What’s New in Public Law

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—Claudia Marchese, Research Fellow in Comparative Public Law at the University of Florence (Italy)

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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 Constitutional Tribunal of Poland will debate primacy of EU law on Thursday 7 October, after a hearing held on 30 September 2021.
2. The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear a challenge to Boston’s rejection of the request to fly a flag bearing the image of a Christian cross over city hall in a case involving religious and free speech rights.
3. The Constitutional Court of South Africa dismissed former president Jacob Zuma’s application for a rescission of his sentence to prison for violating the authority of the court and attacking the dignity of the judiciary.
4. The Constitutional Court of South Africa dismissed an application by the Electoral Commission to postpone the municipal elections scheduled for 27 October 2021.
5. Thailand’s Constitutional Court has postponed ruling on marriage equality. The Court was asked to rule on whether the section 1448 of Thailand’s Civil and Commercial Code breaches the constitution as it only recognises marriage between a woman and a man.

In the News

1. A delegation of Members of the European Parliament has travelled to Hungary to assess the respect for press and academic freedom, the rights of minorities and the wider rule of law context.
2. The European Parliament urges member states to create humanitarian corridors for Afghan refugees and calls for a special visa programme for Afghan women seeking protection.
3. Germany’s general elections held on 26 September 2021 have determined a fragmented political order with a prevalence of the Social Democrats (SPD) upon the Christian Democrats (CDU-CSU).
4. The former Catalan president Charles Puigdemont was released after being arrested in Sardinia, but he must return in October for a hearing.
5. Tunisia’sermany’sPresident Kais Saied appointed the Professor Najla Bouden Romdhane as first woman prime minister.

New Scholarship

1. Diletta Tega, The Italian Constitutional Court in its Context: A Narrative, European Constitutional Law Review (2021) (examining the dichotomy of dialogue/conflict between the Italian Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union)
2. Thulasi K. Raj, Private discrimination, public service and the constitution, Indian Law Review (2021) (examining the protection against private discrimination under the Indian Constitution)
3. Margrit Seckelmann, Lorenza Violini, Cristina Fraenkel-Haeberle, Giada Ragone (eds.), Academic Freedom Under Pressure? (2021) (describing the status quo of academic freedom in Europe)
4. James A. Gardner (ed.), Comparative Election Law (forthcoming 2022) (offering a systematic and comprehensive examination of the election laws of democratic nations)
5. Florian Meinel, Germany’s Dual Constitution (2021) (offering a persuasive framework for understanding the German constitutional system)
6. Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Constitutional Erosion in Brasil (2021) (examining the successes and the failures of the 1988 Constitution of Brazil)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL) is pleased to announce a round table on  “The Impact of Digitalization on Constitutional Law,” to be held on 31 January – 1 February 2022 in Copenhagen. The deadline to submit abstracts is 1st November 2021.
2. The Keele Law Review is pleased to announce a call for submissions for its fifth volume (2022) on the theme of “The Israeli Constitutional Revolution: 40 Years On.” The deadline for proposals is 11 October 2021.
3. The Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica (IIAS) will host the 9th Asian Constitutional Law Forum in Taipei on 13-14 May 2022. The deadline to submit abstracts is 1 November 2021.
4. The Foundation House of Human Sciences (FMSH) and its partners offer mobility aids for postdoctoral research in Paris in the humanities and social sciences lasting from one to three months. The 1st 2022 campaign is open from 15 September to 10 December 2021.
5. On 5 October 2021, the European University Institute (EUI) hosts an online summit on “Fighting Misinformation Online.”

Elsewhere Online

1. David R. Cameron, The SPD and Greens make big gains in German election, CDU & CSU get worst result ever, Yale MacMillan Center
2. Mark A. Kayser, Arndt Leininger, Anastasiia Vlasenko, The 2021 German federal election: How surprising was it really?, LSE blog
3. Cassandra Emmons, Limiting Human Rights during Pandemics, Verfassungsblog
4. Ulisses Levy Silvério dos Reis, Raíssa Paula Martins, Legalizing Disinformation, Verfassungsblog
5. Thulasi K. Raj, Kaleeswaram Raj, Takling hate speech, The Hindu