight, will have major implications for all Danes”. Indeed, almost one year from the Prime minister’s public prophecy, we can conclude - it did. Continue reading >>

Ciara Staunton

Data Sharing and the Public Interest in a Digital Pandemic*

COVID-19 is our first digital pandemic. An effective response to COVID-19 is reliant on access to data that can be used to identify COVID-19 hotspots, guide national and localised responses, as well as be used in research aimed at developing COVID-19 diagnostics, therapies and vaccines. This digital pandemic has thus seen a shift in our data practices. “Open science” and the rapid data sharing of the results of clinical trials, observational studies, operational research, routine surveillance, information on the virus and its genetic sequences, as well as the monitoring of disease control programmes has been pushed to a new level. Continue reading >>

Lasse Schuldt

No More Need for Doublespeak

How will Southeast Asian governments react to the violent developments in Myanmar? ASEAN’s non-interference principle is often described as an effective shield against foreign meddling in domestic affairs. In the face of reputational damage and possible economic setbacks, though, ASEAN members had started to refer to human rights, democracy and the rule of law to justify occasional peer pressure – not out of normative conviction but due to strategic considerations. After years of democratic backsliding and declining global expectations, however, these semantic gymnastics are much less required today. Continue reading >>

Ibrahim Kanalan, Julian Seidl

Wegsanktioniert

In diesem Jahr möchte das BVerfG über eine Verfassungsbeschwerde zu den Leistungskürzungen im Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz entscheiden. Es ist zweifelhaft, ob die von dem Gesetzgeber zur Legitimierung der Sanktionen vorgetragenen Gründe, namentlich die Förderung der Mitwirkungspflicht im Asyl- und Aufenthaltsrecht und die Verhinderung des „rechtsmissbräuchlichen Leistungsbezugs“, den verfassungsrechtlichen Anforderungen genügen. Zudem offenbart eine aktuelle Antwort der Bundesregierung auf eine parlamentarische Anfrage, dass die Wirksamkeit der Leistungskürzungen bislang unbelegt ist. Continue reading >>

Michaela Hailbronner, Alexander Thiele, Lukas Mitsch, Maximilian Steinbeis

Workshop: Verfassungsrechtliche Expertise im politischen Raum

Im politischen Raum wird regelmäßig verfassungsrechtliche Expertise angefragt. Verfassungsrechtliche Expertise und rechtswissenschaftliche Argumente werden dadurch Teil des politischen Diskurses und Meinungskampfes, in der Flüchtlingskrise und jetzt in der Pandemie. Dies gibt der Verfassungsrechtswissenschaft Anlass, sich selbst über die Rolle von verfassungsrechtlicher Expertise im politischen Raum zu vergewissern und darüber mit der Politik sowie mit der Medienöffentlichkeit das Gespräch zu suchen. Continue reading >>

Samo Bardutzky, Saša Zagorc

Slovenia: Second Wave of Challenges to Constitutionalism

Slovenia had a very different experience in the first and the second wave of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In the first wave, the number of infections and deaths per capita has been comparatively low and Slovenia was even identified as a “corona success story”. The second wave, however, has propelled Slovenia into the highest ranks of mortality per capita globally with the total of 162 deaths per 100,000 people from the beginning of the pandemic until 25 January 2021. The Government introduced stringent measures in Autumn 2020, including the complete ban on assembly and sale of non-essential items, the closure of educational institutions, a strict 9 pm - 6 am curfew, and the prohibition of movement across municipal borders. Continue reading >>

