17 March 2021
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 >>
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16 March 2021
Vaccination for Vacation
The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on 1 March that the Commission will put forward a proposal for a “digital green pass” on 17 March, which would enable safe cross-border movement of three categories of individuals: those who have been vaccinated, those who have developed antibodies after recovering from COVID-19 and those who can produce a negative PCR test. This concept could enable individuals to travel across Europe without unduly discriminating citizens. By contrast, "EU vaccination certificates" would violate EU law and unduly discriminate citizens. Continue reading >>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 >>
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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 >>
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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 >>15 March 2021
Wieviel Gemeinsinn verträgt die Gesellschaft?
Unter der Überschrift „Wieviel Identität verträgt die Gesellschaft“ hat Wolfgang Thierse in der FAZ zu der Frage Stellung bezogen, wie sich gesellschaftliche Pluralität mit dem für sozialen Zusammenhalt erforderlichen Gemeinsinn verträgt. Er wendet sich gegen eine subjektive Betroffenenperspektive, die der Gesellschaft ihre Sichtweise gewisser Dinge auferlegen wolle. Die Konturen des Gemeinsinns seien im demokratischen Diskurs zu verhandeln, der mit den Anerkennungsansprüchen einzelner gesellschaftlicher Gruppen in Konflikt geraten könne. Gleichzeitig konzediert er allerdings die Notwendigkeit, erfahrene Benachteiligungen zu überwinden. Wie aber lassen sich erfahrene Benachteiligungen überwinden, die der Gemeinsinn billigt oder gar erzeugt? Continue reading >>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 >>13 March 2021
Lücke gestopft
In einem Beitrag vom 26. Juli 2020 hatte ich darauf hingewiesen, dass der Fiskus durch das Zweite Corona-Steuerhilfegesetz die Möglichkeit verloren hätte, Taterträge aus illegalen Cum/Ex-Geschäften einzuziehen, wenn der betroffene steuerrechtliche Anspruch des Fiskus verjährt war. Mit einer „Reform der Reform“ hat der Gesetzgeber dies nun doch möglich gemacht. Ein Beschluss, den das Bundesverfassungsgericht letzte Woche veröffentlicht hat, lässt darauf schließen, dass diese Rückwirkung auch verfassungsrechtlich Bestand haben wird. Continue reading >>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 >>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 >>
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12 March 2021
Lula’s Power is Brazil’s Arm
On 8 March 2021, Judge Edson Fachin from the Brazilian Supreme Court made a decision that frees former President Lula from all his convictions. This might decisively affect the course of the next presidential elections in Brazil, in 2022, as it puts former President Lula back in the presidential race. Perhaps even more importantly, its consequences might help in the fight against the Covid-19 crisis in Brazil. Continue reading >>
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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 >>
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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 >>
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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 >>
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11 March 2021
Was die Polizei kann und was sie darf
Seit einigen Monaten ermittelt die Sonderkommission BAO-Janus („Besondere Aufbau Organisation Janus") der Polizei Nordrhein-Westfalen gegen 24 Polizeibeamt*innen aus Essen und Mülheim an der Ruhr wegen rechtsextremer Chats. Am 18. Februar 2021 ließ die BAO-Janus in einer Massendatenabfrage mehr als 12.700 Rufnummern prüfen, in die die Handydaten der 24 unter Verdacht stehenden Beamt*innen einflossen. Die Massenabfragen von Handydaten durch die BAO-Janus stellen aber Vorfeldermittlungen unterhalb der Schwelle des Verdachtes dar und sind daher rechtswidrig. Continue reading >>
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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 >>
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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 >>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 >>
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10 March 2021
Operation Car Wash on Trial
On 8 March 2021, the legal and political world was surprised by a judicial ruling of Justice Fachin, from the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court, which annulled three criminal cases against the former President Lula da Silva in the context of the so-called Operation Car Wash. In the following, we aim to recover some of the main arguments, positions and surrounding political scenario that involves Lula’s cases. The Federal Supreme Court seems to try to create a scenario for the reconstruction of the rule of law, which has been severely impaired in the past five years. Continue reading >>
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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 >>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 >>
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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 >>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 >>
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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 >>
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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 >>
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09 March 2021
Eine Gebühr für Stammgäste?
