Lukas Märtin, Carl Mühlbach

Generationengerechtigkeit und Fiskalpolitik

In seinem Beschluss zum Klimaschutzgesetz hat das BVerfG nicht nur den Klimaschutz gestärkt, sondern auch ein anderes Prinzip aus Art. 20a GG betont: die Generationengerechtigkeit. Bisher gelten in Deutschland oftmals Schuldenbremse und schwarze Null als generationengerechtes Optimum. Diese Ausrichtung ist jedoch das genaue Gegenteil einer Generationengerechtigkeit, wie sie nun auch das BVerfG auslegt. Continue reading >>

Daniel Thym

Menschenrechtliche Grenzen für Pushbacks – und der weitergehende Schutz nach EU-Sekundärrecht

Das europäische Asylrecht plagen mehrere Strukturprobleme. Es setzt auf hochkomplizierte Verfahren, die in langen Verordnungen niedergelegt sind, die an den europäischen Außengrenzen rechtspraktisch vielfach nicht funktionieren. Außerdem gibt es bis zum heutigen Tag keine einzige Vorlage eines griechischen Gerichts, die sich mit der Situation auf den griechischen Inseln oder gar mit der Grenzüberwachung in der Ägäis beschäftigte. Continue reading >>

Joaquín Urías

The Right of Catalonian Leaders to Protest

On 22 April, the Spanish Constitutional Court issued its first judgement on the constitutionality of the conviction of the Catalonian leaders for the events of October 2017. It upheld the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the crime of sedition which blurs the line between legitimate protest and sedition. The judgment will therefore have repercussions beyond this particular case and may affect the right of protest and dissent. Continue reading >>

Kelly Shuttleworth

Fast-tracking Scotland’s re-entry to the EU

As the dust settles with a pro-independence - though not an SNP - majority in the Scottish Parliament after the May 2021 elections, it is worth considering what an independent Scotland’s (accelerated) path back to the EU could look like. Increasing the speed at which an independent Scotland could rejoin the EU is primarily an issue of political will and domestic preparation. Continue reading >>

Joelle Grogan

Power, Law and the COVID-19 Pandemic – Part I: The Year of Pandemic

Involving over 100 contributors worldwide, the 2021 Power and COVID-19 Pandemic series builds on the 2020 COVID-19 and States of Emergency Symposium to again provide snapshot critical analysis of a world in continued crisis and extended emergency. This final commentary in the 2021 Symposium is divided in two parts: first, an analysis of the impact the pandemic has had on legal systems over the course of the last year; and second, an outlook on how to prepare for future emergencies by building on the lessons of the current one. This is part I. Continue reading >>

John Philipp Thurn

Schweigen als Sozialisierungssperre?

Am 10. Mai 2021 wurde der Entwurf für ein Vergesellschaftungsgesetz vorgestellt, mit dem eine Berliner Kampagne nach einem erfolgreichen Volksentscheid am 26. September 2021 die Wohnungen großer Immobilienunternehmen in Gemeineigentum überführen will. Diese geplante erste Sozialisierung im Sinne von Art. 15 GG wirft viele Rechtsfragen auf, zu denen es bislang keine Rechtsprechung, sondern vor allem eine Reihe von Gutachten und wenig wissenschaftliche Literatur gibt: Was darf unter welchen Voraussetzungen vergesellschaftet werden, und zu welcher Entschädigung? Continue reading >>

Armin von Bogdandy

Our European Society and Its Conference on the Future of Europe

9 May 2021 saw the official launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe. 70 years of Europeanization have not yielded a European people, the treaty maker is saying, nor – God forbid – created a European federal state. They have, however, given rise to a European society. Continue reading >>

Christine Bell, Sean Molloy, Asanga Welikala, Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher, Erin Houlihan, Rasha Al Saba, Samrawit Gougsa, Joelle Grogan, Sheila Jasanoff, Stephen Hilgartner, Joshua Castellino

WEBINAR 5: “Quo Vadis? – The Impact of an Extended Emergency”

How has COVID-19 impacted upon legal and political systems; minorities and indigenous peoples; and conflict-affected states in transition? This final panel debates themes of trust, equality, conflict and power, and concludes with a commentary by the convenor of the Symposium who will draw together key findings, emergent threats, and reasons for hope. Continue reading >>

