Month: December 2019
-
The “Rationality of Fear” on the Edge of Brazilian Democracy: Another Shield Against Authoritarianism?
—Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, University of Brasília and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development[1] In a period of about two months, a series of protests in South America brought the region again into the spotlight. Except for the Bolivian case,[2] whose causes were mostly related to the presidential election process, the protests in Chile, Ecuador, and Colombia followed a pattern of dissatisfaction with austerity policies amid high levels of social inequality.
-
What’s New in Public Law
—Davide Bacis, PhD Student in Constitutional Law, University of Pavia, Italy In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in 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 public law blogosphere.
-
In Memoriam: Meir Shamgar (13 August 1925 – 18 October 2019)
–Raphael Cohen-Almagor, Department of Politics, University of Hull I am deeply saddened by the death of Israel’s legal giant Meir Shamgar, a noble, wise and most knowledgeable doer. A mensch. Shamgar’s life encapsulates the story of the State of Israel. He was born as Meron (Meir) Sternberg in 1925 in Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland, and grew up in this “Free City” where the majority of people were Germans.
-
In Malaysia, Eastminster Prevails
–Ganesh Sahathevan, Fellow, American Center for Democracy A decision of the Court of Appeal Malaysia handed down on 28 November 2019 suggests that “Eastminister” style exercise of powers by Malaysia’s Heads of State may no longer be the subject of judicial review once the Head of State’s preferred Head of Government can demonstrate by a simple head count that he or she has the numbers to defend against a vote of no confidence.
-
To Convict a Dictator: Judges Versus Generals in Pakistan
—Yasser Kureshi, Senior Teaching Fellow, SOAS University of London On the 17th of December 2019, a special court in Pakistan found its former military dictator, General Musharraf (1999-2008), guilty of high treason for suspending the constitution in 2007.[1] In a country where the military has ruled with impunity for much of its history, this verdict was a dramatic development.
-
A Constitutional Challenge to the Transgender Persons Act in India
–Dhruva Gandhi (University of Oxford) and Unnati Ghia (National Law School of India University, Bangalore) With presidential assent, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 passed by the Indian Parliament has now become law (“Act”). The Act leaves much to be desired.
-
Call for Nominations–2020 ICON-S Book Prize
ICON·S | The International Society for Public Law is pleased to open the Call for Nominations for its third annual Book Prize. In line with the Society’s mission, the prize will be awarded to an outstanding book in the field of public law, understood as a field of knowledge that transcends dichotomies between the national and the international as well as between administrative and constitutional Law.
-
What’s New in Public Law
–Mohamed Abdelaal, Assistant Professor, Alexandria University Faculty of Law In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in 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 public law blogosphere.
-
Book Review: Martina Trettel on “The Cambridge Handbook of Deliberative Constitutionalism”
[Editor’s Note: In this installment of I•CONnect’s Book Review Series, Martina Trettel reviews The Cambridge Handbook of Deliberative Constitutionalism (Ron Levy et al., eds., Cambridge 2018) –Martina Trettel, Senior Researcher, Institute for Comparative Federalism The recently published Cambridge Handbook of Deliberative Constitutionalism (edited by Ron Levy, Hoi Kong, Graeme Orr, and Jeff King), with its twenty-six chapters, provides a comprehensive overview on one particular aspect of deliberative democracy, i.e.
-
Towards an Anti-Bully Theory of Judicial Review
—Yaniv Roznai, Harry Radzyner Law School, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya * In an environment of democratic erosion, courts are under political pressure. Populist projects of constitutional change modify the rules for appointment and jurisdiction of bodies like constitutional courts in an attempt to weaken their independence, pack them and even capture them.