The Transformation of European Climate Litigation
In a transformative moment for European and global climate litigation, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled for the first time in its history that inadequate climate mitigation measures violate human rights. The implications are far-reaching, both in Europe and beyond. This joint blog debate with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law assesses the Court's climate judgments from April 9 and discusses the implications for climate protection and climate litigation.
Read all articles >>Indian Constitutionalism in the Last Decade
Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has governed India for the past 10 years. During this time, many aspects of India's democracy and constitutional system have come under attack. Whether it's freedom of speech, religious freedom, or federalism: Indian constitutionalism has changed. This blog symposium explores these changes and assesses the state of constitutionalism in India.
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Volume 6,Issues 1
April 2024
DAS THÜRINGEN-PROJEKT
LATEST POSTS
Homeopathic Globules for Environmental Lawyers
Are courts, as institutions aimed at individual justice, suitable institutions for dealing with the climate crisis? Could they guide the social and global transformation processes that are certainly necessary? Bernhard Wegener takes a clear stand against the “sweet illusion of climate justice“.
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On the Duarte Agostinho Decision
We may not readily describe Duarte Agostinho as a success. But it does offer an excellent opportunity to clarify what we mean by ‘success’ in this context. Arguably, this depends on our expectations – whether that’s to generate attention, trigger mobilization, seek judicial engagement with an issue, clarify the law, or pursue a given outcome, among others.
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Begnadigung von Gefolgsleuten – und keiner merkt’s
Am 4. April ging es vor dem Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin-Brandenburg um die Frage, ob das Bundespräsidialamt der Presse eine Liste der Gnadenentscheidungen von Frank-Walter Steinmeier und seiner Vorgänger aus den Jahren 2004 bis 2021 zur Verfügung stellen muss. Ob dem Gericht das Missbrauchspotenzial des Gnadenrechts vor Augen stand?
Continue reading >>In the Dark
There is an old adage in the world of official transparency that “sunlight is the best disinfectant”. But when it comes to Europe’s recovery transformation via the NextGenerationEU (NGEU) programme and related instruments, the Commission insists on conducting as much of it as possible in the dark. As concerns grow about both the effectiveness and even potentially corruption in the use of recovery funds, this lack of transparency is particularly worrying.
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The Fabulous and the Fascist
The last ten years have witnessed the gradual collapse of democracy and constitutionalism in India. Where do LGBT rights figure in all this? I contextualize the wins and the losses and discuss why LGBT rights in India are not “under attack” as they have been under authoritarian governments elsewhere.
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A Rejoinder to Citizenship for Sale (Commission v Malta)
In his piece on Citizenship for Sale of 14 April 2024, Joseph Weiler criticizes the European Commission's infringement procedure against Malta's golden passport scheme. He names three reasons why the Commission should (or could) not have brought the case and the Court should not uphold it. While the present reply does not argue that the Court will necessarily find in the Commission's favour, the Commission's legal claim and strategy do not seem to be as (constitutionally) problematic as Weiler make them out to be.
Continue reading >>GDPR Overreach?
After Meta introduced this model for its social networking services Facebook and Instagram in November 2023, several national data protection authorities called on the EDPB to clarify the compatibility of this model with the GDPR. Data protection law is to be used as a lever to prohibit media companies or online service providers from offering a service that is more data-minimalist than the traditional business model. Data protection authorities are therefore faced with the question of whether the GDPR should address "social justice" concerns.
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Citizenship for Sale (Commission v Malta)
The Maltese “passports for sale” (Golden Passports) was big news a year or two ago but has now disappeared below the radar of public attention. Yet, the mills of justice might grind slowly, but grind they do. The case brought by the Commission against Malta is scheduled to be heard by the CJEU sometime later this year. So, Malta offers passports for sale. Quelle Horreur! I hear you sniffing with disgust and indignation. They sell their citizenship, and hoopla – automatically these new citizens, ipso facto and ipso jure are European Citizens enjoying all the rights and duties which attach to such.
Continue reading >>Hercules or Sisyphus? On the legacy of statutory lawlessness in post-autocratic Poland
A constitutional responsibility.
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Herkules oder Sisyphus? Vom Erbe des gesetzlichen Unrechts im post-autokratischen Polen
Eine verfassungsrechtliche Verantwortung.
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Gender, Equality, and the Predicaments of Faith
In the context of the rise of the global right, feminist debates on gender and sexual rights can and have at times slipped into a left and right ideological divide. In reflecting on the ways in which gender equality has been addressed in the context of Indian constitutional law over the past two decades, what emerges is a more complex picture.
