01 November 2024
The Messiah and His Oligarchs
On Power, Personalities and Populism. Continue reading >>
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01 November 2024
Der Messias und seine Oligarchen
Über Macht, Personenkult und Populismus. Continue reading >>
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25 October 2024
Auf Messers Schneide
Wir starten unsere Reihe zu den US Wahlen 2024 Continue reading >>
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07 October 2024
The French Premiership Saga
The appointment of Michel Barnier as French Prime Minister and the designation of a cabinet even further to the right has led to thousands of protesters rallying across France. Taking a step back from the latest developments, this post looks back to some of the constitutional tensions the events of this summer have exposed. It argues that Emmanuel Macron’s actions following the snap election have relied on a distorted reading of the French constitution. In addition to raising serious legal questions, these actions have also set worrying precedents that arguably fit in a pattern of “executive aggrandizement”. Continue reading >>
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22 September 2024
The 2024 Judicial Reform in Mexico
On September 11, 2024, the Senate of Mexico approved the controversial judicial reform. The ruling party, MORENA, achieved adopting the judicial reform thanks to a qualified majority in Congress and Senate. In this blogpost, we show that the way in which the judiciary reform was passed in the Senate cannot be considered as “expressing the will of the people”. We suggest that the very way in which the Senate vote came to pass is undermining one main justification of the judiciary reform, namely that it will lead to a judiciary “of the people”. Continue reading >>
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16 September 2024
Mexico’s Constitutional Democracy Under Threat
The final act of Mexican President López Obrador will be in collaboration with the president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum and the newly elected Congress. Among other things, in a move that goes beyond anything found in other prominent backsliding states such as Hungary or Poland, it introduces the popular election of all sitting judges across the Federal Judiciary, including Supreme Court Justices, every 9 and 12 years respectively. In an open letter, legal scholars, judges, policymakers and practitioners from various regions of the world have expressed deep concern over the potential consequences that the popular election of judges may have on judicial independence, the rule of law, and the safeguarding of rights and freedoms in Mexico. Continue reading >>06 September 2024
Revenge in the Big Village
The EC’s 2024 Rule of Law report is yet another indicator of the deterioration of constitutional standards in Slovakia. Next to outlining selected key developments of Slovakia’s illiberalization in 2024, this post underscores how the small jurisdiction’s size in combination with its relatively isolated doctrinal legal academia could hamper the development of robust democratic constitutional discourse and thus legal academics’ contribution to democracy. Continue reading >>
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