„Das Haftsystem ist in Libyen zu einer Industrie geworden“
Im Mai 2026 schloss der Internationale Strafgerichtshof (IStGH) das Verfahren zur Bestätigung der Anklagepunkte gegen Khaled El Hishri ab, einen ehemaligen hochrangigen Offizier der libyschen Special Deterrence Force. Die Anklage richtet sich zwar gegen El Hishri persönlich und betrifft Taten, die zwischen 2014 und 2020 im Mitiga-Gefängnis in Tripolis begangen worden sein sollen. Gleichzeitig macht die Anklageschrift ein System sichtbar, dessen Strukturen weit schwerer zu durchdringen sind. Wir haben mit Allison West, Senior Legal Advisor beim European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), über die Komplexität des Verfahrens gesprochen.
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“Detention Has Become an Industry in Libya”
In May 2026, the International Criminal Court concluded its confirmation of charges hearing against Khaled El Hishri, a former senior officer of Libya's Special Deterrence Force (SDF/RADA). While the charges are directed at an individual for acts committed at Tripoli's Mitiga prison between 2014 and 2020, they emerge from a system that is much harder to disentangle. We asked Allison West, Senior Legal Advisor at European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, ECCHR, to unpack the complexities of this case and situate it within the broader struggle for justice in Libya.
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Three Readings of One Decision
The dominant reading of the December 2023 unfreezing of funds for Hungary – most recently restated on this blog, following Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta’s February Opinion proposing its annulment – describes that release as “clearly a political ploy at European Council level to get Orbán to lift his veto for support to Ukraine”. The authors argue that the mechanism must be insulated from political bargaining if it is to retain credibility. Their diagnosis of what went wrong is sharp. Their assumption about what would constitute going right may be less secure.
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The Problem Is Not Politicization
When judicial nominations fail, the instinct is to blame politicization. But the collapse of Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf's candidacy for the German Federal Constitutional Court and the historic Senate rejection of Jorge Messias for Brazil's Supreme Court point to a different diagnosis. The problem did not lie in politics as such – but in the Brazilian intuition of “politicagem”: the subordination of judicial selection to short-term electoral performance.
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Constitutional Disobedience by Statute
For two decades, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court rolled back vague speech offences, unchecked police powers, and procedural rules that enabled arbitrary prosecution. The new criminal and criminal procedure codes, in force since January 2026, reverse course. Some constitutional rulings were codified, others quietly revived, and still others stripped of their practical effect through legislative redesign. The result is a legal framework that expands state power while reopening constitutional conflicts once thought settled.
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Schulische Inklusion in Gefahr
Kinder mit Förderbedarf gehen im Schulsystem unter. Das BMBF will nun die Eingliederungshilfe grundlegend reformieren – und legt einen Entwurf vor, der den bisherigen individuellen Rechtsanspruch auf Schulbegleitung weitgehend abschafft. Damit greift das Ministerium zwar ein reales Problem auf. Doch die vorgeschlagene Lösung dürfte den Druck in den Schulen weiter erhöhen, die betroffenen Kinder schlechter stellen und verstößt gegen die UN-Behindertenrechtskonvention.
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Towards an “Associate Membership” Status for Ukraine?
In a recent letter addressed to the Cypriot Council Presidency and the leaders of the European Commission and the European Council, German Chancellor Friederich Merz proposed a status of “associate membership” for Ukraine. This “innovative solution” is presented as an intermediate step towards full membership. Whereas the political inspiration of Merz’s proposal is clear, its translation into practice raises significant questions.
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Vetoing the President?
Following Fidesz's electoral defeat, the country's new political leadership has pledged to dismantle the legal and institutional structures that enabled sixteen years of democratic backsliding. Yet one of the most powerful obstacles to that project may be hidden in plain sight: the constitutional powers of the President of the Republic. If President Tamás Sulyok chooses to use them aggressively, Hungary could soon find itself facing an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
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Sensibilität, nicht Nervosität
Am 27. April gab das Verwaltungsgericht Berlin dem Eilantrag der „Jüdischen Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost e.V." statt: Der Verein hatte sich dagegen gewehrt, im Verfassungsschutzbericht 2024 als extremistisch eingestuft zu werden. Dahinter steckt ein grundsätzliches Problem. Der Verfassungsschutz bewegt sich auf einem schmalen Grat: dem zwischen noch Worten und schon Taten. Allzu schnell droht ein falsches Verständnis von Wehrhaftigkeit in Angst vor der Freiheitsausübung von (Grund-)Rechtsträgern umzuschlagen. In diesem Fall jedoch beweist das Verwaltungsgericht Berlin Sensibilität statt Nervosität.
