Month: February 2014
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The German Constitutional Court’s Latest Decision on European Elections: No Protection Needed
—Dr. Markus W. Gehring, Deputy Director, Centre for European Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge & Fellow in Law, Hughes Hall, and Ad personam Jean Monnet Chair in Sustainable Development Law & Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, Canada The German (Federal) Constitutional Court ruled two days ago on February 26 that the 3% hurdle for European Parliament elections is unconstitutional under German law, so that European Union (EU) elections will be conducted in Germany without a minimum percentage of the popular vote to be obtained by the contesting parties.
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Book Review/Response: Stephen Tierney and Peter Oliver on Constitutional Referendums
[Editor’s Note: In this installment of I•CONnect’s Book Review/Response Series, Peter Oliver reviews Stephen Tierney’s recent book Constitutional Referendums: The Theory and Practice of Republican Deliberation, just released in paperback. Stephen Tierney then responds to the review.] Review by Peter Oliver –Peter Oliver, Vice Dean, Full Professor and Member of the Public Law Group, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, reviewing Stephen Tierney, Constitutional Referendums: The Theory and Practice of Republican Deliberation (Oxford 2012) Constitutional commentators are divided on whether constitutional referendums are a good thing.
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What’s New in Comparative Public Law
–Rohan Alva, Jindal Global Law School In this new weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in comparative public law. “Developments” may include a selection of links to news, high court decisions, new or recent scholarly books and articles, and blog posts from around the comparative public law blogosphere.
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Tunisia’s New Constitution: Progress and Challenges to Come
–Zaid Al-Ali (Senior Advisor, International IDEA) and Donia Ben Romdhane (Senior Advisor, International IDEA) [Cross-posted from Open Democracy] In spite of a number of serious challenges, the Tunisian Constituent Assembly – under the people’s ever watchful eye – successfully negotiated a new and modern constitution.
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An End to European Multilateralism: A Comment on the German Bundesverfassungsgericht’s OMT Decision
—Dr. Oliver Gerstenberg, University of Leeds When it comes to adjudicating the European sovereign debt crisis, the German Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVG) emerges as a sharply divided court. Back in August 2012, Mario Draghi pledged to do “whatever it takes” to prevent a single currency break-up.
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What’s New in Comparative Public Law
–Patrick Yingling, Reed Smith LLP In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in comparative public law. “Developments” may include a selection of links to news, high court decisions, new or recent scholarly books and articles, and blog posts from around the comparative public law blogosphere.
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Prime Minister Abe’s latest revisionist interpretation
–Tokujin Matsudaira, Associate Professor of Law, Kanagawa University Japan has long had a parliamentary cabinet system. A major event in the political calendar is the questioning of ministers in Diet committees, especially budget-related ones. In these sessions, the prime minister and other ministers have to answer the questions from members of parliament, even if not budget-related.
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What’s New in Comparative Public Law
–Margaret Lan Xiao, Visiting Scholar, East Asian Legal Studies Center, UW-Madison Law School EALSC In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in comparative public law. “Developments” may include a selection of links to news, high court decisions, new or recent scholarly books and articles, and blog posts from around the comparative public law blogosphere.
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The “Rumble in Karlsruhe”: The German Federal Constitutional Court’s Historic OMT Case
—Russell A. Miller, Professor of Law, Washington & Lee University School of Law A few years ago I was at a transatlantic policy event in Washington, DC. It was the height of the Eurozone’s sovereign debt and banking crisis and there was palpable fear that that the Euro would crumble.
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The Dynamics of Constitutional Change in Mexico 1997-2012: New Data from Reformar sin Mayorias
Editor’s Note: Last Friday, I was honored to participate in an event in Mexico City for the publication of a new book, Reformar sin Mayorias (Reforming without Majorities) on the recent pattern of constitutional amendment in Mexico. The book, edited by the distinguished scholars María Amparo Casar and Ignacio Marván, is in Spanish but has some very interesting findings that ought to be of general interest.