04 September 2025
Disapplication Unbound
Legal scholars welcomed the Apace ruling by the CJEU as a “total victory” for liberals supporting human rights and the independence of the judiciary. But the ruling has two central faut lines: it fails to acknowledge that Article 37 APD is not unconditional: its direct effect is, at best, dubious. Second, in Member States like Italy, where the judiciary makes extensive use of disapplication in asylum matters, the laissez-faire approach of the CJEU paves the way for legal uncertainty and exposes judges to populist attacks. Continue reading >>
0 
08 March 2022
The Cost of our Fear
Despite their extraordinary character, Western responses to terrorism failed to bring the security Western populations demanded. Our fear, however, led us to support the erosion of our values, institutions, and laws beyond repair. Continue reading >>
0
07 March 2022
The Snake Charmers
As Russian tanks roll into the Ukraine, we should be wary of these ‘dreamers of the absolute’ in our midst. They worship the executive because only a strong executive is capable of rolling back the cosmopolitan, human rights achievements of the latter half of the twentieth century. But such worship depends on maintaining in power the person at the head of the executive who shares at least the most important tenets of their version of the ‘common good’. That requires not only freeing the executive from the constraints of the rule of law, both internationally and within the nation state. It also requires that democracy be hollowed out in order to ensure that periodic elections return the right person to power. Continue reading >>
0