Johannes Gallon

Schutzverpflichtungen aus dem Infektionsschutzgesetz

Trotz steigender Inzidenzen wollen Bund und Länder in der Hoffnung auf Schnelltests und Impfstoffe die Maßnahmen der Pandemiebekämpfung weiter schrittweise lockern. Ob dies nachhaltig einen Weg in die Normalität weist, ist ungewiss. Die wissenschaftliche Politikberatung hält auch andere Konzepte bereit. In der politischen Debatte diskutiert man die die unterschiedlichsten 7-Tages-Inzidenzwerte – 50, 100 und sogar 200 – die dem Infektionsschutzgesetz so nicht zu entnehmen sind. Vielmehr nennt § 28a III IfSchG die Schwellenwerte 50 und 35. Bei genauerem Hinsehen spricht viel dafür, dass diese Norm die zuständigen Behörden sogar dazu verpflichtet, Maßnahmen der Pandemiebekämpfung zu treffen und zu verschärfen, wenn diese Schwellenwerte überschritten sind. Continue reading >>

Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche

French Response to COVID-19 Crisis: Rolling into the Deep*

To cope with the COVID-19 crisis, the French Parliament adopted the Act n° 2020-290 creating a new regime of exception: the state of health emergency. It is concerning as it confers more powers and large leeway to the executive branch than the traditional state of security emergency, and as it offers the opportunity to restrict widely rights and liberties with almost no checks and balances. Continue reading >>

Oran Doyle

Pandemic Response as Accentuation of Existing Characteristics: Vague Requirements and Executive Dominance in Ireland

In Ireland, it is not constitutionally permissible to declare an emergency in response to COVID-19. The legal response, therefore, has been mounted within the normal constitutional framework. This has consisted of five primary statutes that (a) empower the Minister for Health to make regulations (secondary legislation) imposing restrictions to control the pandemic and (b) establish enforcement powers that the Minister for Health can attach to particular restrictions. By early March 2021, the Minister had made 74 sets of regulations imposing restrictions. Continue reading >>

Stefan Thierse

The Conference on the Future of Europe – Finally, an opportunity for more top-down bureaucracy?

On Wednesday, 10 March, the Presidents of the European Institutions signed the Joint Declaration on the Future of Europe. It establishes a Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), which is advertised as a "citizens-focused, bottom-up exercise”. However, from the start, the Conference has been everything but that. Continue reading >>

Başak Çalı, Emre Turkut

Year One: Reflections on Turkey’s Legal Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ever since the first officially reported COVID-19 case in the country in March in 2020, Turkey, like most of the world, has taken measures to control the pandemic. The measures taken by Turkey included limitations on freedom of movement, closing schools and moving to online teaching at schools as and universities, restrictions on business opening hours, cessation of prison and detention visits, prohibition of resignation for healthcare staff, and, more stringently, the introduction of curfews. Continue reading >>

Dietrich Murswiek

Wie wiegt man Corona?

„Leben oder Freiheit?“ – das ist für manche Gerichte die Frage, auf die sie mit ihren Corona-Entscheidungen eine Antwort zu geben suchen. Und auf diese Frage antworten manche Politiker, wenn sie eine neue Lockdown-Verlängerung begründen. Stellt man die Frage so, kann es nur eine Antwort geben. Das Recht auf Leben ist das fundamentalste Grundrecht – wer nicht mehr lebt, kann nicht mehr an Demonstrationen teilnehmen, einen Beruf ausüben oder Kunstwerke schaffen. Also entscheiden Politiker wie Gerichte in der Corona-Pandemie für den Lebensschutz durch Einschränkung der Freiheit. Aber die abstrakte Gegenüberstellung der Rechtsgüter Leben und Berufs-, Religions- oder allgemeine Handlungsfreiheit verfehlt das bei der verfassungsrechtlichen Lockdownkontrolle zu bearbeitende Thema. Continue reading >>

Abdurrachman Satrio, Mohammad Ibrahim

One Year After the Pandemic in Indonesia: From Health Crisis to the Crisis of Constitutional Democracy

It has been a year since the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in Indonesia, in early March 2020. At that time, the Indonesian government underestimated the dangers of Covid-19, which proved fatal since the virus continued to spread gradually to all Indonesian provinces within a month. At the time of writing, Indonesia is the country with the highest number of positive cases in Southeast Asia with 1,419,455, even the Covid-19 death rate in Indonesia is among the highest in the world. Continue reading >>

Bertram Lomfeld, Noah Neitzel

Verantwortungseigentum!

