What’s New in Public Law

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—Wilson Seraine da Silva Neto, Master Student at the University of Coimbra – Portugal; Postgraduate Student in Constitutional Law at Brazilian Academy of Constitutional Law

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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 iconnecteditors@gmail.com.

Developments in Constitutional Courts

1. The Supreme Court of Spain issued a statement against the grant of a pardon to the Catalan separatists convicted over a failed 2017 independence bid.
2. The Supreme Court of Canada is set to hear an appeal of sentencing in the mosque shooter case.
3. The Supreme Court of the United States hears a case that could further curb or even overturn its 48-year approval of a woman’s right to abortion.
4. The Constitutional Court of Albania will review the constitutionality of the 2019 local elections.
5. The Constitutional Court of Albania upheld the decision of President Ilir Meta not to appoint a candidate for the office of a Foreign Minister in January 2019.
6. The Constitutional Court of Malta confirmed compensation awarded to the owners of a Paola property burdened by a protected lease for the past 30 years, incorporating the European Court Human Rights case law.
7. The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled that Mico Jurisic, who was jailed for 11 years for crimes against humanity against non-Serb civilians in the Prijedor area during the war in 1992, did get a fair trial.
8. The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil hears a case challenging a ban on animal testing in the cosmetics industry in RJ.
9. The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil held that the Union must immediately adopt measures to protect the life, health and safety of the indigenous populations that inhabit the Yanomami and Mundurucu Indigenous Lands.

In the News

1. The Spanish National Court will investigate charges against Polisario leader Brahim Ghali, including crimes against humanity such as genocide, terrorism, and torture. Judge Santiago Pedraz, however, denied requests to arrest Ghali.
2. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the UK government’s bulk interception of communications powers “did not contain sufficient ‘end-to-end’ safeguards to provide adequate and effective guarantees against arbitrariness and the risk of abuse”, thus violating the rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
3. The UK Supreme Court announces its first paid internships for aspiring lawyers from underrepresented communities to help increase diversity in the judiciary.
4. The Supreme Court of the United States may revisit its ruling on Native American Rights in Oklahoma.
5. Trudeau expected to name Ontario judge to Supreme Court of Canada before Canada Day.
6. A Black woman will serve on the Missouri Supreme Court for the first time.
7. The National Assembly of Slovenia changed the Constitutional Court Act to oblige the Court of Slovenia to handle every petition for which the petitioner had legitimate interests on submission even though that interest might have been lost while the case was pending.
8. Supreme Federal Court of Brazil launches the second edition of its compilation of jurisprudence on the pandemic in English.

New Scholarship

1. Timothy Kuhner, Representative Democracy in an Age of Inequality: why legal reforms are needed to protect New Zealand’s system of government (2021) (critically examining New Zealand’s democracy)
2. Daniel Eisaqui and Gabriel Terenzi (eds), The role of the judiciary in the Rule of Law: Limits and Possibilities (2021) (examining the rule of law in Brazil)
3. Shiling Xiao, Proportionality, Unreasonableness and a Unified Model: Reframing the Spectrum of Intensity of Judicial Review (2021) (examining the relationship between proportionality and unreasonableness in judicial review)
4. Marcelo Neves, Constitutionalism and the Paradox of Principles and Rules (2021) (offering a unique approach to constitutionalism, focusing on the paradoxical relationship between principles and rules from the perspective of systems theory)
5. Victor Ferreres Comella, The Constitution of Arbitration (2021) (examining arbitration from the unique perspectives of constitutionalism, legitimacy, and the rule of law)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. Goethe University in Frankfurt organizes a lecture series on “Political Falsehoods: Diagnoses and Concepts,” which is to take place from June 2 through July 14, 2020.
2. Indian Journal of Law and Legal Research invites submissions to its second volume. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2021.
3. International Review of Human Rights Law invites submissions to its seventh issue (February 2022), The deadline for submissions is September 5, 2021.
4. Kerala Law Academy Law College, in association with Centre for Advanced Legal Studies and Research (CALSAR), organizes an online conference on “Recent Trends in Human Rights and Changing Facets of Religious Freedom,” to be held on August 7, 2021.
5. KLE Law Journal invites submission to its 2020-2021 journal. The deadline for submissions is June 10, 2021.

Elsewhere Online

1. Samuel Moyn and Daniela Caglioti, Human Rights in History, Cambridge University Press
2. Christina Duffy Ponsa-Kraus, The Perils of Politics in the Scholarly Debate on Puerto Rico’s Constitutional Status, IACL-IADC Blog
3. Thiago Hansen, Caroline de Quadros, and Gustavo Favini, Salvo Melhor Juízo
4. Amala Govindarajan and Ananya K, India’s Covid-19 vaccination policy must protect the constitutional rights of its citizens, OxHRH Blog
5. André Nollkaemper, Shell’s Responsibility for Climate Change: An International Law Perspective on a Groundbreaking Judgment, Verfassungsblog