23 February 2022
A Court of Last Resort
In a survey released by Reporters without Borders in 2021, India’s position in the Press Freedom Index significantly dropped to 142nd place out of 180 countries. This blog post examines freedom of press in India from a constitutional law perspective and discusses two recent judgments of the Supreme Court of India on India’s sedition law. I argue that while the Supreme Court has protected press freedoms in different ways through interpretation of the Constitution and judicial review, sedition law continues to be (mis)used to intimidate journalists. Continue reading >>
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17 May 2021
The Right of Catalonian Leaders to Protest
On 22 April, the Spanish Constitutional Court issued its first judgement on the constitutionality of the conviction of the Catalonian leaders for the events of October 2017. It upheld the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the crime of sedition which blurs the line between legitimate protest and sedition. The judgment will therefore have repercussions beyond this particular case and may affect the right of protest and dissent. Continue reading >>
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08 January 2021
The Mob
On the Trump coup, the constitution and the unity of the nation Continue reading >>
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31 October 2019
The Criminal Conviction of Catalan Secessionist Leaders and European Human Rights Law
In the controversial judgement of the Spanish Supreme Court against the Catalan secessionist leaders, seven defendants were found guilty of the crime of sedition (amongst others) and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 9 to 13 years. An appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is likely but it is doubtful whether it will be successful. Continue reading >>18 October 2019