Eine Gruppe von Professorinnen und Professoren schlug 2020 die Schaffung einer „GmbH in Verantwortungseigentum“ vor. Der Gesetzesentwurf wurde 2021 aktualisiert und in „GmbH mit gebundenem Vermögen“ umbenannt. Will der Vorschlag dem Anspruch einer „Transformation der Wirtschaft in Richtung Verantwortung und Sinnhaftigkeit“ gerecht werden, könnte eine Einbettung ökologischer und sozialer Standards dieser realistischen Utopie eine noch konkretere Gestalt verleihen. Jedenfalls sollte sich der Gesetzesentwurf zu dem Ziel einer nachhaltigen „verantwortungsvollen“ Wirtschaftsweise bekennen. Continue reading >>

Sean Molloy, Christine Bell, Asanga Welikala, Erin Houlihan, Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher

Emergency Law Responses and Conflict-Affected States in Transition

This post looks at emergency law responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in conflict-affected states in transition. While some type of emergency response to Covid-19 has been used in most states, we suggest that conflict ‘fault lines’ can mean that emergency law responses have a capacity to undermine transitions. Continue reading >>

Lennart Lagmöller, Lennart Armbrust

Vermummung, Durchsuchung, Ausschluss

Seit dem 28. Februar 2021 gilt das neue Berliner Versammlungsgesetz. Nach der über 60 Jahre langen Ära des Bundesversammlungsgesetzes in Berlin wurde das „Versammlungsfreiheitsgesetz“ weitgehend unter dem Radar ausgehandelt. Auch das neue Berliner Allgemeine Sicherheits- und Ordnungsgesetz soll in Kürze verabschiedet werden. Neben der legislativen Umsetzung der Rechtsprechung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts schafft das neue Versammlungsfreiheitsgesetz einige Liberalisierungen. Dennoch wird es seinem Namen nicht gerecht. Continue reading >>

Marzieh Tofighi Darian

Iran’s COVID-19 Response: Who Calls the Shots?

As of January 26, 2021, Iran has reported a total of 57,481 death and more than 1,300,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, making it the hardest-hit country in the Middle East. After days of denial, Iranian officials finally confirmed the first COVID-19 related death on February 19, 2020. The government’s response in the early days of the pandemic was a preview of what was to come: refusing to quarantine the city of Qom, the first epicenter of COVID in Iran; rejecting the call to postpone the Parliamentary elections; and continuing to receive flights from China, all resulting in the quick spread of the virus across the country. Continue reading >>

Merilin Kiviorg, Päivi Margna

COVID-19 in Estonia: A Year in Review

The first coronavirus infection in Estonia was diagnosed on 27 February 2020. Immediately, some steps were taken by the Government to deal with the rapidly evolving and changing situation, including placing some restrictions on freedom of movement especially on people in quarantine. To further tackle the emerging crisis the Government established a state of emergency on Estonian territory. This was done by Order No. 76 of 12 March 2020. The numbers of infected in spring 2020 were low in comparison with the numbers of infected during the second wave in autumn-winter 2020. On the day when the emergency situation was declared there were only 27 COVID-19 positive people. Continue reading >>

Ciara Staunton, Melodie Labuschaigne

COVID-19 in South Africa: A Year in Review

On 15 March 2020 with only 61 cases and 0 deaths recorded, President Ramaphosa quickly decided that swift action was required and declared a state of disaster. Despite this quick action, South Africa has recorded the highest number of cases in Africa. This post will consider whether its response has been legitimate, proportionate and subject to appropriate judicial oversight. Continue reading >>

