27 July 2024
Never Again – Ever Again
The “Never Again” is the desperate evocation of something impossible. Nothing prevents people from expanding the arsenal of their crimes with ever newer, ever more artificial, more scientific methods and instruments, and from using them. Just as grass and flowers mercifully spread over the ruins of the ovens, the fields fertilized with ashes, all attempts to bear witness to the crimes, to keep memory alive as a warning, dissolve into the history of the victors, which has dominated everything else in all times of human history. Continue reading >>
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28 June 2024
From Constitutional Crisis to Poisoned Chalice
The national elections to the UK Parliament in Westminster are scheduled for 4 July 2024, and are consequential for the constitution. Continue reading >>
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21 June 2024
Taiwan’s Constitutional Showdown
A stress test for Taiwan's democracy. Continue reading >>
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11 June 2024
Should a Convicted Felon be the Next President of the US?
On Thursday, May 30th, 2024, former President Trump was convicted in New York City by a jury of thirty-four criminal charges consisting of falsifying business records with the intend to deceive. Regardless of his tirade against the American legal system, he stands as a convicted felon unless he could prove otherwise on appeal. This is an unprecedented conviction. Mr. Trump is the first American president who has been criminally convicted. Lamentably, the republican establishment continues to stand by the former president and to question the legality of this trial thereby challenging the integrity of the rule of law. Continue reading >>12 April 2024
Hercules or Sisyphus? On the legacy of statutory lawlessness in post-autocratic Poland
A constitutional responsibility. Continue reading >>
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04 April 2024
Strengthening the Resilience of the Rule of Law through Democracy
For almost a decade now, the European Union (EU) has been struggling with the erosion of the rule of law in some of its Member States. The IEP explored the various pillars of the rule of law resilience, culminating in the recent RESILIO report. Unsurprisingly, the independent judiciary and effective public administration prove to be key for the functioning of the rule of law. To remain resilient, the rule of law needs a solid democratic political culture anchored in a robust civil society, independent media, and a sound public debate. Henceforth, a long-term investment in democracy is the best way to strengthen the resilience of the rule of law. Continue reading >>
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20 March 2024
The Spanish Amnesty, the Conflict with Catalonia, and the Rule of Law
The Spanish amnesty for the Catalan independence movement is a victory for the rule of law, rather than a defeat. It is not an exemption from punishment otherwise due, but instead a reflection of the fact that the acts now amnestied should never have been subject to criminal prosecution in the first place. It is thus also a way for Spain to return to compliance with its obligations under European and international human rights law. Continue reading >>01 October 2023
False Hope for Democracy in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnia & Herzegovina (B&H) is notoriously hard to govern. Scarred from a bloody war in the 1990s after the collapse of Yugoslavia, the country’s constitutional order emerged in international peace talks in the United States. What later became famous as the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) might have stopped the war but, in our opinion, sowed the seeds for complex democratic problems today. As we will show in this text, the ECtHR’s judgments represent a false hope for democracy in B&H, because ethnopolitical parties in B&H will not agree on how to implement the ECtHR’s judgments and the Office of the High Representative will not take a more active role in this context. We therefore argue against an earlier contribution on this blog by Woelk (2023), who suggested that the solution for the implementation of the ECtHR’s judgments should come from within the country, as we will show, ethnopolitical actors do not have a real interest in implementing these judgments. To put it bluntly, change from within is, alas, pie in the sky. It is much more likely that nothing changes and the powers that are remain the powers that will be. Continue reading >>25 September 2023
No Voting Under Fire
Can Ukraine hold elections while it is in the midst of a full-scale invasion by Russia? This question has recently received international attention, including comments from US Senator Lindsey Graham advocating for elections during the war. However, holding elections during the current state of war faces not only factual but also legal obstacles. Genuine democratic elections cannot be conducted under fire from Russian troops. Continue reading >>
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