—Angelique Devaux, French Licensed Attorney (Notaire) At the end of every year, before wishing the traditional best wishes, the Constitutional Council of the French Republic renders its decision on the Finance Act for the year ahead. Eagerly anticipated by the Government and taxpayers, the decision endorses (wholly or partly) the budget of France for the
Four Models of Politicized Judicial Selection
—Richard Albert, Boston College Law School Judges on national courts of last resort are generally appointed in politicized processes. Judicial selection is politicized when the choice rests on popular consent mediated in some way through elected representatives. We can identify four major models of politicized judicial selection in constitutional states: (1) executive unilateral appointment; (2)
75% Millionaire Tax Rate Ruled Unconstitutional: Are Good Judges Bad for Democracy?
—Arthur Dyevre, Max Planck Institute Just before the turn of the year, on December 29th, the French Constitutional Council overturned the socialist government’s 75% income-tax rate for the rich, a measure the new occupant of the Elysée Palace, François Hollande, had turned into an anti-rich symbol during his presidential campaign. This is not the first
Five Electoral Systems that make even less sense than the Electoral College
–Daniel Lansberg-Rodríguez and Tom Ginsburg, University of Chicago Law School [reprinted from www.foreignpolicy.com] Grousing about our arcane and nonsensical Electoral College, and calling publicly for its end, have by now become time-honored election season traditions in the United States. This year, even the Russians, themselves no paragons of functional democracy, have gotten in on the