Anna Wójcik

Historians on Trial

On 9 February 2021, the District Court in Warsaw ruled that two prominent Holocaust researchers must publicly apologize for statements published in a book about the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany-occupied Poland during the Second World War. The lawsuit is an example of strategic litigation aimed at intimidating researchers and exercising a chilling effect on the debate in Poland due to the involvement of an organization close to the government and framing of the case in pro-government public and private media. In March, courts in Poland handed judgments in two other important strategic lawsuits brought on criminal charges. Continue reading >>

Kriszta Kovács

Hungary and the Pandemic: A Pretext for Expanding Power

A year ago, the first lockdowns were introduced in Europe. Since then, European governments have been busy introducing COVID-19 containment measures, including social distancing rules and mask mandates. For two months, they have been vaccinating the people. Ostensibly, the EU countries have taken similar steps. This piece provides a sketch of how the Hungarian government has handled the pandemic. Continue reading >>

Hanno Kube

Recht und Respekt

Respekt, Wertschätzung und Anerkennung – niemand wird sich diesen Zielsetzungen entgegenstellen wollen, die Olaf Scholz als Richtmaß für seine Politik benennt (FAZ vom 1.3.2021, S. 6). Allerdings gibt die argumentative Bezugnahme auf den Begriff des Respekts, die Beanspruchung und Vereinnahmung des Begriffs, dem politischen Aushandlungsprozess eine spezifische Wendung. Denn der Begriff führt auf das Feld der moralischen Bewertung und damit zur Immunisierung der eigenen Position. Continue reading >>

Sabine El Hayek

Lebanon in Times of COVID-19: A Series of Crises

Lebanon is facing an unprecedented crisis due to the continuous political turmoil and the unfolding economic and financial meltdown, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This situation was further aggravated by the devastating 4 August explosion of 2,750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate at the port of Beirut that killed over 200 people, injured more than 7,000 and left thousands of residents without a roof. To date, justice has not been served, and no one has been held accountable. The combined impact of these crushing tragedies in addition to the rampant inflation is catastrophic on citizens’ livelihoods. Continue reading >>

Benedikt Riedl

Es braucht nicht immer ein Gesetz

Am 02.03.2021 hat der Zweite Senat des BVerfG einen Antrag der Fraktion DIE LINKE im CETA-Organstreitverfahren als unzulässig verworfen. Die Linksfraktion hatte gegen die Unterlassung einer konstitutiven Zustimmung zur vorläufigen Anwendung von CETA durch ein förmliches Mandatsgesetz geklagt. Dass es eines solchen Mandatsgesetzes nicht braucht, damit das Parlament seine Integrationsverantwortung wahrnimmt, war spätestens seit dem Lissabon-Urteil klar, doch in seinem CETA-Urteil konkretisiert das BVerfG die Integrationsverantwortung nun abermals. Continue reading >>

Rhea Tamara Hoffmann

Über Richten und Schlichten

Am Freitag, 5. März 2021, gaben die drei zuständigen Bundesministerien in einer Pressemitteilung bekannt, dass sich die Bundesregierung mit den Energieversorgungsunternehmen RWE, E.ON, EnBW und Vattenfall auf Ausgleichzahlungen für den Atomausstieg geeinigt habe. Die Einigung ist insbesondere für das noch anhängige investitionsschutzrechtliche Verfahren Vattenfall gegen Bundesrepublik Deutschland vor einem internationalen Schiedsgericht von großer Bedeutung, da es nun aufgrund der Einigung außerhalb des Verfahrens kein Ergebnis liefern wird, diente es womöglich jahrelang nur als Drohkulisse. Aber egal ob das Verfahren schlussendlich eine Drohwirkung hatte oder ganz bedeutungslos war: Das investitionsschutzrechtliche Verfahren ist in jedem Fall abzulehnen. Continue reading >>

Maaike De Ridder

Belgium’s Accordion Response to COVID-19

As Covid-19 started to make its way onto Belgian territory, the Belgian federal government found itself in the midst of political disorder and negotiations to form a government after the May 2019 elections. Up until March 2020, the competent authority to decide on Covid measures was a caretaker minority government (Regering Wilmès I). But, after the first big outburst of cases in Belgium, the government formation accelerated. Nine political parties made a deal to give the resigning minority government full authority to combat the virus and its economic and social ramifications by a motion of confidence (Regering Wilmès II). Continue reading >>

