What’s New in Public Law

—Chiara Graziani, Ph.D. Candidate and Research Fellow in Constitutional Law, University of Genoa (Italy)

In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in 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 public law blogosphere.

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

Developments in Constitutional Courts

1. The European Court of Justice heard a case against the discriminatory labelling of Israeli products.
2. The European Court of Human Rights found that Ukraine violated the fair trial principle, due to domestic courts’ approach to evidence in a criminal case.
3. The Supreme Court of India issued an interim order for political parties to disclose details on funding raised through electoral bonds.
4. The International Criminal Court rejected the request to investigate alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Afghanistan.
5. The Supreme Court of Jamaica ruled that the National Identification and Registration Act is unconstitutional because it violated the right to privacy.
6. The Supreme Court of Myanmar heard the appeal of two journalists who have been jailed for violating a colonial-era official secret law.
7. The Constitutional Court of South Korea ruled that national legislation banning abortion is unconstitutional.
8. The German Federal Constitutional Court held that statutory exclusion from voting rights of persons placed under full guardianship and of offenders confined in a psychiatric hospital must not apply in the upcoming European elections.

In the News

1. Lawmakers in the US introduced a bill to the House of Representatives that would treat India as a NATO ally for the purposes of the Arms Export Control Act.
2. The US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit blocked a lower court judgment that stopped the Trump administration from forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases move through US courts.
3. Advocate General Tanchev delivered his opinion to the European Court of Justice in which he argued that the Polish government had violated its obligation to guarantee the independence of the Supreme Court.
4. Several Jewish organizations called on the US Congress to pass a bill ending President Trump’s travel ban.
5. A Sudanese General stepped down as transitional leader after President al-Bashir’s ouster.
6. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe urged action against money laundering.
7. The UK Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 came into force, two months after Royal Assent.
8. A UK judge ordered Ukip to disclose details on how it used £300,000 of political data services in the run-up to the 2016 Brexit vote and the 2015 General Election.
9. Justice Gascon will retire from the Supreme Court of Canda.
10. The Parliament of Egypt approved constitutional amendments that will lengthen President Abdul Abdul Fattah al-Sisi his current term of office to six years, allow him to stand one more time, and grant increased powers.
11. An Israeli Court upheld the deportation of Human Rights Watch’s local director.

New Scholarship

1. Tom G. Daly and Brian C. Jones, Parties versus Democracy: Addressing Today’s Political Party Threats to Democratic Rule, International Journal of Constitutional Law (forthcoming 2019) (arguing that contemporary political-party threats frustrate the possibility of remedial action afforded by existing public law and policy mechanisms)
2. Tom G. Daly, Populism, Public Law and Democratic Decay in Brazil: Understanding the Rise of Jair Bolsonaro (2019) (analyses the diffuse decay of Brazil’s democratic system up to the holding of the 2018presidential elections and the rise of Jair Bolsonaro)
3. Sofia Galani, Terrorist Hostage-taking and Human Rights: Protecting Victims of Terrorism under the European Convention on Human Rights, 19(1) Human Rights Law Review (2019) (examining the positive and procedural obligations of states towards victims as outlined by the European Court of Human Rights in its Tagayeva v. Russia decision and assessing how this case might shape future responses to terrorist attacks)
4. Ester Herlin-Karnell, The Constitutional Structure of Europe’s Area of ‘Freedom, Security and Justice’ and the Right to Justification (forthcoming 2019) (examining EU security regulation and its constitutional implications, in light of issues such as the refugee and migration crisis and the terrorist threat)
5. Anna-Bettina Kaiser, Niels Petersen, Johannes Saurer (eds.), The U.S. Supreme Court and Contemporary Constitutional Law (2019) (analysing the jurisprudence of the US Supreme Court in the Obama era)
6. Jannemieke Ouwerkerk, Judit Altena, Jacob Öberg and Samuli Miettinen (eds.), The Future of EU Criminal Justice Policy and Practice (2019) (exploring challenges of EU criminal law from a multidisciplinary perspective)
7. Mathias Reimann, Reinhard Zimmermann (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law (2019) (providing an overview of the current state of comparative legal scholarship, analyzing its methodology, and setting an agenda for future research)
8. Arianna Vedaschi, The Dark Side of Counter-Terrorism: Arcana Imperii and Salus Rei Publicae, 66(4) American Journal of Comparative Law (2019) (examining the use of state secrecy by advanced democracies in counter-terrorism operations and arguing a judicial review of secrecy claims)
9. Stuart Wallace, The Application of the European Convention on Human Rights to Military Operations (2019) (exploring the challenges arising from the application of the European Convention on Human Rights to military operations and providing guidance on how to interpret the Convention in such cases)
10. Susan Willis McFadden, German Citizenship Law and the Turkish Diaspora, 20(1) German Law Journal (2019) (exploring the historical foundation of Turkish migration to Germany and the evolution of legislation dealing with the matter)
11. Adrienne Yong, The Rise and Decline of Fundamental Rights in EU Citizenship (2019) (arguing that the relationship between EU fundamental rights and EU citizenship has weakened in recent years due to increasing Euroscepticism and dissatisfaction with the EU project)

