02 November 2026
Whose Coup?
The temporary suspension on 30 October 2026 of the two judges who had usurped the leadership of Poland’s unlawfully composed Constitutional Tribunal produced startling images of a police cordon around the court and a chaotic confrontation with the president of the Republic. Radical-right political movements in Poland and abroad quickly portrayed the intervention as a coup d’état. Legally, however, the intervention marked an important – and necessary - step towards restoring the rule of law. Continue reading >>
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02 November 2026
The Oath “Towards” the President and the Suspension of the Chief Justice
On Friday, 30 October, amid protests and riots in front of the Constitutional Tribunal, a group of judges elected to it this year by the centrist parliamentary majority entered its premises. One of these judges, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, suspended the court’s president and vice-president for 30 days for obstructing its work. The escalation follows months of conflict in which Polish President Karol Nawrocki refused to receive the oath of the duly elected new judges, a largely ceremonial act that completes their election. Continue reading >>
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02 November 2026
Statement by Former Presidents of the Constitutional Tribunal on the Crisis in the Constitutional Tribunal
The judges lawfully appointed to the Constitutional Tribunal by the Sejm have taken the necessary steps to restore the functions and status of this constitutional institution, which is essential to the rule of law and the protection of citizens’ rights and freedoms. Continue reading >>
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31 August 2026
Pangloss in Brussels
When it comes to the Commission’s Annual Rule of Law Report, first launched in 2020, the years go by and they all look the same. In its latest edition published last July, the Commission referred to a “broadly positive trajectory” regarding the rule of law in the EU. The year before, the Commission similarly asserted a “positive reform dynamic” and “positive trajectory” in the EU. This phrasing was virtually identical to the one used in 2024 (“positive reform dynamic”) and 2023 (“positive trend”). These claims and figures do not, however, survive close scrutiny. Continue reading >>
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29 August 2026
A Tribute to David Dyzenhaus and The War Against Law
David Dyzenhaus’ The War Against Law is the most serious critique yet of the legal right's assault on the rule of law. I have found the book extremely interesting, and I would like to devote the following lines to commending both the work itself and its author. Dyzenhaus, Professor of Law at the University of Toronto and originally from South Africa, is one of the few, if not the only, renowned legal scholars who has consistently devoted himself to developing a harsh and serious critique of “the new legal right”. Continue reading >>16 July 2026
When Lady Justice Lifts Her Blindfold, Briefly
Justice, one could say, did not take off her blindfold on July 7th – but she did lift it, just a fraction, long enough to check in with political reality. Paris’s court of appeal upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misappropriating public funds, yet softened the 2025 ban on her running for office just enough to keep a presidential bid in 2027 on the table. The guilty verdict stands – it is the sentence that now intrudes less directly into the democratic arena. Continue reading >>
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15 July 2026
The New Constitutional Amendment and the Removal of the President
On 13 July 2026, the Hungarian Parliament enacted the 17th Amendment to the Hungarian Fundamental Law. In line with the TISZA Party’s election manifesto, the Amendment ends the current President of the Republic’s, Tamás Sulyok’s, term of office. This is undoubtedly an extraordinary measure. Given the President’s apparent partiality and his failure to respond consistently to earlier illiberal constitutional developments, I consider the exceptional and temporary constitutional change to be justified as part of the broader effort to lay the foundations of a renewed constitutional order. Continue reading >>
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03 July 2026
The Constitution Always Speaks in the Present
The newly elected Hungarian Parliament approved the Sixteenth Amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary on 15 June 2026, now awaiting the President’s signature before entering into force. Specifically, the Amendment limits the prime Minister’s term of office to eight years, calculated from 1990 onwards. Effectively, this change prevents Orbán from returning to the office. I argue that the Amendment may be justified in the specific Hungarian context to prevent the consolidation of power of one-man. Moreover, I contest that the Amendment is retroactive and, for that reason, ad personam. Continue reading >>
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18 June 2026
On the Role and Legitimacy of Supranational Courts in a Member State’s Retransition
The last decade has demonstrated what role the Union and in particular the Court of Justice can play in keeping a Member State “within the orbit” of the rule of law. Within that process, the case law of such bodies established numerous red lines as to what practices are not acceptable in a rule of law governed liberal democracy. But will the same red lines now be applicable also to the “good guys”? If yes/no, what will that mean for the legitimacy of those bodies, in particular the European Union? Continue reading >>
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25 May 2026