09 September 2021
Fatal Non-Evolution
Like all constitutions, the Afghan Constitution was imperfect. As is so often the case, its imperfections were necessary short-term fixes to settle immediate problems at the time of the constitutional founding. I will discuss two critically important features of the Constitution—ones that in 2004 were essential to ensure the short-term survival of the Afghan state, but which the framers themselves recognized would need to be modified in the medium to long-term. Over time, these once necessary but ultimately problematic elements in the Constitution remained uncorrected, impeded government performance and destroyed the popular legitimacy of the government. Continue reading >>
0 
01 February 2018
“Anticipating the Third Republic of China”
Qianfan Zhang, constitutional lawyer from Peking, came to Berlin to study German federalism – a model that might help to invigorate China’s 2000-year-old centralized system. Continue reading >>16 August 2015
Data Protection in the US and the EU: the Case for Federal Solutions
Which level is better placed to provide efficient data protection – the federal or the state level? This question is topical both in the United States and in the European Union. In the US, there are concerns regarding the increased fragmentation of American data privacy law and the lack of relevant federal consolidation. In the EU, the proposed General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) supposed to replace the Directive of 1995 was met with opposition regarding the “over-centralization of powers” in the European institutions. Continue reading >>
0