25 July 2024
Never Again in Russia
In the Soviet Union and later in Russia, reference to World War II played a central role in the decades after 1945. The “never again” narrative in Russia takes a very specific form: The focus is not on the Holocaust but on the Victory in the “Great Patriotic War” against fascism, the increase of power and status in the international system that this has brought, and the perpetuation of the present and timeless actuality of war in a mostly imperial and post-imperial context. The discourse on Victory against fascism undergoes a paradoxical development, from a way of commemorating collective trauma to the justification and glorification of new wars. Continue reading >>
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22 July 2024
Administrative and Citizen Interpretations of Unwritten Constitutional Principles and Constitutional Silences
Looking at Canadian law, this blog posts argues that administrative agencies should be able to interpret and articulate unwritten constitutional principles when exercising their discretionary powers, and that these interpretations ought to be deferred to by courts. This would also encourage citizens to put forward their own interpretations of unwritten constitutional principles, fostering a participatory approach to constitutional interpretation. Continue reading >>
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10 July 2024
Locating Unwritten Constitutional Norms in Global Constitutionalism
If there is a global constitutional order, it is “unwritten”. We cannot point to a written constitution for global law. Rather, theories of global constitutionalism and processes of global constitutionalisation are derived from an amalgamation of sources across international law and domestic constitutional orders. This blog post reflects on these tensions within the debate on global constitutionalisation, and focuses specifically on democracy as an unwritten constitutional norm in global constitutionalism. Continue reading >>
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09 July 2024
Unwritten Constitutional Law as a Brazilian Constitutional Category?
Brazilian constitutional law is profoundly marked by the ideal of codification. In this context, the ‘unwrittenness’ of certain constitutional problems is usually not treated as such. This is especially intensified through the size and textual openness of the Brazilian Constitution. Yet unwritten constitutional normativity plays (and can play) arguably a decisive role in Brazilian constitutionalism. Could one then articulate unwritten constitutional law as a Brazilian constitutional category? Continue reading >>
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09 July 2024
What are Principles and How Do They Work?
Unwritten constitutional principles pose a number of interesting puzzles, some of which are unique to their unwritten status, some of which are shared with all principles, unwritten and written, legal and non-legal. Using examples from the Canadian constitutional system, this blog post examines what principles are before going on to consider how they work. Its observations are intended to be of general, cross-jurisdictional relevance. Continue reading >>
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08 July 2024
The Stakes of the Unwritten Constitutional Norms and Principles Debate in the UK
Unwritten principles serve crucial purposes in the UK’s constitution. For example, they provide guardrails for judicial interpretation of legislation, and they form or give rise to substantive rules about the limits of legislative, judicial and executive power. With a growing body of research on unwritten constitutionalism, it is worth considering why these issues matter, and what is at stake in the debate. This post considers two issues which it argues can only be properly understood once regard is paid to the unwritten principles and norms in the UK’s constitution: the limits of Westminster’s legislative power, and the nature of the UK’s territorial constitution. Continue reading >>
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05 July 2024
Trump vs. United States und Roe vs. Wade
Welche Prinzipien gelten nun? Continue reading >>
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19 April 2024
The Right to Education and Democratic Backsliding in India
Since the election of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in the federal elections in India in 2014, the country’s performance in key indicators of democratic quality has suffered. Over the course of its two terms in power, the party has sought to subvert key institutions for accountability, enact an ethno-cultural majoritarian electoral agenda, and use federal law enforcement agencies against their political opponents. While there is extensive literature on the erosion of civil-political rights in the past ten years, the effects of the BJP government on social rights like education and healthcare remain under-explored. Therefore, in this post, I explore three striking dimensions of primary educational policy under the BJP government. Continue reading >>
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15 April 2024