Category: Developments
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Freedom of Expression or Freedom from Electoral Unfairness?: The ECHR Upholds a Ban on Political Advertising
—Eoin Carolan, University College Dublin The decision in Animal Defenders International v. U.K. represents the European Court of Human Rights’ latest effort to resolve the contentious and long-running debate about the compatibility of a prohibition on political advertising with the protection afforded to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human…
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The Constituent Power of Student Protests in Chile
–Fernando Muñoz León, Assistant Professor, Universidad Austral de Chile 2011 was an important year for social movements and popular protest in liberal democracies. For instance, the United States had the Occupy movement and Spain the Indignados. Chile had its own share in the form of massive student protests that put the government on the ropes…
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Nathan Brown: Quick Reactions to Egypt’s New Draft Constitution
–Nathan Brown, George Washington University A verson of the new draft Constitution has been published this morning in Egypt. Al-Shuruq says that it is still undergoing linguistic correction, and the draft as published has some gaps, so it is not clear how authoritative it is.
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Margin of Appreciation at the African Court
Our sometimes contributor Adem Kassie Abebe has a new post over at AfricLaw in which he further analyzes the recent case of the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights against Tanzania, Tanganyika Law Society and The Legal and Human Rights Centre and Reverend Christopher Mtikila v.
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Liberalizing Abortion in Ireland: The New Legal Framework
–Christina M. Akrivopoulou, Adjunct Lecturer, Democritus University of Thrace The new Irish Law on “Protection of life during pregnancy” acknowledges the potential risk for the pregnant woman’s life as a reason justifying abortion, and represents the greatest evolution regarding the liberalization of abortions in Ireland since the 19th century.
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The Spanish Constitutional Tribunal’s Same-Sex Marriage Decision
—Christina M. Akrivopoulou, Adjunct Lecturer, Democritus University of Thrace The Spanish Constitutional Court, in judgment 198/2012 of November 28, 2012, upheld Law 13/2005, which guarantees same-sex marriage in Spain. Prior to the democratic transition that followed the death of Franco and the end of his dictatorship, Spain was characterized by a very religious and conservative…
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Egypt’s new constitutional declaration: Back to square one?
–Zaid Al-Ali, International IDEA(cross-posted from www.foreignpolicy.com) On July 8, Adli Mansour, Egypt’s new interim president who until recently was a member of the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court, issued yet another “constitutional declaration.” This comes after a year of failed leadership by former President Mohamed Morsi, the historic June 30 demonstrations, the intervention by the military,…
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Ireland Considers Move to Unicameral Parliament
—Dr. Oran Doyle, Fellow, Trinity College, Dublin The Irish Government has proposed the abolition of the upper house of Parliament, the Seanad. The Thirty-Second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013 contains over 40 discrete amendments to the Constitution designed to abolish the Seanad, reconstitute the Oireachtas as a unicameral parliament, revise…
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Egypt: Democratic Coup?
The ongoing situation in Egypt calls to mind Ozan Varol’s article in the Harvard International Law Journal on The Democratic Coup d’Etat, itself motivated in part by the 2011 coup against Mubarak. Varol’s argument in a nutshell is that, simply, that there are coups and then there are coups.
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Culture War in the Court: Reproductive Health Battle in the Philippines
—Anna Su, Baldy Postdoctoral Fellow, SUNY Buffalo Law School On July 9, 2013, the Philippine Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on a constitutional challenge lodged against the recently-enacted and widely-controversial Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (“RH Law”).