Category: Analysis
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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.
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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…
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Global Standards of Constitutional Law: What Knowledge? What Method?
—Maxime St-Hilaire, University of Sherbrooke Over the past few years, I have been led to try to draw theoretical implications and conclusions (not to mention political and moral ones) from new forms of constitutional law practice such as the Venice Commission’s, a broad advisory organ of the Council of Europe.
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Video Interview: Developments in Italian Constitutional Law Featuring Cristina Fasone
–Richard Albert, Boston College Law School In this latest installment of our video interview series at I-CONnect, I interview Cristina Fasone on developments in Italian constitutional law. In the interview, we discuss the recent electoral reforms in Italy, the Constitutional Court’s case law on domestic matters and in connection with European Union and international law, current debates…
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Hong Kong’s Constitutional Arrangements Aren’t Special
–Alvin Y.H. Cheung, Visiting Scholar, U.S.-Asia Law Institute, NYU School of Law As political wrangling in Hong Kong continues over changes to how the city’s Chief Executive will be selected in 2017, Beijing marks the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the Hong Kong Basic Law—the Special Administrative Region’s constitutional document.
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Video Interview: Developments in French Constitutional Law Featuring François-Xavier Millet
–Richard Albert, Boston College Law School In this latest installment of our video interview series at I-CONnect, I interview François-Xavier Millet on developments in French constitutional law. In the interview, we discuss the role of the Conseil constitutionnel, the QPC (question prioritaire de constitutionnalité), the relationship between France and its territories as well as between the French Constitution and…
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Reforming the Afghan Electoral System: The Current Debate and its Implications for the Plans to Amend the Afghan Constitution
–Shamshad Pasarlay, Mohammad Qadamshah, & Clark B. Lombardi, University of Washington School of Law Afghanistan’s flawed system for electing presidents and resolving electoral disputes led recently to a political crisis that nearly split the country. The immediate crisis was resolved through a special power sharing agreement between the two leading candidates, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah…
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Constitutional and Quasi-Constitutional Statutes
–Adam Perry, Lecturer in Law, Queen Mary University of London Some statutes have ‘constitutional’ or ‘quasi-constitutional’ status. What is the legal significance of a statute’s constitutional or quasi-constitutional status? The answer is different in different jurisdictions. In Britain, Canada, and some other jurisdictions, the answers are different than they once were.