As our colleague Ran Hirschl reported earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently filled two vacancies on the Supreme Court of Canada. With those two appointments, four is now the total number of Prime Minister Harper’s Supreme Court nominations since he ascended to power in 2006. A few observations occur to me in
Fidel Castro’s Right to Rebel
Tom Ginsburg and I are currently exploring the causes and effects of “right to rebel” provisions in constitutions. One of the country studies we will be including in our upcoming article on the subject is the following example from Cuban History. We would very much welcome any comments on the topic, or suggestions as to
Libya’s Constitution: Take it Slow
More reflections on the time line currently being considered by Libya’s National Transitional Council and other considerations for the forthcoming constitution making process here: http://www.usip.org/publications/extending-libya-s-transitional-period-capitalizing-the-constitutional-moment
Libya’s Constitution: Take it Slow
[From the Chicago Tribune] Now that Moammar Gadhafi has fallen, Libya’s victorious revolutionaries should heed Iraq’s missteps as they begin the critical task of political reconstruction, including Iraq’s hurried 2005 constitution-making process. There are as many ways to write a constitution as there are spellings of Gadhafi’s name, and some processes can exacerbate conflict rather
The Right to Food in Mexico
As the price of commodities has skyrocketed in recent years, a number of countries have seen citizens take to the street to let the authorities know of their displeasure at the price of their favorite grain — whether it’s rice in Asian countries, wheat in Europe, or corn in Mexico, where tortillas should accompany any
Two new Supreme Court of Canada Justices nominated
Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper has just named his two nominees to fill the two vacant seats on the Supreme Court of Canada created with the stepping down of Justices Louise Charron and Ian Binnie from Ontario, who announced their departure earlier this year at the age of 60 and 72 respectively (mandatory retirement age
Doctrine of Necessity in Nepal: A Bractonian Blunder?
Henry de Bracton was a 13th Century British jurist who, among other things, defended supreme papal authority over secular affairs and recommended that criminal trials be undertaken “by ordeal” (wherein the defendant would hold red-hot iron or be thrown bound into a lake under the premise that a just god would protect the innocent). While
New Comparative Public Law Scholarship
As Chair of the Younger Comparativists Committee (YCC) in the American Society of Comparative Law (ASCL), I’m pleased to announce that the YCC will host a panel on “Building Constitutionalism in Post-Authoritarian States” at the ASCL’s Annual Meeting. The panel will feature the work of two younger comparativists: William Partlett’s paper on Making Constitutions Matter; and