Am Freitag hat der Bundesrat einen Gesetzesentwurf Hessens abgelehnt, der den Zugang zu sozialgerichtlichen Verfahren in bestimmten Fällen erschweren sollte. Der gescheiterte Gesetzesentwurf ist der vorläufige Höhepunkt einer Diskussion, die schon seit längerem und immer wieder im Sozialrecht geführt wird und auch jetzt noch nicht vom Tisch sein dürfte. Continue reading >>
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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 >>
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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 >>
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08 March 2021
Der Extremismus stirbt zuletzt
In der Presse war dieser Tage zu lesen, das Bundesministerium des Innern sei im Wege der Fachaufsicht gegen die ihm unterstehende Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung eingeschritten und habe diese angewiesen, den Teaser eines leicht zugänglichen Dossiers über „Linksextremismus“ inhaltlich abzuändern. Was lässt sich aus der fachaufsichtlichen Maßnahme des Innenministeriums in juristischer und politiktheoretischer Hinsicht lernen? Continue reading >>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 >>
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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 >>05 March 2021
The Rule of Law in Georgia
On March 1, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, visited Tbilisi to witness Georgia’s rapid descent into authoritarian rule, after an opposition politician was detained under questionable circumstances. The EU institutions’ experience of handling rule of law crises at home should inform its neighbourhood policy. Somewhat paradoxically, in this respect, the EU has greater leverage in its neighbourhood countries, like Georgia, than it has towards its internal problem states. Continue reading >>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 >>
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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 >>COVID-19 in Autocratic Bulgaria
In a prior article, I explained how the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov was using the COVID-19 emergency in spring 2020 as an opportunity to implement measures curtailing fundamental rights and solidifying his autocracy. Subsequently, Borissov’s GERB party enacted questionable amendments to the Law on Health permitting the executive to usurp powers traditionally conferred onto Parliament in Bulgaria’s constitutional order. Continue reading >>
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04 March 2021
Die Lesbarkeit von Gesetzentwürfen
Die Verbesserung der Lesbarkeit von Gesetzentwürfen ist in Zeiten zunehmender Politikverdrossenheit und der Verbreitung von Falschbehauptungen und Verschwörungstheorien ein dringendes Anliegen. Ein Vorschlag der Linksfraktion im Bundestag verspricht teilweise Abhilfe, geht aber nicht weit genug. Statt den Vorschlag der Linksfraktion zu kritisieren sollten ihn Politik und auch die Rechtswissenschaft zum Anlass nehmen, weitere Möglichkeiten zur Verbesserung der Lesbarkeit zu erarbeiten. Continue reading >>Assembling Social Rights
In April 2021, Chile will hold elections for its first constitutional assembly. It will draft a new constitution to replace the current one, born in 1980 during Chile’s military dictatorship. One topic that will be at the center of the assembly’s debate is the status that ‘social rights’ shall have in the new constitution. The most debated issue in this regard is whether such rights should be directly enforceable. Despite the distance in time, space and culture, the drafting of Chile’s new constitution can learn important lessons from Germany’s constitutions of 1919 and 1949 in this field. Continue reading >>
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Pandemic and Fragile Government: A Year of COVID-19 Fatigue and Disorder in Ukraine
The pandemic has exposed all the weaknesses and shortcomings of the Ukrainian health protection system, which has been on a periphery of the national reforms agenda for many years. In many regards, the Ukrainian way to protect the population against infectious diseases remains ineffective and fragmented and based of outdated Soviet-time approaches and methods. To date, Ukraine is one of the unfortunate leaders among European countries in confirmed Covid-19 cases and coronavirus death tolls. There is still no clear national strategy on how to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 in Ukraine is in place. The President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine forecasted the terms of vaccination under the WHO COVAX initiative. However, detailed arrangements are far from being in place. Continue reading >>
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Ein Recht auf Impfung?
Die verfassungsrechtliche Debatte um die gerechte Priorisierung bei den Corona-Schutzimpfungen verdeckt ein mittlerweile vorrangiges Problem, dem sich Gerichte annehmen sollten: vorhandene Impfdosen finden keine Abnehmer und bleiben ungenutzt. Die Frage der Rationierung des Impfstoffs würde entschärft, wenn zunächst einmal das Verfahren der Verteilung vereinfacht und durchlässiger gestaltet würde. Angesichts der steigenden Zahl ungenutzter Impfdosen sollten Gerichte ein Recht auf Kapazitätserschöpfung durchsetzen können, das nicht unter einem Vorbehalt des Möglichen steht. Ein solches Recht hat das Bundesverfassungsgericht bereits für die Verteilung von Studienplätzen anerkannt. Continue reading >>The Response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: A success story gone wrong.
