Blog of the International Journal of Constitutional Law

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Month: June 2015

  • Hasebe Yasuo Interview with the Kochi Shimbun

    As many readers know, there is a significant debate going on in Japan today about the government’s proposal to pass a new law that would allow for collective self-defense in the event of armed attack. This has led to protests and conflict. 

  • 2015 ICON·S Conference on “Public Law in an Uncertain World”–Conference Booklet Available

    –Richard Albert, Boston College Law School The International Society of Public Law (ICON·S) will convene its second annual conference later this week at New York University School of Law on July 1-3, 2015. The conference theme is “Public Law in an Uncertain World.”

  • What’s New in Comparative Public Law

    —Rohan Alva, Jindal Global Law School Developments in Constitutional Courts The U.S. Supreme Court declared that individuals in same-sex relations have a constitutional right to marriage. The North Korean Supreme Court convicted two persons from South Korea on charges of spying against North Korea.

  • Westminster in the Caribbean: The Problem of Prime Ministerial Patronage

    —Dr. Derek O’Brien, Reader in Law, Oxford Brookes University St Kitts and Nevis is the smallest federation in the world. Even by Commonwealth Caribbean standards it is tiny, with a population of just over 50,000 and a combined land mass of just over 100 square miles.

  • Why Codify?

    —Adam Perry, Lecturer in Law, Queen Mary University of London Britain is always tinkering with its constitution. Sometimes it talks about a more radical change: constitutional codification. Over the past few years, talk of constitutional codification has grown a little more serious.

  • Nepal: Agree to (have the Supreme Court) Disagree

    —Vikram Aditya Narayan, Advocate, Supreme Court of India Until a couple of decades ago, federalism was nothing more than an academic subject in Nepal. However, it has now become a political reality, with the Parliament/Constituent Assembly deliberating over the manner in which Nepal can and should transform itself under the new Constitution.

  • Constitutional Politics of Institutions: The Call for a British Constitution

    —Susan M. Sterett, Virginia Tech A written constitution for Britain is even making the American news again, inspired not least by the debates about independence, with the anniversary of the Magna Carta adding continuity and contrast.[1]  American news describes the call for a written constitution as a response to immediate problems. 

  • 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.

  • The Constitution-Making Process in Chile: A Cautionary Tale from Turkey

    —Claudia Heiss, Universidad de Chile & Oya Yegen, Boston University On April 21, President Michelle Bachelet of Chile delivered the second public address to Congress of her term. During that address, she reaffirmed that she would pursue constitutional changes to the 1980 Constitution written under military dictatorship, although she left open key questions about procedure.

  • Is the Constitution of Canada the World’s Most Difficult to Amend?

    —Richard Albert, Boston College Law School Studies of constitutional rigidity suggest that the United States Constitution is one of the world’s most difficult to change by formal amendment.[1] In light of the low rate of amendment success in the United States, this is hard to dispute: of the over 11,000 amendment proposals introduced in Congress since 1789, only 27 have ultimately been ratified.