What’s New in Public Law

—Nausica Palazzo, Ph.D. Researcher in Comparative Constitutional Law (University of Trento)

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 Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found a section of the trade agreement between the Union and Canada on the resolution of investment disputes between investors and states consistent with EU law.
2. The CJEU ruled for Airbnb in a case challenging French real estate laws.
3. The Constitutional Court of South Korea held the criminal ban on abortion at the early stages of pregnancy unconstitutional.
4. The Constitutional Court of South Africa postponed the judgment on the constitutionality of the Electoral Act until after the next week’s elections. The Act does not recognize the right of independent candidates to stand for an election.
5. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to stay the decision in a major second-amendment case until proposed legislation on firearms in New York City is passed.
6. The Constitutional Court of Italy ruled that serious mental illness is a ground to spare prison and grant house arrest.

In the News

1. The Supreme Court of Kansas upheld an injunction against a state bill banning dilation and evacuation abortions in Kansas.
2. The Spanish board of elections blocked Puigdemont standing as a MEP in next EU Parliament elections.
3. Conservatives and Labour suffer heavy losses in UK local elections, while parties opposing Brexit gain seats.
4. The Upper House of the Parliament of Mexico failed to approve the President’s bill overturning education overhaul by former President Nieto.
5. The Constitutional Review Commission of Gambia engaged in external consultations with Gambians living in the diaspora to draft the new Constitution.
6. The Turkish High Election Board ordered an investigation into allegations of irregularities into the local election in Istanbul, won by the main opposition party.
7. In Colombia, the prosecutor general launched an investigation into the espionage of Constitutional Court’s magistrates.
8. The first Maori judge and expert on indigenous rights joined the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

New Scholarship

1. Richard Albert, The Case for Presidential Illegality in Constitutional Amendment (forthcoming 2019) (arguing that a president could in some cases defy a constitution’s amendment procedure if the breach is validated by the people)
2. Or Bassok, The Mysterious Meeting between Carl Schmitt and Josef Redlich (2019) (revealing a mysterious meeting in 1931 between Carl Schmitt and Harvard professor Josef Redlich that had a profound impact on Schmitt’s adoption of National Socialist legal theory)
3. Günter Frankenberg, Comparative Constitutional Studies Between Magic and Deceit (2019) (providing an account of the hidden stories, framers’ aspirations and goals, and normative theories behind constitutions with a view to encouraging realism in constitutional research)
4. Christophe Geiger and Elena Izyumenko, Towards a European ‘Fair Use’ Grounded in Freedom of Expression, 35 American University International Law Review (2019 forthcoming) (advocating the introduction in EU copyright law of an open-ended clause, like the U.S. “fair use” clause, grounded in freedom of expression)
5. Mary Ann Glendon, Making the Case for Religious Freedom in Secular Societies, 33 Journal of Law and Religion (2019) (exploring how do we make the case for the fundamental human right of freedom of religion and belief to different sorts of audiences in a world where that right is little valued)
6. David Landau, Hannah Jacobs Wiseman and Samuel R. Wiseman, Federalism for the Worst Case, 105 Iowa Law Review (2019 forthcoming) (providing a new institutionally-focused account of the relationship between federalism and tyranny, based on case studies of Russia and Turkey)
7. Ilenia Ruggiu, Culture and the Judiciary: The Anthropologist Judge (2019) (providing an in-depth case law analysis to trace the legal techniques used by Western judges to face the challenges posed by multiculturalism)
8. Deborah Tuerkheimer, Beyond #MeToo, New York University Law Review (2019 forthcoming) (examining the overlooked informal avenues for complaint in sexual misconduct cases in the US and arguing that the design of the formal reporting channels should be informed by the benefits of informal reporting)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The UNSW Law hosts a conference on “Protecting Rights, Addressing Inequality: The Writs as Constitutional Transfer,” to be held on 15-16 November 2019. The deadline for abstracts is May 10, 2019.
2. The Leuven Centre for Public Law (LCPL) and RIPPLE (Research in Political Philosophy Leuven) invite submissions for a conference on “Democratic renewal in times of polarization,” which will be held in Leuven on September 19-20, 2019. Interested candidates must submit their proposals (short abstract of the paper and CV) to Ronald Van Crombrugge at ronald.vancrombrugge@kuleuven.be by June 10, 2019.
3. The Minerva Center for Human Rights Faculty of Law, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the International Committee of the Red Cross invites submissions for the conference “Military Justice and Armed Conflict: Old Problems, New Challenges.” The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2019.
4. The European Law Journal published a Special Issue on “Internet and Human Rights Law,” edited by Oreste Pollicino and Mart Susi. The issue focuses on the impact of the new digital technologies on clusters that are at the heart of constitutional law and constitutional theory, such as separation of powers, legitimacy, legal reasoning and fundamental rights.
5. The Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna invites applications for the Summer School “The Regulation of #Robotics & #AI in Europe: Legal, Ethical and Economic Implications,” to be held in Pisa, Italy on July 1-6, 2019. The deadline for applications is May 16, 2019.
6. The UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality and Sustainable Development invites applications for a one-week international summer academy on “Women’s Empowerment for Sustainable Development.” The deadline for regular applications is July 14, 2019, and the deadline for scholarship application is May 31, 2019.
7. The University of California at Davis School of Law invites applications for the position of a Clinical Lecturer in Water Justice, who will act as the director of the Aoki Water Justice Clinic, by May 19, 2019, and/or until the position is filled.

Elsewhere Online

1. David R. Cameron, Vox does well but Sánchez and Socialists are the winners in Spanish election, Yale MacMillan Center
2. Jessica Lasky, The “Occupy Central 9” Cases: Rule of Law or Rule by Law in Hong Kong?, JURIST
3. Kwame Anthony Appiah, What happens when Democracy becomes Tribal?, ResetDOC
4. Soulef Guessoum, Algeria: A Constitutional versus a Political Solution, ConstitutionNet
5. Adam Daly, Solicitors want a Yes vote in divorce referendum (Ireland), The Journal.ie
6. Is Orange the New Black? New Far-Right in the Netherlands (dossier), ResetDOC
7. William W. Buzbee, What the Census Case Will Say About the Supreme Court, The New York Times
8. Gabrielle Holly, Australia as a jurisdiction for transnational human rights litigation: Kamasaee v Commonwealth, Cambridge Core Blog
9. Antonio Aloisi, Valerio De Stefano and Six Silberman, A manifesto to reform the Gig Economy, Regulating for Globalization
10. Steve Peers, ‘We *aren’t* the world’: the CJEU reconciles EU law with international (investment) law, EU Law Analysis
11. Yulia Ioffe, Termination of the Treaty of Friendship between Ukraine and Russia – Too Little Too Late?, OpinioJuris