Category: Analysis
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What’s New in Comparative Public Law
–Angelique Devaux, French Licensed Attorney (Notaire) In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in comparative 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 comparative public law blogosphere.
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Video Interview: “Constitutional Sunsets and Experimental Legislation” featuring Sofia Ranchordás
–Richard Albert, Boston College Law School In this latest installment of our new video interview series at I-CONnect, I interview Sofia Ranchordás on her new book on Constitutional Sunsets and Experimental Legislation: A Comparative Perspective, published by Edward Elgar. Here is the publisher’s abstract for the book: This innovative book explores the nature and function of ‘sunset clauses’…
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Taking Aim at Cooperative Federalism: The Long-Gun Registry Decision by the Supreme Court of Canada
—Johanne Poirier[*], Université libre de Bruxelles On March 27, 2015, a highly divided Supreme Court of Canada rendered a momentous ruling which reveals a severe divergence on the nature of Canadian contemporary federalism.[1] The tight 5 to 4 decision also underlines a different conception of the role of the judicial branch regarding the defence and promotion…
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Sovereignty of Rights vs. “Global Constitutional” Law: The Italian Constitutional Court Decision No. 238/2014
—Diletta Tega, University of Bologna (Italy) As Francesco Duranti already pointed out in his comment here at I-CONnect on 17 December 2014, Judgment no. 238, delivered on 22 October 2014, demonstrates how the Italian Constitutional Court (CC) “dialogues” with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about the international custom on the immunity of States from the civil jurisdiction of…
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Kuwait’s Political Adolescence: The Controversies of Constitutional Reform
—Dr. Fatima AlMatar, Kuwait University, Department of Public Law The political situation of Kuwait today resembles 17th century Britain, where the Amir[1] still has the power to dissolve parliament whenever he pleases so long as he provides a reason for doing so, and so long as the parliament is not dissolved again on the same…
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Does Hong Kong Need a Mayor?
–Alvin Y.H. Cheung, Visiting Scholar, U.S.-Asia Law Institute, NYU School of Law It has been known for about two thousand years that it is impossible for one person to serve two masters. Unfortunately, this lesson was lost on the Drafting Committee of Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
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An Update on the Death Penalty in Trinidad & Tobago
—John Knechtle, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad The sentence of death has been the mandatory penalty for murder in Trinidad and Tobago since independence in 1962 and with the country consistently ranking in the top ten percent for homicides per capita around the world, public support for the death penalty remains strong.
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New Scholarship Review: Interview with Jonathan Marshfield on Federalism and the Amendment Power
—Richard Albert, Boston College Law School In this installment of I-CONnect’s interview series, I speak with Jonathan Marshfield about his forthcoming paper on Decentralizing the Amendment Power. In his new paper, Marshfield explores how and why constitutional amendment rules might be structured to include subnational units in the process of formal amendment.
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Constitutional Interpretation and Constitutional Review in Afghanistan: Is There Still a Crisis?
—Shamshad Pasarlay, University of Washington School of Law Constitutional interpretation—specifically, the question over where to locate the power to issue constitutional interpretations that would bind the branches of the government—was a controversial issue during the drafting of the 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan.
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A Brewing Supreme Court Nomination Crisis in Brazil?
–Vanice Regina Lírio do Valle, Estácio de Sá University This past February 26th, the Brazilian Supreme Court was unable to rule in a relevant lawsuit: the votes were tied, which made the absence of the eleventh Justice an insuperable obstacle to come to a decision.