10 May 2024
Legalising Illegality
Following Russia’s on-going facilitation of migrants to the Finnish border since last fall, Finland’s newly formed right-wing coalition government has closed the eastern land border indefinitely on 4 April 2024. Worried that this step will not be enough to ensure national security, the government is finalising a Draft Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalised Migration, currently under revision.The draft bill allows for pushbacks in violation of non-refoulement and openly admits a conflict with Finland’s human rights obligations, EU law and own constitutional system, which is unusual. The unprecedented nature of the proposed measures is particularly worrying given that the Act appears unlikely to effectively address the essentially political problem that “migrant instrumentalisation” poses. Continue reading >>
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02 May 2024
China’s Memory Laws
The study of ‘memory laws’ has seen a spectacular rise in recent years as governments worldwide are reverting to formal legislation to shape and secure their preferred historical discourses and outlaw narratives subverting these. Despite the increasingly global nature of this phenomenon, this budding scholarly genre has remained largely preoccupied with developments in Europe. Until very recently, Chinese memory laws have been overlooked in these discussions. It is time to start paying attention to them. Continue reading >>
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29 April 2024
Rebuilding the Rule of Law
The victory of the opposition in the parliamentary elections in Poland in 2023 followed by the formation of a coalition government paved the way for the rebuilding of the rule of law after a period of its systematic violation during the 8-year rule of PiS. The first four months of the new government have already shown that this process will not be easy. However, certain actions aimed at rebuilding the violated standards have already been taken. Three goals and values should be among the guiding principles in the process of rebuilding the rule of law in Poland: legalism, legal certainty, and building citizens' trust in public institutions. Continue reading >>
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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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05 April 2024
European Democracy at Stake in Battle of the EP versus Orbán
Shortly after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, the European Parliament expressed its concern about the rule of law in Hungary. 14 years later, the EP still, and yet again, discusses PM Orbán’s lack of respect for the values of the Union. The forthcoming debate on 10 April will be the Parliament’s last chance to prevent the scheduled takeover of the Council-Presidency by Hungary. The EP and the European Council must prevent a self-proclaimed illiberal leader from assuming the Presidency of the Council and thus protect the democratic nature of the European Union. 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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22 March 2024
Polish(ing) Broken Tribunal
Resetting the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland after the Law and Justice Party's eight years in power is a Herculean task. However, the constitutional and political room for maneuver for the new government turns out to be quite limited. 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 >>15 March 2024
The Sovereign Protection Office as the Tip of the Iceberg
In December 2023, the Hungarian Parliament passed a law establishing a Sovereign Protection Office—a state administration which now possesses unfettered access to personal data to find and sanction supposed foreign agents among the Hungarian populace. This office operates at will and without oversight, offers no avenue for legal redress, and wields prison time upwards of three years. In recent weeks, the European Commission launched an infringement proceeding over the law, and the European Parliament called on the European Council to consider Article 7(2) procedures. Continue reading >>
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26 February 2024
Rethinking the Law and Politics of Migration
2023 was, to put it mildly, a terrible year for (im)migrants and their human rights. With the declared end of the Covid pandemic came an end to the exceptional border policies it had led to which had further restricted already weakened migrants’ rights. Yet governments have largely chosen to replace them with legal frameworks that incorporated many of the same rights negating policies and ideas- except for this time they put them on a permanent legal basis. Liberated from their initial emergency rationales, asylum bans have now joined outsourcing and overpopulated mass detention camps as standard methods of migration governance. What is the role of legal scholarship and discourse at a time where governments seem increasingly comfortable to eschew many long-standing legal rules and norms, often with majority support? Continue reading >>
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