What’s New in Public Law

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—Matteo Mastracci, PhD Researcher, Koç University, Istanbul

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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. Belgium’s Constitutional Court has decided to upheld  decrees adopted by the Flanders and Wallonia regions that prohibit religious slaughter.
2. The Albanian Constitutional Court has overturned the Electoral Code by abolishing the one percent threshold for independent candidates.
3. The Constitutional Court of Angola has declared the illegal election of Adalberto da Costa Jr. as President of UNITA, at the party congress held in November 2019.
4. The Constitutional Court of South Africa has ruled that the Gauteng government’s decision to dissolve the City of Tshwane council in 2020 was unlawful, even though there were “exceptional circumstances”.
5. The Slovenian Constitutional Court has suspended a government decree under which public administration employees would have to either be vaccinated or have recovered from the virus to come to work from 1 October.
6. Turkey’s Constitutional Court has rejected claims by 13 applicants accusing public officials of “violating victims’ right to life” in the 2015 Suruç massacre.

In the News

1. A deputy from the European Solidarity Party announced the submission of the law on de-oligarchization to the Ukrainian Constitutional Court.
2. In Germany, SPD, Greens and FDP will meet to discuss a possible coalition after the national election.
3. Romania faced political deadlock following a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Florin Citu and mounting public anger against the country’s political class.
4. The Albanian judge, Ledi Bianku, who has served at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), has been appointed at the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
5. Turkey has ratified of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change ahead of the UN climate conference.

New Scholarship

1. Carlos A. Bali, Principles Matter (2021) (offering a thorough analysis of multiple constitutional issues during the Trump administration)
2. John Lawrence Hill, The Prophet of Modern Constitutional Liberalism (2021) (providing and interdisciplinary approach on the study of liberal political thought and exploring Mill’s idea of freedom)
3. Michal Krajewski, Relative Authority of Judicial and Extra-Judicial Review (2021) (examining the operation of EU judicial and extra-judicial review mechanisms)
4. Omar Sanchez-Sibony, Democracy without Parties in Peru (forthcoming, 2022) (analysing the key political and electoral dynamics in the Latin American region)
5. Roy L. Brooks, Diversity Judgments (2021) (arguing that the US Supreme Court’s deliberative process does not adequately reflect the gender, race, and sexuality make-up of the nation)
6. Tímea Drinóczi, Agnieszka Bień-Kacała, Illiberal Constitutionalism in Poland and Hungary (2021) (exploring the recent illiberal constitutionalist trajectories and the democratic deterioration in both countries)
7. Tomi Tuominen, The Euro Crisis and Constitutional Pluralism (2021) (arguing that constitutional pluralism is not a valid normative theory of European constitutionalism)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. Populism in Action Project invites participants to join the online event ” Populism in Europe – The League Yesterday and Today” focused on new research into the evolution and growth of Italy’s League Party. Deadline for registration is October 20, 2021.
2. The editorial team of “Children’s Rights Under Siege: Dignity in the Era of Global Interdependence” invites chapter proposals covering multidisciplinary topics on children’s rights. Deadline for abstract submission is December 15, 2021.
3. The 2022 Public Law Conference to be held at University College Dublin welcomes paper submissions for the topic of “The Making (and Re-Making) of Public Law”. Deadline for abstract submissions is November 15, 2021.
4. The British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) and Hasselt University invites paper submissions for the online conference “Climate Change Litigation in Europe: Comparative & Sectoral Perspectives and the Way Forward”. Abstracts and short bios must be submitted by October 31, 2021.
5. The Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki invites applications for the position of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor of International Law. Deadline for applications is November 7, 2021, 23:59 EET.
6. The University of Gothenburg, Department of Political Science, invites applications for a post-doctoral researcher in Political Science for Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute. The application deadline is November 11, 2021
7. The University of Melbourne welcomes submissions for the online conference “Legalisation of Same-sex Marriage: A Global Perspective” to be hosted on 7th and 8th December 2021. Deadline for submitting abstracts is October 15, 2021.
8. University of Worcester and the University of Sheffield will host the online conference in “Questions of Accountability: Prerogatives, Power and Politics” taking place between 1-5 November 2021. Keynote speakers include Professor Alison Young and Professor Jonathan Slater. The event is free to attend and the deadline for both presenters and delegates to register is 24 October 2021.

Elsewhere Online

1. Adam Zamecnik, Could Czechia’s newest anti-corruption party be this election’s dark horse?, Balkan Insight
2. Claire Poppelwell-Scevak, Here we go again? Is fedotova and others just splitting hairs when it comes to same-sex couples?, Strasbourg Observers
3. Hector Calleros, Mexico’s Constitution, Indigenous Rights and the Future, IACL-IADC Blog
4. Marcin Kaim, The tension between the singular and multivarious conceptions of democracy, The Loop
5. Marjorie Chorro de Trigueros, A Highly Risky Proposal to Reform the Salvadoran Constitution, ConstitutionNet
6. Sasa Dragojlo, Pandora papers reveal second Serbian Minister’s hidden offshore, Balkan Insight
7. Maame A.S. Mensa-Bonsu, Forging Forward Introspectively as Ghana’s Constitution Turns Thirty, IACL-AIDC Blog
8. Rehim Baharu Elala, Time to consider decriminalising homosexuality in Ethiopia, AfricLaw
9. David Super, Debt Limit End Game, Balkinization
10. Max Steuer, Roots of the EU Tree: Value Streaming at the European Citizens’ Panel on Democracy, Verfassungsblog