30 March 2022
Artificial Intelligence, Human Flourishing and the Rule of Law
One function of the rule of law is the promotion of human flourishing, often represented by the term ‘autonomy’. However, the ability to rely on the rule of law as a tool for counteracting AI’s constricting effect on human flourishing is being negated as the composition and design AI systems flout the ideals that the rule of law demand as necessary for a certain type of society. Continue reading >>
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28 March 2022
Artificial Intelligence Must Be Used According to the Law, or Not at All
Democracy requires to strengthen the Rule of Law wherever public or private actors use algorithmic systems. The law must set out the requirements on AI necessary in a democratic society and organize appropriate accountability and oversight. To this end, the European Commission made several legislative proposals. In addition to the discussion on how to use algorithmic systems lawfully, the question when it is beneficial to use them deserves more attention. Continue reading >>
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18 March 2022
Impunity
On 10 March 2022, Bulgaria’s Supreme Judicial Council decided unanimously to postpone examining two requests for the dismissal of General Prosecutor Ivan Geshev from office. This decision is not merely a procedural trick with questionable legality. It provides further proof that the Supreme Judicial Council has unhealthy dependencies and is one of the main reasons why a General Prosecutor of Bulgaria can abuse his office and commit crimes with impunity. Continue reading >>
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18 March 2022
A Declaration on the Rule of Law in the European Union
Since the Second World War, Europe has witnessed the benefits of rule-based order. Peace, prosperity, and progress have grown out of a shared commitment to the rule of law, both between individuals and states. As of late, these unprecedented achievements are increasingly under threat, as the basics of the rule of law, including the need for an independent judiciary, are questioned both at the heart of Europe and in countries beyond our borders. Time is of the essence. If backsliding on the rule of law occurs faster than corrective action, the passage of time will inevitably erode the rule-based order. We, the signatories of this declaration, urgently call on all leaders, in Member States and the EU Institutions, to uncompromisingly safeguard the rule of law in Europe. Continue reading >>
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08 March 2022
“The Ever Closer Union among the Peoples of Europe” in Times of War
The war in Ukraine has brought a moment of the constitutional reckoning and the ultimate test of belonging for the Europeans. The ill-fated politics of appeasement and dialoguing with a criminal has come crushing down. Finally, Europe seems to take a more strategic and long-term view of its own politics at least when it comes to common foreign policy and defense. A true re-appraisal and reinvigoration of European ideals will however not be complete if the Union keeps looking the other way, dithering, procrastinating when its own axiological foundations are under attack by one of its own member states. Continue reading >>
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25 February 2022
Avoiding the Elephant in the Room Once Again
In its long-awaited Grand Chamber judgment, the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) dealt with the question how the effective functioning of the instrument of the European arrest warrant (EAW), built upon the principle of mutual trust between the judicial authorities of all the Member States, can be safeguarded against the backdrop of the deficiencies in the Polish judicial system. The judgment specifies the conditions under which the national judicial authorities of Member States executing a European arrest warrant may refuse to surrender the requested persons, but still fails to reach its full potential. Continue reading >>
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24 February 2022
Electoral Oversight under Government Control
The Elections Bill 2021 has generated significant controversy among members of parliament, scholars, and observers. The provision that has generated the most alarm has been a voter ID provision, whose effect has been described as prospectively oppressive and whose justification is widely seen as thin, given the low levels of identified voter fraud in the UK. However, another provision of the Bill has also generated alarm: granting the Secretary of State the power to influence the currently independent Electoral Commission. Continue reading >>
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21 February 2022
Constitutional Identity in and on EU Terms
The EU protects national constitutional identities and does not protect national unconstitutional identities. This is the message the Court of Justice of the EU has sent with its decision of 16 of February 2022, in the cases initiated by Hungary and Poland about the rule-of-law conditionality mechanism, in which it ominously referred to the constitutional identity of the EU. Constitutional identity, according to the CJEU, is a key concept of public law and a fundamental pillar of the EU, so Member States constitutional identities may not be manipulated in such a way that turns into a violation of the constitutional identity of the EU. Continue reading >>
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16 February 2022
No More Excuses
Sitting as a full court, due to the exceptional importance of the case, the Court of Justice has dismissed the annulment actions brought by the Hungarian and Polish governments against the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation. A non-exhaustive account of the main substantive issues addressed by the Court. Continue reading >>
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14 February 2022