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States’ Extraterritorial Jurisdiction for Climate-Related Impacts
States’ extraterritorial jurisdiction was one of the hot topics decided by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Duarte Agostinho. Strictly speaking, the “lack of it” led the ECtHR to declare the complaint inadmissible with respect to all defendant States except Portugal. This finding is in line with previous ECtHR case law but highlights a gap in human rights protection and creates a mismatch between the ECtHR’s case law and that of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
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Climate Litigation reaches Italian Courts
With Giudizio Universale, climate litigation has found its way to Italy. This case has many aspects in common with the general transnational phenomenon, both in terms of the structure and content of the legal arguments used. The case highlights the difficulties that courts face in view of the high social expectations connected to this kind of proceedings.
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The High Representative Strikes Again
In March 2024, the High Representative (HR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Christian Schmidt, once again used his “Bonn powers” under the Dayton Peace Agreement which, inter alia, enable him to impose substantial legislation. After a dark warning, he enacted a new package of reforms concerning the electoral process. While these reforms reflect the necessary and desirable changes in the process of the EU accession, concurrently resolving a political stalemate, this schmidtian mode also creates further political cleavages. Nevertheless, arguably a “Smith” has found a fairly clever way forward.
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Third Provisional Measures in South Africa v Israel
On March 28, 2024, the ICJ issued its third provisional measures order in South Africa v Israel. The Court ordered further, more pointed, measures towards Israel to ensure the provision of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza. In this blog post, I consider that the right to be heard in the course of this third order has not been fully guaranteed since the ICJ based its ruling on the international reports which were not provided, known, and considered by either of the parties. Moreover, I argue that the ICJ underscored its decision on humanitarian law rather than obligations to prevent genocide.
Continue reading >>Globuli für Umweltjuristen
Sind Gerichte als Institutionen des einzelfallbezogenen Rechtsschutzes geeignete Einrichtungen zur Bewältigung der Klimakrise? Könnten sie die sicherlich notwendigen gesamtgesellschaftlichen und globalen Transformationsprozesse anleiten? Bernhard Wegener bezieht klar Stellung gegen die „zuckersüße Illusion von Climate Justice“.
Continue reading >>Staatliche Schutzpflichten gegen Rassismus statt AfD-Verbot
Der Rassismus- und Antisemitismusvorwurf dient als wesentliches Argument für ein Verbot der AfD. Aus rassismuskritischer Perspektive geht die Verbotsdebatte allerdings fehl. Sie erschöpft sich in einem symbolischen Antirassismus, der eine ebenso symbolische Antirassismuspolitik fördert, die an der Realität vulnerabler Gruppen vorbeigeht. Zudem externalisiert die Debatte um das AfD-Verbot den Rassismus der sogenannten Mitte und wirbt für einen rechtsstaatlich und demokratietheoretisch bedenklichen repressiven Antirassismus.
Continue reading >>The Digital Public Square meets the Digital Baton
The value a society and its laws place on protecting free speech is arguably most keenly felt where that speech takes a critical turn. Which is why the history of this field is littered with prosecutions and penalties being levied against problematic speech, inviting courts to draw the lines between what is protected and what is not. The past ten years in India demonstrate that when faced with speech that is critical of government policy or state action, the state has become increasingly hesitant to let it remain on air. What is perhaps most alarming for the health of democracy is that, in most cases, there is often a synergy across the three arms of the State that curbing problematic speech is the best course of action to follow.
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The Meaning of Carbon Budget within a Wide Margin of Appreciation
Although the KlimaSeniorinnen judgment discusses a number of rights of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), including Article 6 (right of access to a court), Article 2 (right to life), and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy), the focus of this blog post is on its discussion of Article 8 (right to private, home and family life). The question raised by that discussion is whether the judgment is one that will “frighten the horses” and lead to oppositional cries of judicial overreach around the separation of powers, or if it is more an unexceptional case of “move on, nothing to see here.” My argument is that the judgment is mostly the latter but that it has what, in computer gaming terms, is known as an “Easter egg” – a hidden element included by the developers to surprise and reward those who look carefully. That could turn out to be more controversial.
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Catalysts of Eco-Constitutional Evolution
On a lawsuit brought forth by a women’s association of the indigenous Kukama people. The association sought recognition of the intrinsic rights of the Marañón River. The judgement is part of a broader constitutional trend towards recognizing nature’s own rights. This movement is notably being driven by Latin American nations where indigenous perspectives on nature emphasize the intrinsic link between a healthy environment and the realization of human rights, thereby softening the adversarial stance between anthropocentrism and ecocentrism. As such, this jurisprudence may serve as catalyst for the ecological constitutional evolution of Western legal systems.
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