Anna Katharina Mangold, Kriszta Kovács, Wen-Chen Chang, Julinda Beqiraj, Shaheera Syed, Nadia Tariq-Ali, Chun-Yuan Lin, Joelle Grogan

WEBINAR 4: “The Rule of Law in the Pandemic”

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed extreme strain on legal systems, requiring action in response to fast-changing and complex situation of the pandemic emergency. This panel evaluates state action - and in particular, executive-decision making - in response to the pandemic against the standard of the rule of law, and considers whether this will lead to permanent shifts in legal systems worldwide. Continue reading >>

Matthias Lehnert

Pushbacks sind illegal – und zwar immer

Mittlerweile kann kaum mehr bestritten werden, dass an den europäischen Außengrenzen Menschen zurückgewiesen werden, ohne ihr Schutzgesuch geltend machen zu können und ohne ein Prüfverfahren gewährleistet zu bekommen. Derweil werden immer mehr Stimmen laut, die nicht allein die Tatsachen, sondern zugleich das Recht und damit in Frage stellen, dass sogenannte Pushbacks den Menschenrechten, dem Völkerrecht und dem Europarecht widersprechen. Gründe genug für eine Klarstellung: Pushbacks sind illegal, und zwar immer. Continue reading >>

Mark A. Graber, Ciara Staunton, Iain Cameron, Anna Jonsson-Cornell, Jerome Amir Singh

WEBINAR 3: “Science, Law and Decision-Making”

Bringing together experts representing states who have adopted divergent attitudes to the role of science in law and decision-making, as well as an examination of vaccination policy, equity and individual choice, this panel considers the complex policy choices, rationales and politics which interplay in decision-making during a pandemic. Continue reading >>

Tom Gerald Daly, Hans Petter Graver, Michael Meyer-Resende, Dean R Knight, Sabine El Hayek

WEBINAR 2: “Democracy and Disruption”

How has democracy been impacted by over a year of pandemic response and emergency? How have states ensured the democratic accountability of their actions in response to the global health emergency? What lessons can be learned for now, and for the future? This panel examines democratic practices, and highlights the best – and most concerning – developments. Continue reading >>

Frank Grootens, Frederik Orlowski

Sie haben ihm ein Denkmal gebaut

In der Woche, in der Frankreich des 200. Todestags Napoleon Bonapartes feierlich gedachte, schaffte auch der Deutsche Bundestag erinnerungspolitische Fakten. Ohne Gegenstimmen bewilligte er ein Gesetz zur Errichtung einer Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Kohl-Stiftung. Doch die vordergründige Einmütigkeit des Plenums täuscht. Continue reading >>

Alice Donald, Nerima Were, Tara Imalingat, Manon Julicher, Max Vetzo, Maria Ela L. Atienza, Lucy Moxham

WEBINAR 1: “Human Rights and the COVID-19 Pandemic”

COVID-19 – and state responses to it - present a threat to human rights unparalleled in the contemporary era. At the same time, human rights offer a universal framework which guides decision-makers, ensures accountability for their actions and omissions, and renders visible the structural inequalities which drives the pandemic’s differential impact on certain communities. Looking forward, this panel discusses how human rights can be used to underpin a just and sustainable post-pandemic recovery. Continue reading >>

Joelle Grogan

Webinar Series: Power and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Marking the conclusion of the "Power and the COVID-19 Pandemic" Symposium, this webinar series brings together contributors from around the world to discuss the impact of the pandemic on law and governance, drawing on five transversal themes: human rights; democracy; the rule of law; science and decision-making; and the impact of an extended emergency. Continue reading >>

Oreste Pollicino, Giovanni De Gregorio, Marco Bassini

Trump’s Indefinite Ban

After months of waiting, the Facebook Oversight Board has upheld Facebook’s ban of former President Donald Trump. Beyond the merits, the decision underlines a trend showing how the FOB is applying protections of free speech. The FOB’s increasing reliance on the principle of proportionality and transparency is a paradigmatic example of an ever-growing distance to the First Amendment dogma characterising US constitutionalism and the proximity to the European (digital) constitutional approach. Continue reading >>

Sheila Jasanoff, Stephen Hilgartner

A Stress Test for Politics: Insights from the Comparative Covid Response Project (CompCoRe) 2020

