The Tokyo District Court just handed down a decision finding that a national university’s (Tokyo Institute of Technology or TIT) denial of admission to a foreign student was unconstitutional. The case concerned an Iranian student, a refugee in Japan, who applied to the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the TIT. TIT denied his application on
Egypt’s landmines
Nathan Brown has a nice analysis of the Landmines in Egypt’s Constitutional Roadmap over at Carnegie Endowment website. His basic theme is that the current timetable, by potentially holding presidential elections after the process of drafting the constitution, will allow the military to be able to control the latter process. I have two questions about
Foreign Affairs article on Arab Spring Constitutionalism
Anthony Billingsley has written an interesting article on constitution-making in the wake of the Arab Spring for Foreign Affairs.
Egypt update from International IDEA
As Egypt goes to the polls to begin its long process of electing a parliament, I recommend taking a look at an analysis produced by International IDEA of the “Fundamental Principles” document released earlier this month. The document has been widely criticized for trying to cement a role for the military in future politics. His
Japan’s Supreme Court finds lay participation in criminal trials constitutional
On November 16, 2011 Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that the country’s new “saiban’in” system of citizen participation in serious criminal trials was constitutional. Issued unanimously by all fifteen of the court’s judges sitting en banc as a Grand Bench, this ruling effectively eliminates any constitutional doubts about the system which may have lingered after it
Another chapter in Israel’s constitutional wars
It has been a while since we reported here about Israel’s ongoing constitutional (and culture) wars. The right wing government, and in particular members of the governing coalition who represent religious parties, Jewish settlers and nationalist parts of the Russian immigrant community, have long viewed the Supreme Court as a bastion of liberal secularism and
Equatorial Guinea heads to polls
Citizens of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea went to the polls today to vote in a referendum on a new constitution. Changes include the imposition of term limits on the president (two seven-year terms in office); the creation of a vice-presidency and Senate; the establishment of economic policy and auditing watchdogs; and an ombudsman. Opponents charge that
Voting underway in Equatorial Guinea
Citizens of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea went to the polls today to vote in a referendum on a new constitution. Changes include the imposition of term limits on the president (two seven-year terms in office); the creation of a vice-presidency and Senate; the establishment of economic policy and auditing watchdogs; and an ombudsman. Opponents charge that
Nathan Brown tells American advisors: “Put Away Your Quills” in the Mideast
Nathan Brown of George Washington has an excellent new post at foreignpolicy.com in which he argues that Americans have little to say to constitution-makers in the Arab world. He is surely right. My own view is that external advisors are best focused on the nitty-gritty issues of drafting, such as making sure the text is
The Right to Rebel in Ghana
This is the third in a series of case studies on the Constitutional Right to Rebel: Ghana ———————————————————————————————— The nation of Ghana was formed in 1957 as a sovereign union between the recently independent British protectorates of Gold Coast and Togoland. After an embryonic representative government collapsed in 1966, the country passed from coup to
