—Brian Christopher Jones, Lecturer in Law, University of Dundee. Email: b.c.jones@dundee.ac.uk. Criticism of the courts, although essential to the operation of democracy, has recently been tested on a number of fronts, leading to a host of allegations that such criticism may violate the rule of law. But one of the major problems in relation to this
The Rule of Law in Brazil: A Conceptual Challenge
—Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, University of Brasília Reinhart Koselleck, one of the most prominent German historians of the twentieth century, once wrote that “conceptual change is generally slower and more gradual than the pace of political events.”[1] Time and experience are required for properly grasping the distinct nuances of a concept. Every concept – he says
I-CONnect Symposium on “Constitutional Boundaries” — The Social Dimension of the Rule of Law
[Editor’s Note: This is the fifth entry in our symposium on “Constitutional Boundaries.” The introduction to the symposium is available here, the first entry is available here, the second entry is available here, the third is available here, and the fourth is available here.] —Jeff King, Professor of Law, University College London One question about constitutional boundaries relates
Venezuela’s Recent Constitutional Crisis: Lessons to be Learned From a Failed Judicial Coup D’etat (I-CONnect Column)
—Javier Couso, Universidad Diego Portales [Editor’s note: This is one of our biweekly I-CONnect columns. Columns, while scholarly in accordance with the tone of the blog and about the same length as a normal blog post, are a bit more “op-ed” in nature than standard posts. For more information about our four columnists for 2017,
The Democratic Recession and the “New” Public Law: Toward Systematic Analysis
—Tom Gerald Daly, Associate Director, Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law 2016 thus far has been marked by democratic backsliding and constitutional crises worldwide: European Commission ‘rule of law’ investigations into Polish laws on the Constitutional Tribunal and media;[1] Turkish President Erdoğan’s insistence that he will not comply with decisions of the Constitutional Court or the
Polish Constitutional Drama: Of Courts, Democracy, Constitutional Shenanigans and Constitutional Self-Defense
—Tomasz Tadeusz Koncewicz, Professor of Law and Director of the Department of European and Comparative Law at the University of Gdańsk, Poland; 2015 – 2016 Fulbright Visiting Professor at University of California Berkeley Law School* The Polish general elections of October 26, 2015, completely reshaped the political scene, bringing back to power the right-wing conservative party Prawo
Constitutionally Eroding the Rule of Law
—William Partlett, Columbia Law School Recent work by Kim Lane Scheppele, Sam Issacharoff, David Landau, and myself has focused on the ways in which constitutional change can be used to render regimes less democratic. In Russia today, we are seeing constitutional change eroding another key liberal value: the rule of law. With very little fanfare
