Handelsabkommen für das Klima?

09 December 2024

Handelsabkommen für das Klima?

Alle Blicke waren auf Baku und die Klimakonferenz COP 29 gerichtet, als die Regierungen von Costa Rica, Island, Neuseeland und der Schweiz im November die Unterzeichnung ihres Abkommens bekanntgaben. Der Zeitpunkt wirkt dennoch nicht wie ein Zufall, denn das „Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability“ (ACCTS) ist nicht bloß ein weiteres Freihandelsabkommen. Vielmehr könnte es einen ganz neuen Typus von Abkommen begründen. Das Abkommen leistet Pionierarbeit und zeigt Mechanismen auf, die das Handelsrecht in eine neue Ära des Nachhaltigkeitsrechts überführen könnten.

17 October 2024

Tamar Hostovsky Brandes

The ICJ Advisory Opinion and Israeli Law

This post examines the relationship between the Advisory Opintion and Israeli law with respect to the duty to distinguish between Israel and the OPT. While the Opinion requires States to distinguish between Israel and the OPT in their dealings with Israel, and to omit acts that may strengthen Israel’s hold of the Territories, calls for such distinction are a civil tort under Israeli law, and those making them can be denied entry to Israel. As a result, Israelis are unlikely to support the Opinion. This will contribute to the growing gap between the international discourse and the domestic discourse in Israel with respect to the OPT.

02 February 2023

Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir

A Global Milestone

In 2019, Iceland passed a new law on the termination of pregnancy. Passed with a solid majority and the support of a cross-political coalition, the new law provides pregnant people with the right to decide on a termination, without having to get prior permission from medical personnel, as had previously been the case. The law was a huge step forward to ensure the protection of sexual and reproductive rights in Iceland, but there still remains room for improvement, for example with regard to the rights of trans people and the access of uninsured people to the service. The success of the legislation was also remarkable for the cross-political support it enjoyed, largely based on women’s solidarity as 18 of 22 women in parliament, from nearly all parties, supported the law.

03 December 2021

Valgerður Sólnes

A Mugemangango v. Belgium Sequel in the Making

The 25 September 2021 parliamentary elections in Iceland were challenged due to alleged irregularities in the election process of the Northwest-constituency (Norðvesturkjördæmi). On 25 November 2021, the Icelandic Parliament ruled on the validity of the 25 September 2021 parliamentary elections. Individuals as well as a legal entity have stated their intent to file a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights for the alleged violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. If they go forward, they are likely to succeed as Icelandic law fails to meet the standards set out by the ECtHR for post-election review.

09 March 2021

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.

02 December 2020

Hans Petter Graver

A New Nail in the Coffin for the 2017 Polish Judicial Reform

On 1 December the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR gave an important ruling that may have wide-reaching implications for the ongoing attempts to curb the rule of law backsliding in Poland and other countries. The case addresses the appointment of judges, and the way this affects the status of a court as a “tribunal established by law” in the meaning of Article 6 of the ECHR.

14 March 2019

Maximilian Steinbeis

Straßburg und das Anti-Richter-Dilemma

Nach einem aktuellen Urteil des EGMR ist ein Gericht, an dem regelwidrig ernannte Richter_innen mitwirken, nicht "auf Gesetz beruhend" i.S.v. Art. 6 Abs. 1 EMRK. Was bedeutet, dass jeder, den ein solches Gericht verurteilt, sein Recht auf ein faires Verfahren in Straßburg einklagen kann. Der EGMR kontrolliert, ob die Regeln bei der Richterernennung eingehalten wurden. Das, so scheint mir, könnte in Polen noch massive Folgen haben, und nicht nur dort.

29 November 2018

Thorvaldur Gylfason

Iceland’s Ongoing Constitutional Fight

Six years ago, the reform of the Icelandic constitution drafted by a directly elected Constitutional Council and approved in a national referendum was shelved by Parliament. But the problems with democracy in Iceland which prompted the reform back in the day still exist: a lack of electoral equality, of fair access to natural resources, and of transparency.

30 October 2016

Maximilian Steinbeis

Parlamentswahlen in Island: was wir im Jahr 2016 vom isländischen Verfassungsexperiment lernen können

Island hat gewählt. Und anders als vorausgesagt haben die Piraten mit ihrem Versprechen, die so genannte "Crowdsourcing"-Verfassung von 2011 umzusetzen, nur den dritten Platz errungen. Ist es an der Zeit, sich von den direktdemokratischen Erlösungserwartungen, die sich an das isländische Verfassungsexperiment knüpfen, zu verabschieden? Oder ist die Lektion, die in diesem Experiment steckt, in Wahrheit eine ganz andere?

06 April 2016

Thorvaldur Gylfason

Iceland’s Citizen Constitution: the Window Remains Wide Open

Iceland is, once again, in political turmoil after the Panama Papers revelations. This might revitalize a project which had fascinated constitutionalists from all over the world before it seemingly was derailed by the political establishment - a new constitution written by the citizens of Iceland themselves.

06 July 2013

Maximilian Steinbeis

Island, Occupy und der kurze Sommer der Anarchie

Ich bin gestern aus Island zurückgekehrt, wo ich knapp zwei Wochen lang mit meiner Familie durchs Land gereist bin. Meine Faszination für dieses entlegene Stückchen Vulkangestein im Nordatlantik ist entstanden, als ich vor zwei Jahren im Auftrag der WELT nach Reykjavik fuhr, um das isländische Verfassungsexperiment aus der Nähe zu beobachten. Diesmal stand vor allem Gletscher gucken, in heißen Quellen plantschen und im Mitternachtssonnenuntergang in Klippen herumklettern im Programm - aber auch verfassungspolitisch hört diese Insel nicht auf, mich aufs Tiefste zu faszinieren.

30 March 2013

Thorvaldur Gylfason