Category: Analysis
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Do All Democracies Need Party Dissolution Mechanisms?
—Brian Christopher Jones, Liverpool Hope University Although it may appear harsh or severe, the ability of many democracies to dissolve political parties based on the (supposedly) “unconstitutional” or “anti-democratic” nature of their existence is an inherent constitutional feature of many states.
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Going Against the Consociational Grain: The Debate on the Dutch Advisory Referendum Act and the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement Referendum
—Reijer Passchier & Wim Voermans, Leiden University On April 6, 2016, the Netherlands held the first referendum under its new Advisory Referendum Act of 2015 (Wet raadgevend referendum)[1] and the third national referendum in two centuries.[2] This was a test on a highly controversial issue: Dutch political (consocialist) culture and referendums do not mix well.
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Constitutional Challenge to the State Religion Status of Islam in Bangladesh: Back to Square One?
–Ridwanul Hoque, Professor of Law, Dhaka University On March 28, the High Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court summarily dismissed a 28 year-old constitutional petition challenging Islam as the state religion. The court said that the petitioners lacked standing to litigate, but it did not hold any hearing at all.[1]
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“De-constitutionalism” in Turkey?
–Dr. Ali Acar, Ph.D. in Law, EUI Can “de-” be a modifier to describe the constitutionalism in a country? [1] This is what Prof. Kemal Gözler, a constitutional law scholar, has termed the current state of constitutionalism in Turkey.[2] He argues that Turkey undergoes a process of de-constitutionalism through various ways and practices of constitutional…
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Transnational Disagreement on Human Rights: How U.S. Appellate Courts address the “Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms” Clause in the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
—Francesca Genova, University of Notre Dame While the phrase “human rights and fundamental freedoms,” found in the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction[1] (Hague Convention), is ubiquitous in international human rights treaties and regimes,[2] it is not native to American jurisprudence.
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The Brexiteers: Right Answer, Wrong Question
—Nicholas Barber, Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, Oxford University Towards the end of the 1990s I was invited to a workshop just outside of Berlin at which a group of young academics gathered to discuss the future of the European Union.
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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…
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South African Constitutional Court Orders President to Reimburse State
–James Fowkes, Senior Researcher, Institute for Comparative and International Law in Africa, University of Pretoria A few days ago on Thursday, March 31, the South African Constitutional Court ordered President Jacob Zuma to reimburse the state personally for non-security improvements to his private residence, in terms of a structural interdict.
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The Emergency Constitution of Greece: Ideal on Paper, Inefficient in Reality
—Antonios Kouroutakis, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Wars, social unrest, and armed coups in 20th century Greece informed the drafters of the 1975 Greek Constitution on the issue of emergency.[1] De lege lata, the emergency toolbox of Greece, provides policymakers with a plethora of options to address emergency situations.[2]