What’s New in Public Law

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—Nakul Nayak, Assistant Professor at Jindal Global Law School, India.

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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 Hungarian Constitutional Court ruled against a petition from Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government, seeking to challenge a ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union that held Hungary’s asylum policies broke European law.
2. The Constitutional Court of Indonesia ordered the government to amend parts of a controversial job creation law within two years, describing it as conditionally unconstitutional.
3. Ecuador’s Constitutional Court upheld a lower court ruling that invalidated an environmental license to a mining company for initial exploration at the Rio Magdalena project in the Los Cedros forest.
4. The German Constitutional Court declared that so-called “emergency brake” measures – which obliged states or districts to put in place curfews and other restrictive measures if the seven-day incidence rate per 100,000 people rose above 100 on three consecutive days – were constitutional.
5. Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the European Court of Human Rights did not have the jurisdiction to review the legality of appointments of the Polish court’s judges.

In the News

1. The European Commission published draft guidance outlining workers’ rights for online companies such as Uber and Deliveroo.
2. A high court in South Africa ordered the former president Jacob Zuma to return to jail after setting aside a decision to release him on medical parole.
3. The Chief Justice of India advocated for a proposal to restructure the judiciary by establishing courts of appeal to hear cases against high court orders, while leaving the Supreme Court to examine only issues of constitutional importance.
4. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev pledged to reform Uzbekistan’s constitution.
5. The United Arab Emirates has initiated one of its largest legislative reforms. Changes to the law include enhancing community protection from a set of online crimes and prohibition of consumption of alcoholic beverages in public places, among several others.

New Scholarship

1. Giuseppe Martinico, Filtering Populist Claims to Fight Populism: The Italian Case in a Comparative Perspective (investigating how populists in power borrow, use and manipulate categories of constitutional theory and instruments of constitutional law).
2. Emmett Macfarlane, Judicial amendment of the constitution, International Journal of Constitutional Law (examining the conceptual distinction between judicial interpretation and judicial amendment).
3. Amal Sethi, The “Method and Madness” of Authoritarian Constitution Making in Democratic Regimes, Nuovi Autoritarismi e Democrazie: Diritto, Istituzioni, Società (examining why constitution-making exercises by would-be autocrats are largely successful and accepted by large sections of the populace).
4. Jacob O. Arowosegbe, Revisiting the legitimacy question of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution, Global Constitutionalism (revisiting the legitimacy question as it touches the Nigerian 1999 Constitution, bringing to the discourse a review and application of pertinent theoretical perspectives on constitution making and constitutional legitimacy).
5. Anupama Kumar, The limits of constitutionality? Centrally Sponsored Schemes in law and policy, Indian Law Review (examining Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) as a means of Union-State fiscal transfers in light of the Indian Constitution. CSS are programmes designed and funded by the Union government on subjects within the jurisdiction of State governments).
6. Adam Chilton & Mila Versteeg, Identifying Constitutional Law (exploring empirical research in the context of “small-c” constitutions).
7. Moiz Tundawala, Ambedkar’s Dhamma: A Counter Theology of Law for Indian Political Thought, Political Theology (arguing that B.R. Ambedkar attacked the social law of Hindu dharma for legalizing and legitimizing Brahminical sovereignty in the form of a birth-based caste order centred around the ambivalent sacrality of untouchability).
8. Brian Christopher Jones, Judicial Review and Embarrassment, Public Law (arguing that courts in the UK, US, and elsewhere have at times intentionally embarrassed the elected branches, and that this unfortunate practice should stop).
9. Lara Côrtes, Camila Gianella, Angela M. Páez, and Catalina Vallejo Piedrahíta, Comparing Experiences of Constitutional Reforms to Enshrine the Right to Water in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru: Opportunities and Limitations, Water (examining recent attempts to constitutionalize the right to water in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, and exploring why these attempts have been successful in Peru but not Brazil and Colombia).

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL), the Centre for European and Comparative Legal Studies (CECS), University of Copenhagen, and the Nordic network CONNOR 2030 will organize a hybrid round table on “The Impact of Digitalization on Constitutional Law” on January 31 and February 1, 2022. Registration deadline is January 20, 2022.
2. The University of Hamburg and The Legal Priorities project has issued a call for papers for the 2022 Multidisciplinary Forum on Longtermism and the Law which will be held from 9 to 11 June 2022. Deadline for submissions is February 15, 2022.
3. The Qualitative Data Repository invites proposals from law scholars to pilot a new tool for making qualitative and multi-method research more transparent. The “Anno-REP” tool allows scholars to restructure, edit, and package annotations that enhance their digital scholarship. Participants will receive an honorarium of $1,500 and will gather at a workshop in April 2022. QDR will cover travel and lodging expenses. Proposals are due by January 3, 2022.
4. The International Society of Public Law will organize the 2022 ICON-S Writing school, a set of 8 lectures, open to everyone, offered by internationally renowned legal academics. Lectures are open to everyone with prior registration by email at iconscommunityandengagement@gmail.com. 15 early-career scholars will also be admitted to a tutorial program where they will receive feedback on their manuscripts. The application deadline is January 5, 2022.
5. The Centre for International and Public Law at the Australian National University will host a conference at ANU College of Law in Canberra on 16-18 February 2022. The conference will be face-to-face for Australia based speakers and attendees, with international speakers and attendees able to participate through a webinar format. Registrations are open.
6. The Federal Law Review, published by the Australian National university, invites submissions for a special issue on equality and public law. Deadline for submissions is March 22, 2022.
7. The Comparative Constitutional Law and Administrative Law Journal, published by the National Law University, Jodhpur, India, invites submissions for its next issue. Deadline for submissions is February 15, 2022.
8. Verfassungsblog is currently hosting an online debate on Restoring Constitutionalism.

Elsewhere Online

1. João Victor Archegas & Christian Perrone, ‘Don’t Snoop on Me’: How 9/11 ultimately sparked a movement for privacy and data protection in Brazil, Verfassungsblog.
2. Monika Zalnieriute, How Public Space Surveillance is Eroding Political Protests in Australia, Verfassungsblog.
3. Karan Gupta, Notes From a Foreign Field: The Botswana Court of Appeal’s Judgment Decriminalising Same-Sex Relations, Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy.
4. Mark Tushnet, Mini-Review – N.W. Barber, The United Kingdom Constitution: An Introduction, Balkinization.
5. Pierre de Vos, Why Is Ramaphosa Dragging His Feet With Con Court Appointments?, Constitutionally Speaking.