Call for Papers and Announcements

1. The Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Transitional Justice. The deadline to submit applications is April 28, 2019.
2. The European Law Institute calls for submissions for the 2019 ELI Young Lawyers Award. Papers must be submitted by April 30, 2019.
3. The European Yearbook of Constitutional Law invites submissions for its 2020 issue on “The City in Constitutional Law.” The deadline to submit proposals is April 30, 2019.
4. The Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria issued a call for abstracts for the “International Conference on the protection of forced migrants in Africa.” The deadline for submission of abstracts is April 30, 2019.
5. Di Tella Law School (Buenos Aires) invites submissions for a conference “Dialogues on International Law.” The deadline for submission of abstracts is May 1, 2019.
6. The International Nuremberg Principles Academy organizes a conference on “Synergies between International Criminal Law and UN Agenda 2030,” to be held in Nuremberg on May 3-4, 2019.
7. The Italian law Journal DPCE online seeks five student executive editors. The deadline for applications is May 15, 2019.
8. The British Institute for International and Comparative Law organizes its Annual Harry Weinrebe Memorial Lecture on the theme “Do Human Rights Need Rescuing?” The lecture will take place in London,  on May 22, 2019.
9. The Koç University UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality and Sustainable Development organizes a summer academy on “Women’s Empowerment for Sustainable Development.” Applications for scholarships are to be sent by May 31, 2019. Regular applications are open until July 14, 2019.
10. The Faculty of Law of the University of Hamburg invites submissions for the 3rd Hamburg Young Scholars’ Workshop in International Law. Abstracts and CVs are to be sent by May 31, 2019.
11. The South Asian University of New Dheli calls for abstracts for the Conference on “South Asia in the Era of International Courts and Tribunals.” Interested scholars can send their abstracts and CVs by June 30, 2019.
12. The Melbourne Journal of International Law invites submissions for its volume 20(2). Submissions must be sent by July 1, 2019.
13. The Institute for Comparative Federalism of Eurac Research in Italy offers interested scholars an opportunity for a short-term research stay. The deadline for applications is July 1, 2019.
14. The Société de législation comparée organizes a comparative law essays competition. Submissions must be sent no later than October 15, 2019.

Elsewhere Online

1. David Beamish, Reducing the Size of the House of Lords: Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back, The Constitution Unit
2. Iryna Bogdanova, The WTO Panel Ruling on the National Security Exception: Has the Panel ‘Cut’ the Baby in Half?, EJIL: Talk!
3. Patryk I. Labuda, A Neo-Colonial Court for Weak States? Not Quite. Making Sense of the International Criminal Court’s Afghanistan Decision, EJIL: Talk!
4. Piotr Bogdanowicz, Three Steps Ahead, One Step Aside: The AG’s Opinion in the Commission v. Poland Case, Verfassungsblog
5. Martin Kwan, When Does a Person Have an Intellectual Disability? The Insights of the US Supreme Court, OxHRH Blog
6. Herb Lin, Principles of AI Governance and Ethics Should Apply to All Technologies, Lawfare
7. Menelaos Markakis, A Trojan Horse in the EU? The Curious Case of EU27+1, UK Constitutional Law Association Blog
8. Progressive Lawyers Group, Hong Kong Rule of Law Report 2018, Hong Kong Free Press
9. Wojciech Sadurski, So, It’s the End of Liberal Democracy? Think Again, Euronews
10. Raphael Schäpher, Practice as Method. Germany Rehabilitation in and through International Law, The Völkerrechtsblog
11. Francesca Strumia, Unemployment, Residence Rights, Social Benefits at Three Crossroads in the Tarola Ruling, EU Law Analysis