Month: July 2012
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The Ethiopian Constitution: More Honored in the Breach than the Observance
[Editors Note: This is the second in a series of blog posts from the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers] More than halfway through the second decade since its adoption, it has become clear that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia is more honored in the breach than the observance.
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Romania in Hungary’s Footsteps: Different Victor, Same Strategy
[cross-posted with thanks from verfassungsblog.de] On January 1, 2012 with an amended Constitution in place, Hungary, the once-praised EU accession candidate, proved that rule of law and consolidated judicial institutions are not at all irreversible. A new shift of power brought to Budapest the necessary political power that allowed Viktor Orbán and the FIDESZ government to silence the Hungarian Constitutional Court, one of the strongest and most active Courts in Central and Eastern Europe.
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Comparative constitutional and judicial politics is more relevant than ever
For aficionados of comparative constitutional and judicial politics, the last month provided lots to chew on. With all the media attention and academic buzz surrounding the USSC ruling on the so-called Obamacare program, other, more blatant illustrations of constitutional and judicial politics in action have kept popping.
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Arato: Egypt Again
“Judge Helped Egypt’s Military to Cement Power” NY Times, July 3, by David Kirkpatrick is a very important report. While it has been possible to follow the scenario in Egypt in the available literature (especially an essay by Tamir Moustafa and in reports by the Crisis Group), this is the first time that an important inside actor tells the basic story so far, a discouraging one but full of important lessons.
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Tanzania’s Constitutional Review: A New Era for the Union?
Tanzania seems poised to transform its democracy into a constitutional democracy of the 21st Century. The issue of constitutional review has occupied political discourse in Tanzania since the 1990s and incumbent President Jakaya Kikwete made a firm commitment to bring to fruition the issue of constitutional review when he was re-elected in 2010.
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North Korea lifts ban on women wearing pants
Various news outlets report that North Korea is lifting its ban on women wearing pants in public, which was reportedly punishable by hard labor or a fine equal to a week’s salary. The lifting of the ban would certainly seem to be in the spirit of Article 71 of the North Korean constitution, which provides that “women shall be entitled to the same social status and rights as men.”