Matej Avbelj

A Dissident Letter from “Slovenian Dictatorship”

Exactly a year ago darkness has set on Slovenia. The process of constitutional erosion and decay has been let loose. This is the narrative that dominates in the political, economic and the most influential civil society circles which have wielded control in Slovenia over the last three decades. It is at this point, when everyone everywhere, including the academics, uncritically, without a degree of the prerequisite self-criticism and their own independent fact-finding, partake in the same, unequivocally shared narrative, that I taught myself to pause and take some distance from the frenzy of the masses. Continue reading >>

Hafsteinn Dan Kristjánsson

COVID-19 in Iceland: The Need for Constitutional Justification and Checks and Balances

At the beginning of this pandemic in Iceland, the sense of urgency, uncertainty, and necessity seemed to be front and centre. New and far-reaching restrictions were seen, at least by some, as ‘a necessary evil’ in order to protect us from a new and, in a sense, invisible threat. The learning curve for the government was also steep. According to our law, the government had a wide discretion to address this novel situation. Less than a year later, this is still true to a certain extent. However, whereas the necessity to act was predominant in the first stages of the pandemic, questions of constitutionality and legality are now moving to the forefront. Continue reading >>

Max Steuer

Slovakia’s Democracy and the COVID-19 Pandemic: When Executive Communication Fails

In spring 2020, Slovakia was praised for minimizing the instances of the COVID-19 pandemic. By early 2021, however, with Slovakia among the top five countries with the highest increase of COVID-19-induced death cases, a very different picture has emerged, highlighting the costs of neglecting democracy considerations (encompassing human rights and the rule of law) by the executive in particular.  Continue reading >>

Paul Daly

COVID-19 in Canada: Variable Forms of Power and Unvarying Judicial Deference

As of early 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across Canada. These are dark days. Although the arrival of vaccines suggests light will soon appear at the end of the tunnel, Canada is a long way from the end of its COVID-19 crisis. In this blog, I hope to illuminate readers, through the lens of pandemic-related public law litigation, about how Canada has responded to COVID-19. Continue reading >>

Cristina Fasone

Coping with Disloyal Cooperation in the Midst of a Pandemic: The Italian Response

The activity of the coalition Government between the Five Star Movement (5SM), the Democratic Party and other centre-left junior allies to tackle COVID-19 has been praised by some and severely criticized by others. Looking back at this first year of pandemic, a crucial problem of the Italian management of the disease and the related economic and social crises has been the lack of loyal cooperation; a principle entrenched into the Constitution (Art. 120, second para, Const.), with regard to the relationship amongst the different levels of government. Continue reading >>

Tilman Hoppe

Money Talks

One of the judges of the Constitutional Court of Albania was dismissed after the country introduced radical judicial vetting measures. She challenged her dismissal before the ECtHR, claiming her rights to a fair trial and respect for private and family life were violated. In its decision in Xhoxhaj v Albania published on 2 February 2021, the ECtHR rejected her application and gave clear priority to the need for cleaning up a corrupt judiciary. It denied protection under the ECHR to those who seek to abuse human rights for protecting a status quo of corruption. Continue reading >>

Esteban Hoyos-Ceballos, Julián Gaviria-Mira

Dealing with the Pandemic: A Stress Test for Colombian Political Institutions

It has been a year now since a discussion began about the profound changes that the arrival of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic could bring to our constitutional systems. This year has confirmed that the bad omens of the early days of the pandemic were well justified. The system has been put through a severe stress test and, unfortunately, we cannot say that it has been up to the challenge. This blog post seeks to briefly review the main events that have marked the institutional response to the pandemic and the implications that this response has had for the Colombian constitutional system. Continue reading >>