Israel nach dem Waffenstillstand
Warum die Regierung den Rechtsstaat angreift
Continue reading >>
Israel after the Ceasefire
Why the Government Is Escalating Its Attacks on the Rule of Law
Continue reading >>
Protesting Outside The Homes Of Politicians
On 13 November 2025, Minister of State for the Home Department Lord Hanson introduced an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill providing for the new “offence of making representations to public office-holders in their home”. Recent years have seen many protests outside the private homes of politicians in the UK. However, it is questionable whether the amendment is compatible with Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on freedom of assembly.
Continue reading >>
The European Democracy Shield and Its Whole-of-Society Approach
On 12 November, the European Commission published the long-awaited European Democracy Shield. While the EDS’s embrace of a bottom-up approach arguably marks a meaningful shift in how the Commission conceives democratic resilience, the initiative itself does little to translate this rhetoric into meaningful action. If Member State cooperation on tackling information manipulation and interference remains voluntary, civil society involvement largely consultative, and several flagship initiatives end up being merely symbolic, so will the EDS’s ambitious and inclusive language.
Continue reading >>
Sachsens Sonderweg
Sachsen war bereits mehrfach Schauplatz von gerichtlichen Auseinandersetzungen zwischen (rechtsextremen) Bewerber*innen zum juristischen Vorbereitungsdienst und dem Freistaat. Nun darf erneut eine Person, die zuvor in einem anderen Bundesland aufgrund mangelnder Verfassungstreue abgelehnt wurde, das Referendariat im Freistaat antreten. Eine neue Entscheidung des dortigen OVG zeigt auf, dass extremistische Bewerber*innen zukünftig kaum noch abgelehnt werden können. Sachsen droht ein Zufluchtsort für extremistische Personen zu werden.
Continue reading >>
Verteidigungsfähigkeit als Verfassungsauftrag
Was passiert verfassungsrechtlich, wenn Deutschland angegriffen wird oder ein solcher Angriff droht? Das Grundgesetz sieht für solche Fälle den sogenannten Spannungs- oder Verteidigungsfall vor. Momentan scheint im Bundestag die hierfür erforderliche Zweidrittelmehrheit in weiter Ferne. Allerdings könnten, wenn Deutschland wirklich mit Waffengewalt angegriffen wird, Bundestag und -rat verfassungsrechtlich zur Feststellung des Verteidigungsfalls verpflichtet sein.
Continue reading >>If It Looks Like a Duck
The lawfulness of using copyrighted material to train generative AI models is one of copyright law’s hottest issues. The various lawsuits around the world seeking to answer this question are seen by many as fundamental for the future of both technology and cultural creations. The Munich Regional Court has now become the first court in the EU to issue an opinion on the lawfulness of AI models.
Continue reading >>
A Familiar Dynamic Full of Unknowns
This past Sunday, Chile held general elections. Sunday’s results and forecasts suggest that José Antonio Kast of the far-right Republicanos will become Chile’s next president in the run-off on December 14. With the country currently experiencing a drive towards political extremes and instability, Kast’s presidency could unfold in two directions: it might either produce a Bukele-like regime focused on law and order that would potentially do away with democracy and the rule of law; or it could face the rapid growth of popular opposition to his austerity plans, possibly in the form of street protests.
Continue reading >>
If It Looks Like a Duck
Wie urheberrechtlich geschütztes Material durch generative KI genutzt werden darf, zählt weltweit zu den meistdiskutierten Fragen des Urheberrechts. Der Ausgang der zahlreichen Verfahren gegen KI-Anbieter gilt vielen als grundlegende Entscheidung über die Zukunft sowohl generativer KI als auch des kulturellen Schaffens. Das Landgericht München hat nun als erstes Gericht in der EU darüber entschieden, wie die Nutzung urheberrechtlich geschützter Materialien durch generative KI-Modelle rechtlich zu bewerten ist.
Continue reading >>
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Last week, the LIBE of the European Parliament debated a Draft Report and a series of amendments to the Commission’s Proposal for a Return Regulation. The Proposal seeks to increase the EU’s return rate, which has not exceeded 20% in recent years. In 2024, out of 453,380 individuals ordered to leave the EU, only 110,385 returned to their countries of origin. The Proposal legalises the possibility of sending migrants to return hubs located in third countries outside of the EU. This entrenches their marginalisation, whilst eroding migrants’ human rights protections.
Continue reading >>
CURRENT DEBATES
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 symposium proposes ways out of the copyright conundrum by rethinking copyright as an access right. It is the outcome of a conference held in the European Parliament on 10 July 2025.
Read all articles >>Defund Meat
Meat is an embodied symbol of the mounting and interrelated environmental and public health crises that have become characteristic of our era: climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, pandemics, food insecurity, unhealthy and unsustainable diets, and institutionalised animal suffering. Drawing from the Defund Meat conference in January in Heidelberg, this blog symposium moves the meat question from the margins into the spotlight. Convened by Saskia Stucki and Anne Peters, the symposium is supported by the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.
Read all articles >>ADVERTISEMENT
Volume 7,Issue 2
July 2025
JUS COGENS
-
Killing Hitler Word by Word: The Oath as Apocalyptic Lawmaking
GREGOR NOLL
-
Adjudicating Climate Protest as a Tool of Modern Republicanism
DMITRII KUZNETSOV
OUR LATEST PUBLICATION
Friedrich Zillessen (Hrsg.)
Die vorbereitete Demokratie:
Resilienz durch Antizipation im Thüringen-Projekt
Was wäre, wenn autoritär-populistische Akteure in Thüringen Zugang zu staatlichen Machtmitteln erhielten? Wie würden sie vorgehen, um ihr eigenes Abgewähltwerden zu erschweren? Welche rechtlichen und institutionellen Spielräume stünden ihnen offen?
Für diesen Sammelband haben wir 35 Blogposts aus dem Thüringen-Projekt ausgewählt, die diesen Fragen nachgehen und über tagespolitische Ereignisse hinaus Relevanz entfalten. Die Beiträge testen Schwachstellen, entwickeln Szenarien und führen die Debatte über Resilienz weiter – und tragen so dazu bei, dass die Demokratie besonders dann wehrhaft ist, wenn sie vorbereitet ist.
PROJECTS
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.
Das Justiz-Projekt
Weltweit gerät die unabhängige und unparteiische Justiz unter den Druck des autoritären Populismus.
Wie verwundbar ist die rechtsprechende Gewalt in Deutschland – im Bund und in den Ländern?
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.
EDITORIAL
Israel after the Ceasefire
Why the Government Is Escalating Its Attacks on the Rule of Law
Continue reading >>