Following an initial comparatively successful handling of the pandemic, infection numbers began increasing consistently after September in Portugal and reached an alarming rate at the beginning of 2021. A second lockdown started on January 14, 2021, with record infection and mortality rates and the National Health Service near breakdown. On 21 January, the measures were tightened and included the closure of schools and universities. A year later, Portugal is back to square one, and, as the failure to control the growth of the pandemic seems evident, medical and moral despair dominate. The impact of the restrictions on the freedom of movement contributed to a decline in the country’s overall score of The Economist’s Democracy Index 2020, that now qualifies it as a “democracy with flaws”. Continue reading >>03 March 2021
A Paean to Judicial (Self) Restraint
The UK Supreme Court Shamima Begum decision is widely reported to be a win for former home secretary Sajid Javid who had stripped Begum of her citizenship. Yet, is it really a vindication of this action? The decision of the Supreme Court is not based on a factual assessment of Begum’s case but only on whether she has to be given permission to return to the UK to participate in an effective and fair manner in the immigration appeal. A limited decision, and by no means a final adjudication on Begum’s deprivation of citizenship case. Continue reading >>
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Surviving Executive-Led Pandemic Control in Executive-Led Hong Kong
Hong Kong was one of the front urban regions that recorded COVID-19 cases in early 2020. One year later, there were recorded over 11,000 confirmed cases and 200 deaths. At the time of writing, this Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China is struggling with the fourth wave of infections, which is the most virulent thus far, due to the combination of community spread initiated a cluster of dancing instructors and students, and the infiltration of the coronavirus, finally, into the least hygienic environs of the built-up areas. Continue reading >>
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Harsh immigration policy leads to a historic impeachment trial in Denmark
In early February 2021, the Danish Parliament took the extraordinary step of initiating an impeachment trial against Inger Støjberg, Minister of Immigration between 2015 and 2019. In 2016, the Minister issued a directive about the separation of asylum-seeking couples, where one partner is under 18, without exception, and the administration carried it into effect. This directive was later declared clearly illegal according to both Danish administrative law and the European Convention on Human Rights. Continue reading >>The Remains of the Days of Crisis: The Second Wave of Legislative COVID-19 Measures in Luxembourg
With the end of the first wave of COVID-19, the state of crisis was ended in June 2020 in Luxembourg. But its problematic features seem to have remained in the legislative action tackling the second wave. Two main differences appear between the legal approach adopted in March and the current one. Continue reading >>
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Misjudging Judges
5231 magistrates from all over the EU had signed a letter to call the EU Commission to urgent action regarding the rule of law situation in Poland, Hungary and other member states. Unbelievably, Commissioners Reynders and Jourová, in their reply to the judges’ letter that transpired on 1 March, managed to make matters considerably worse. Continue reading >>Heidelberger Salon digital: “Vaccine Nationalism” and Distributive Justice
A conversation with Alexandra Phelan, Maike Voss, Mark Eccleston-Turner, Pedro Villarreal, and Leticia Casado, moderated by Alexandra Kemmerer. Continue reading >>02 March 2021
Judges vs the Executive Branch
Last Friday, the Dutch Appeal Court of The Hague overturned a judgment of the District Court of the Hague which had made headlines in the Low Countries and beyond by enjoining an immediate end to the curfew imposed by the government to curb coronavirus infections. The case illustrates in dramatic fashion the tensions arising from the necessity to balance freedom and public health while tying into the more institutional question of the separation of powers between the judicial and executive branch. At the same time, the case casts light on the growing assertiveness of Dutch courts on matters of general policy-making. Continue reading >>The Pomp of Popular Constitutional Outrage
In January 2021, the Norwegian government decided to circulate a proposal for formally adding a curfew clause to the Act Relating to the Control of Communicable Diseases from 1994. The public reacted with an extraordinary expression of popular engagement and outrage. On 17 February 2021, in the face of strong public, commercial and political opposition, the proposal was shelved by the government. This case may show something both about the level of trust between the authorities and the public in Norway, and the reactions when one of the parties is perceived to break the “social contract” that is embedded in this relationship. Continue reading >>
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