What’s New in Comparative Public Law

–Angelique Devaux, French Qualified Attorney (Notaire Diplômée), LL.M. American Law IUPUI Robert McKinney School of Law

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. Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court ruled that the sub-Saharan country’s criminal defamation laws are not in line with its 2013 Constitution.
2. Turkey‘s Constitutional Court ruled that the rights of 230 military officers sentenced to long prison terms in 2012 for plotting against the government were violated.
3. Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court ruled in favor of state-run company’s right to block Facebook users.
4. Australia’s High Court ruled that asylum seeker detention in Manus Island is constitutional.
5. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that public employees are protected from retaliation for testimony.
6. British Columbia’s highest court held that police must obtain a warrant before searching through the personal information stored in a smartphone.

In the news

1. In a compromise deal, the European Union will allow Member States to make their own decisions on whether to allow genetically modified (GM) crop.
2. Luxembourg adopts same-sex marriage bill.
3. Spain’s Crown Prince becomes King Felipe VI.
4. France unveils ambitious bill to boost green energy.
5. Egypt court ordered one dozen more death penalties.
6. Brazil has banned animal testing for cosmetics.
7. Hungarian court says banks should be more transparent with forex loans.
8. Florida legalizes ‘warning shots’ in self-defense.

New scholarship

1. Frank Emmert, Corporate Social Responsibility in Comparative Perspective (Council on International Law and Politics) (bringing together academics and practitioners from around the world in an analysis of CSR as currently understood in different legal system and legal cultures; and exploring how CSR – as a global phenomenon – should be applied and advanced in future for the greatest common good)
2. Mohamed Abdelaal, Egypt’s Public Protest Law 2013: A Boost to freedom or a Further Restriction? (11 US-China L. Rev. (forthcoming 2014) (answering the question whether the public protest law aims to regulate the practice of the right to protest or is simply an attempt to ban it; and providing a detailed analysis of the controversial articles of the law in an attempt to discern the real intent of the legislature)
3. James M. Zimmerman, China Law Deskbook, 4^th Edition, (ABA Book Publishing) (this book details the significant legal developments adopted by the government since 2010, and is organized by broad topic categories and provides a summary of the critical legal issues for foreign-invested enterprises)
4. Mohamed Arafa, Mubarak Criminal Liability: Is it a Fair Trial after the Revolution or a Drama Series? (Revista Contraponto, Vol. 1 No.1, Brazil, Spring 2014) (describing the background of former President Mubarak in history, military and politics and why the Egyptian Revolution has been broken against him and his regime as well; and comparing liability  under Islamic law and the domestic law (Egyptian Penal Code) and how to apply those legal principles to the recent case of Mubarak’s trial which is known by the Media as a “Trial of the Century”)
5. Asherry Magalla, What is Copyright? The True Meaning of Copyright as Defined by Many Authors (Martin Luther Law Journal) (seeking to identify what copyright really means)
6. Faisal Kutty, Islamic law and Adoptions, (Forthcoming in Robert L. Ballard et al., The Intercountry Adoption Debate: Dialogues Across Disciplines (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014) (demonstrating that there is sufficient basis in Islamic jurisprudence to argue for qualified support of international adoptions)

Calls for Papers

1. The World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists announces a call for papers on any topic related to mixed legal systems for a fourth worldwide congress to be held at McGill University’s Faculty of Law in Montreal (Canada) on 24 to 26 June 2015.
2. The Law and Society Program at Philadelphia University and The Antitrust Bulletin invite paper submissions for presentation at a symposium on “Capitalism, Antitrust, and Democracy” to be held at the Arlen Specter Center for Public Policy on the East Falls campus of Philadelphia University in Philadelphia, PA on Saturday, November 8, 2014. 
3. Association of American Law Schools–Section on Law and South Asian Studies calls for papers for its session during the 2015 AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, which is scheduled for January  3, 2015.
4. Transnational Dispute Management (TDM) calls for contributions for a TDM Special to be published later this year entitled “Arbitration in the Middle East – expectations and challenges for the future“. 
5. Melbourne Law School, in conjunction with the Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation, calls for papers on the theme “Corporate law: local and global dimensions” for its conference to be held on February 1 to February 3, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia.

Elsewhere on Blogs

1. Dan Harris, Foreign Company Corruption in China. If You Have to Ask … , China Law Blog
2. Kimberly Newberry, Secrecy in Lethal Injection: How the Oklahoma Courts are Supporting a Deadly Double Standard, Jurist
3. Jesse Eisinger, France sees Double Standard in U.S. Prosecution of BNP, but Justice Is Weak, The New York Times
4. Lyle Denniston, Same-Sex Marriage and a County Clerk’s Role, SCOTUS blog
5. Mike Gatto, It’s time to declutter California’s messy Constitution, Los Angeles Times
6. Brian Christopher Jones, Legislatures should take the lead on Gay Marriage, The Hill’s Congress Blog.
7. Jack Stevenson, Every day is 4^th in a free society, Thomastontimes.com