The CompCoRe study, an ongoing qualitative comparison of policy responses to Covid-19 in sixteen core countries and two affiliates, begun in April 2020, sought to identify and explain patterns of perceived success and failure in managing this multifaceted crisis. [...] As national and international authorities look to futures beyond Covid-19, a lesson emerging from our study is that they should revisit their institutional processes for integrating scientific and political consensus-building. If free citizens are unable to see how expertise is serving the collective good, they will sooner rebel against the experts than give up their independence. Just as a sound mind is said to require a sound body, so the coronavirus has shown that the credibility of public health expertise depends on the health of the body politic. Continue reading >>

Mathieu Leloup

The ECtHR Steps into the Ring

For the last two years, the fight for safeguarding the principle of the rule of law in Poland has been dominated by the ECJ’s case law. During this, the Strasbourg Court has mostly been sitting in the bleachers. Yet, with its Xero Flor judgment of 7 May, it strapped on its gloves and stepped into the ring. It concluded that the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, in its current composition, cannot be seen as a tribunal established by law. The decision will undoubtedly have major political and legal consequences. Continue reading >>

Christina Eckes

Separation of Powers in Climate Cases

On 29 April 2021, the Bundesverfassungsgericht published its decision that the Federal Climate Change Act of 12 December 2019, establishing national climate targets and annual emission amounts allowed until 2030, violates fundamental rights. Do the judges in such a case undermine separation of powers as a time-honoured achievement of modern constitutional democracies in order to force the political branches to take urgently necessary actions? No. By allocating different functions to the three branches, executive, legislature, and judiciary, separation of powers aims to ensure that the tension between law and majoritarian politics is perpetuated and that neither law nor politics dominates the other. Continue reading >>

Jerome Amir Singh

COVID-19 vaccines: How Structural Factors Can Vitiate Patient Autonomy and Dictate Vaccine Choice

Financial self-interest, fiscal considerations, geopolitics, sovereignty, governance, protectionism, and nationalism are currently dictating COVID-19 vaccine procurement at the macro level. Such structural factors indirectly vitiate autonomy at the grassroots level and run counter to the ideal that individuals should have access to the highest attainable standard of health. Continue reading >>

Konrad Lachmayer

Muddling through Mutation Times or the Return of Federalism in Austria

While the Austrian government´s reactions during the first wave of Covid-19 in spring 2020 are considered to have been successful, disillusionment followed in the fall 2020 with a second wave, for which the government did not seem to have prepared properly. The third period (January to April 2021), on which I will focus in this blog entry, shows a mixed performance of the government. Continue reading >>

Bat-Orgil Altankhuyag

The Price of Limiting Power

On 18 April 2021, Mongolia’s political landscape was hit by an unexpected event: President Battulga Khaltmaa issued an official decree in which he suggested to dissolve Mongolia’s 100-year-old ruling party, the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP). What appears to be a political problem at first glance, points to a deeper crisis of Mongolia’s constitutional democracy. Continue reading >>

Hoitismolimo Mutlokwa

A Failed State in the Making

On 4 May 2021, the Senate house in Zimbabwe approved the Constitutional Amendment No.2, 2019 with a two-thirds majority. The bill is now on its way to the executive for signature and incorporation into the constitution. However, the bill features three concerning clauses linked to judicial independence and the prosecutor general's appointment. The future of democracy and the rule of law looks gloomy for Zimbabwe. Continue reading >>

Matthias Friehe

Soziale Netzwerke in der Grundrechts-Klemme?

Seit 2018 häufen sich Klagen, mit denen sich Nutzer dagegen wehren, dass ihre Beiträge auf sozialen Netzwerken wie Facebook gelöscht werden. Gegenteilig will die Grünen-Politikerin Renate Künast nun vor der Richterbank Facebook dazu zwingen, konsequent(er) gegen Falschmeldungen vorzugehen. Netzwerkbetreiber drohen so in eine Klemme zwischen Meinungsfreiheit und Persönlichkeitsschutz zu geraten. Continue reading >>

Joelle Grogan

A Government (Un)Governed?

