What’s New in Comparative Public Law

–Margaret Lan Xiao, SJD Candidate, Case Western Reserve University

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.

To submit relevant developments for our weekly feature on “What’s New in Comparative Public Law,” please email contact.iconnect@gmail.com.

Developments in Constitutional Courts

1. South African President Jacob Zuma accepted a constitutional court ruling that he violated the constitution.
2. The Constitutional Court in South Korea rejected a challenge to the country’s ban on the sex trade.
3. Hungary’s Constitutional Court ruled that the March 1, 2016 amendment to the Central Bank Act was unconstitutional.
4. Russia’s Justice Ministry may request the Constitutional Court’s opinion on the possibility of enforcing the decision of the European Court of Human Rights to award over €1.866 billion to Yukos oil company shareholders.
5. Pacific Exploration & Production Corp. announced that the company was formally notified of the Colombian Constitutional Court’s decision instructing the company to suspend operations within two kilometers of the border of an indigenous community.

In the News

1. Israel’s parliament preliminarily approved a bill that allows lawmakers to suspend an individual legislator by a three-quarters majority vote.
2. Thailand’s new draft constitution was unveiled after amendments that will give the ruling junta a major say over the next legislature for the next five years.
3. The Greek parliament approved a law that will allow the deportation of refugees to Turkey.
4. Iraq’s prime minister proposed a new cabinet lineup after weeks of pressure from supporters of a Shiite cleric who have staged rallies in the Iraqi capital to demand reforms.
5. The Parliament of Ukraine approved the dismissal of the country’s general prosecutor.
6. Nine parliamentarians from Gabon’s ruling party announced their resignation from the National Assembly ahead of a presidential election.
7. Kenyan members of parliament approved a bill that will make it mandatory for employers to provide breastfeeding stations for nursing mothers in the workplace.
8. French President François Hollande announced that he will no longer move forward with his plan to reform the country’s constitution to strip terrorists of citizenship.

New Scholarship

1. Separation of Powers in African Constitutionalism, Charles M. Fombad ed. (2016) (addressing the constitutional traditions of the African continent)
2. Zachary S. Price, Seeking Baselines for Negative Authority: Constitutional and Rule-of-Law Arguments Over Nonenforcement and Waiver, The Journal of Legal Analysis (forthcoming) (reflecting on constitutional and rule-of-law debates that have emerged regarding negative executive authority)
3. Jean D’Aspremont, Expansionism and the Sources of International Human Rights Law (2016) (shedding light on the various expansionist uses of the sources of international law)
4. John Nagle, Power-Sharing and Sexual Minorities: A Comparative Analysis of Northern Ireland and Lebanon, SSRN Working Paper Series (comparing sexual minorities within Northern Ireland’s liberal structure with those in Lebanon’s corporate form)
5. Benjamin Mason Meier and Averi Chakrabarti, The Paradox of Happiness: Health and Human Rights in the Kingdom of Bhutan, Health and Human Rights: An International Journal (forthcoming 2016) (examining the normative foundations of Bhutan’s focus on “a more meaningful purpose for development than just mere material satisfaction”)
6. Brigit Toebes, María Dalli, and Veronika Flegar, Access to Preventive Health Care for Undocumented Migrants: A Comparative Study of Germany, the Netherlands and Spain from a Human Rights Perspective, Laws 2016 (analyzing preventive health care provisions for nationals and undocumented migrants in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain in light of four indicators drawn from the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The University of Akron School of Law and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas – William S. Boyd School of Law have issued a call for papers for the U.S. Feminist Judgments Project conference to be held on October 20-21, 2016.
2. The Indiana Tech Law School has issued a call for papers for a symposium titled “Private Prisons: The Corporatization of Criminal Justice and the New Marketplace for Crime” to be held on November 11, 2016.
3. Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law and the Nova Law Review have issued a call for papers for a symposium titled “Regulating Innovation in Healthcare: Protecting the Public or Stifling Progress?” to be held on October 14, 2016.
4. Critical Legal Conference issued a call for papers for the 2016 conference titled “Critical Perspectives on Culture and Preservation: Precarity in our Past, Present, and Future Cultural Heritages” to be held on September 1-3, 2016.
5. The International Academic Forum, in conjunction with its global partners, has issued a call for papers for The Asian Conference on Politics, Economics & Law 2016 to be held on October 13-15, 2016.

Elsewhere Online

1. Saul Leal, Constitutional jurisdiction and the right to happiness, AfricLaw
2. Tomasz Tadeusz Koncewicz, “Emergency Constitutional Review”: thinking the unthinkable? A Letter from America, Verfassungsblog
3. Eugene Volokh, Interesting new ‘Game of Thrones’ court decision, The Washington Post
4. Jacob Gershman, Uber Antitrust Lawsuit Clears Court Hurdle in New York, The Wall Street Journal
5. Suliman Ibrahim, Libya’s long awaited constitution: Will it finally see the light of day?, ConstitutionNet
6. Nanjira Sambuli, Privacy protections shouldn’t lag behind surveillance powers, Daily Nation