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Constitutionally Anti-constitutional
Peru's presidential runoff on June 7 will decide between Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez – and whoever wins will become the country's tenth president in ten years. The presidency, however, has seemingly lost its political import. Parliament has effectively ruled Peru for the last decade: it has impeached four presidents since 2020 and rewritten the constitution to introduce a powerful new Senate, set to begin functioning on July 28. This Senate is, in essence, constitutionally anti-constitutional – its powers systematically undermine the very checks and balances that liberal constitutionalism exists to protect.
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On Law and Politics in the Hungarian Transition
The Hungarian opposition’s landslide victory has raised high expectations in Hungarian and European society. Many now expect Fidesz’s hybrid regime to be swiftly undone and constitutional democracy restored. Hungarian and European institutions therefore face a momentous task. This symposium, emerging from a three-day conference at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL), offers analysis, legal imagination, and constructive critique. It brings together views by Hungarian, Polish, and other European and international experts on the constitutional transition, the judiciary, corruption, market, media, civil society, and the role of supranational actors.
Read all articles >>Reflexive Globalisation and the Law
In October 2025, a new Centre for Advanced Studies was established at the Humboldt University of Berlin’s Law Faculty. Named “Reflexive Globalisation and the Law: Colonial Legacies and their Implications in the 21st Century” (RefLex), the Centre explores the premise that the globalisation of law and legal discourse has entered a reflexive phase: one in which law and knowledge production about law are less and less one-directional exports from or within the Global North but rather dynamic, multidirectional exchanges that confront colonial legacies, epistemic hierarchies, and enduring asymmetries of power. This blog symposium, co-edited by Philipp Dann, Florian Jeßberger, and Kalika Mehta, aims to present and extend these interactions to a broader, accessible dialogue with a wider community beyond the university setting. Featuring contributions from a range of different disciplines and regions, the symposium serves as a public prelude to its official launch, which can be watched live here.
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Volume 7,Issue 2
July 2025
JUS COGENS
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Killing Hitler Word by Word: The Oath as Apocalyptic Lawmaking
GREGOR NOLL
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Adjudicating Climate Protest as a Tool of Modern Republicanism
DMITRII KUZNETSOV
OUR LATEST PUBLICATION
Christophe Geiger & Bernd Justin Jütte (eds.)
Enabling Access, Fostering Innovation: Towards a Digital Knowledge Agenda in Europe
Access to knowledge and information is essential to foster innovation. In the EU, existing copyright rules pose significant barriers to research and education. Instead of promoting access to knowledge resources, copyright creates legal uncertainty for researchers and educators and enables information intermediaries to exercise strict control over the use of protected works. This edited volume proposes ways out of the copyright conundrum by rethinking copyright as an access right.
Discover the Open Access digital edition here.
EDITORIAL
„Das Haftsystem ist in Libyen zu einer Industrie geworden“
Im Mai 2026 schloss der Internationale Strafgerichtshof (IStGH) das Verfahren zur Bestätigung der Anklagepunkte gegen Khaled El Hishri ab, einen ehemaligen hochrangigen Offizier der libyschen Special Deterrence Force. Die Anklage richtet sich zwar gegen El Hishri persönlich und betrifft Taten, die zwischen 2014 und 2020 im Mitiga-Gefängnis in Tripolis begangen worden sein sollen. Gleichzeitig macht die Anklageschrift ein System sichtbar, dessen Strukturen weit schwerer zu durchdringen sind. Wir haben mit Allison West, Senior Legal Advisor beim European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), über die Komplexität des Verfahrens gesprochen.
VB SECURITY AND CRIME
In cooperation with:
VB Security and Crime is a cooperation of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law (MPI-CSL) and the Verfassungsblog in the areas of public security law and criminal law. The MPI-CSL Institute is a member of the Max Planck Law network.