On 16 December 2020, despite rising rates of infection and the widely predicted ‘second wave’ already impacting neighbouring European countries, Prime Minister Boris Johnson mocked the opposition for wanting to ‘cancel Christmas’ by reintroducing nationwide lockdown restrictions. Three days later, a nationwide lockdown in England was introduced (inadvertently mimicking the March 2020 commitment that London had ‘zero prospect’ of lockdown, four days before it was enforced). The lockdown – closing schools, universities and a majority of businesses which were deemed non-essential and prohibiting gatherings of more than two people outdoors from separate households – continued until 12 April 2021 when restrictions began to be lessened through a phased ‘roadmap out of lockdown’. Such political hyperbole by the executive and lax response, followed by sudden U-turn policy making (‘essay crisis’ governance) and severely restrictive measures, have characterised much of the response to the pandemic in the UK. Continue reading >>

Helmut Philipp Aust

Klimaschutz aus Karlsruhe

Das Bundesverfassungsgericht fordert in seinem historischen Klima-Beschluss, über 2031 hinaus zu definieren, wie Emissionen zu reduzieren sind. Die Pointe dieser Konstruktion liegt darin, dass der Gesetzgeber hier nicht nur punktuelle Änderungen für den Zeitraum ab 2031 vornehmen kann, ohne mit anderen Vorgaben Karlsruhes in Konflikt zu geraten. Continue reading >>

Arianna Vedaschi

COVID-19 and Emergency Powers in Western European Democracies: Trends and Issues

Domestic emergency powers resorted to in the Covid-19 crisis are very different from each other. Is it possible to identify common trends in the comparative scenario? Limiting the scope of the analysis to democratic countries of the Western European area, at least four different tendencies can be identified. Continue reading >>

Sophie Schwertner, Tensin Studer

Solidarität statt Social Distancing

Mit dem Vertrag von Lissabon hat das Ziel einer sozialen Marktwirtschaft Eingang in die EU-Verträge gefunden. Dennoch war das letzte Jahrzehnt von primär wirtschaftspolitischen Integrationsbestrebungen dominiert; der Ausbau der sozialen Dimension der Union ist hingegen fragmentarisch geblieben. Die Europäische Säule Sozialer Rechte soll nun eine Trendwende einleiten. Bei dem Sozialgipfel in Porto am 7. und 8. Mai steht die Realisierung des „sozialen Europas“ ganz oben auf der Agenda. Continue reading >>

Xin He

The State Advances, the People Retreat

It is widely agreed that Wuhan, China is the origin of this pandemic. China has also been criticized for its initial mishandling of the outbreak, including local officials’ cover-up, the incompetence of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control (CDC), and the repression of whistle-blowers. In light of what had happened in other countries, however, China’s subsequent responses were nothing short of miraculous. From its lockdown in Wuhan, to the nationwide joint prevention and control system, from border sealing to mass testing and contact tracing, China’s measures were more intense than almost anywhere else in the world. Continue reading >>

Sascha Wolf

Das ist Alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt

Ein Ende März veröffentlichter Song des Rappers Danger Dan und eine darauf bezogene schriftliche Anfrage des Bundestagsabgeorndeten Frank Pasemann aktualisieren das Thema „Kulturkampf von Rechts“ im Kontext der staatlichen Kulturförderung. Die AfD verfolgt nämlich eine gefährliche Strategie, die nicht nur die geförderten Künstler:innen sondern auch die staatliche Kulturförderung systematisch diskreditieren soll. Continue reading >>

Andreas Buser

Die Freiheit der Zukunft

Der Klima-Beschluss des Bundesverfassungsgerichts schlägt hohe Wellen. National wie international wird das Urteil bereits jetzt als Meilenstein für den Klimaschutz gefeiert. Der Beschluss legt den Grundstein für eine weitergehende und dauerhafte verfassungsgerichtliche Kontrolle der staatlichen Klimaschutzbemühungen anhand der Grundrechte und Art. 20a GG Continue reading >>

Benedict Vischer

Einheit bis zum Bruch

Mit gesteigerter Intensität versucht die Union in diesen Monaten, endlich einen seit Jahren verhandelten Vertrag zum Abschluss zu bringen, der die Assoziation der Schweiz an die Rechtsordnung der Union in einen institutionellen Rahmen stellen soll. Die angestrebte Dynamisierung und Institutionalisierung würde einen bedeutenden Integrationsschritt und eine wichtige Weichenstellung in den Beziehungen der Schweiz und der Union darstellen. Das Projekt berührt aber auch grundsätzliche Fragen der Situierung der Union in einem weiteren europäischen Horizont und gewinnt darin zusätzliche Brisanz. Continue reading >>