What’s New in Public Law

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Nakul Nayak, Lecturer at Jindal Global Law School, India.

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Developments in Constitutional Courts

1. The Constitutional Court of Kenya ruled that 3000 families were wrongfully evicted from Mitumba village near Wilson Airport and were to be awarded compensation.
2. The Supreme Court of India stayed the implementation of three controversial statutes that affect farmers’ interests.
3. The US Supreme Court has reinstated a rule that women visit a hospital or clinic to obtain a drug used for medication-induced abortions
4. Indonesia’s Constitutional Court rejected a motion to put content creators on digital platforms like Youtube, Instagram, or TikTok under the same censorship regime as radio and television broadcasters.
5. The Czech Constitutional Court ruled against a regional court’s proposal to amend a law that prevents same-sex partners registered abroad from adopting Czech children.

In the News

1. The US House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for the second time.
2. The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union opined that a national data protection authority, even if it is not the lead supervisory authority, can start proceedings against a company for failing to protect users’ data.
3. Opposition parties and protest groups boycotted a reconciliation committee formed by Thailand’s House Speaker to address issues raised by protesters.
4. Zimbabwe’s Parliament delays passing the Constitutional Amendment Bill (Number 2).
5. German political parties agreed to amend the German Constitution (Basic Law) to protect children’s rights.

New Scholarship

1. Donald Bello Hutt (ed.), Symposium on constituent power, (2020) (examining and engaging with Andrew Arato’s book The Adventures of the Constituent Power: Beyond Revolutions).
2. Benedikt Reinke (ed.), Symposium on ‘The End of Globalization? – Resurging Nationalism, Authoritarian Constitutionalism and Uncertain Futures of Democracy’ (2020) (examining challenges to democracy, the rule of law, and human rights in the current moment).
3. Fernanda Cobo & Sofía Charvel, Mexican apex judiciary and its multiple interpretations: Challenges for the constitutional right to health (2021) (examining whether the Mexican Supreme Court is or could be a catalyst for change in the healthcare system).
4. Su Bian, Labour Constitutionalism: A Critical Genealogy of Constitutionalisation in the ‘Reform’ Period of China (2020) (arguing that many labour-related practices adopted in the post-1978 ‘Reform’ period of China pose serious challenges to constitutional values).
5. Shrutanjaya Bharadwaj (et al), Rising Internet Shutdowns in India: A Legal Analysis (2021) (analyzing the validity of internet shutdowns in India from the standpoint of the constitutional right to free expression).

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The European China Law Studies Association will hold its annual conference in Warsaw from September 24 to 26, 2021. Abstracts and panel proposals may be submitted by May 30, 2021.
2. The University of Milan, Department of Italian and Supranational Public Law invites applications for a postdoctoral fellowship on the project “The Transformation(s) of Public Power: the Use of Conditionality in the Global Governance”, with a full-time, fixed-term contract for one year. The deadline for applications is February 4, 2021.
3. The Faculty of Law at McGill University and the Peter MacKell Chair on Federalism have invited submissions for the 3rd edition of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism.  The deadline is February 1, 2021.
4. The University of Birmingham Law School has invited submissions for an online workshop on Constituent Power in Commonwealth Constitutional Legal Systems. Deadline for abstracts is January 22, 2021.
5. The Journal of Law and Public Policy at the University of St. Thomas Law School seeks contributions for a virtual symposium on Alternative Realities, Conspiracy Theory, and the Constitutional and Democratic Order to be held on April 16, 2021. Proposals are due by February 28, 2021.

Elsewhere Online

1. The Balkinization blog is currently holding a symposium on Gary Jeffrey Jacobsohn and Yaniv Roznai’s new book Constitutional Revolution.
2. AfronomicsLaw will host a virtual ceremony to launch a new book edited by James Thuo Gathii titled The Performance of Africa’s International Courts – Using Litigation for Political, Legal, and Social Change.
3. Kwasi Asiedu Abrokwah, Addressing gender-based violence against women and children in Africa, AfricLaw.
4. Human Rights Watch published its World Report 2021.
5. Jan-Phillip Graf, A Childish Idea, Verfassungsblog.
6. Gautam Bhatia, Notes from a Foreign Field: The Kenyan Supreme Court on Housing, Evictions, and the Right to Land, Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy.