What’s New in Public Law

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—Claudia Marchese, Research Fellow in Comparative Public Law at the University of Sassari (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 Turkish Constitutional Court in its decision n. 2018/14884, published in the Official Gazette on 7 January 2022, evaluated Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Internet Broadcasts and Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcasts (“Internet Law“). The Constitutional Court pointed out that the freedom of expression and the press had been violated by Article 9 of the Internet Law and made recommendations to the Turkish Grand National Assembly to reformulate the relevant provision.
2. The U.S. Supreme Court refused a request from former President Donald J. Trump to block the release of White House records concerning the 6 January attack on the Capitol, effectively rejecting former President Trump’s claim of executive privilege and clearing the way for the House committee investigating the riot to start receiving the documents.
3. The Constitutional Court of South Africa clarified the application of the new amendments to the Refugees Act to asylum applications. The Court ruled that refugees and asylum seekers can now apply for permits locally and stay in the country pending their asylum application.
4. The impeachment trial of the Albanian President has been postponed to 1 February after a judge at the Constitutional Court tested positive for COVID.
5. The Constitutional Court of Colombia accepted a judge’s motion to recuse himself from a vote on whether to decriminalize abortion, a decision that further delays that high court’s ruling.

In the News

1. On 18 January, Roberta Metsola was elected president of the European Parliament.
2. On 20 January, the European Parliament approved a draft set of measures to tackle illegal content online, to ensure platforms are held accountable for their algorithms and improve content moderation that will be used as the mandate to negotiate the final text of the Digital Service Act with the French presidency of the Council, representing member states.
3. On 19 January, the U.S. Senate rejected a reform proposed by President Joe Biden. The goal of the reform was to change the Senate rules that require a majority of 60 percent to pass many laws. This would have favored the adoption of a voting rights bill that aimed to harmonize electoral rules at the federal level.
4. The President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies has convened the Parliament in a joint session, with the participation of the regional delegates, to elect the new President of the Italian Republic. Voting will start on 24 January.
5. On January 18, the Indonesian Parliament approved the transfer of the capital from Jakarta, on the island of Java, to a new city that will be built on the island of Borneo and will be called Nusantara.

New Scholarship

1. Silvia Suteu, Eternity Clauses in Democratic Constitutionalism (2021) (analyzing unamendability in democratic constitutionalism)
2. Aziz Z. Huq, The Collapse of Constitutional Remedies (2021) (critically examining the relationship between the protection of constitutional rights and the independence of the courts)
3. Jeffrey S. Sutton, Who decides? (2021) (exploring the mechanisms of American federalism)
4. Elizabeth L. Lambert, Michael Brown (eds.), Studies in Burke and in his time, (2021) (exploring Burke’s thought)
5. Gürkan Çapar, How (Not) to Compare?: Not Being Inside, Nor Outside, Global Jurist (2021) (exploring the methodologies for comparative research)

Calls for Papers and Announcement

1. ICON-S CEE Chapter is pleased to announce a roundtable around the new book by Silvia Suteu, Eternity Clauses in Democratic Constitutionalism (Oxford University Press 2021). The event will take place via Zoom on 3 February 2022.
2. On Monday, the 16 May 2022, re:constitution and CESP – Department of Political Science, LUISS Guido Carli, in partnership with the University of Copenhagen, co-organize an international workshop on the theme “Freedom of Expression in the Digital Ecosystem: From the Wild Web to a European Lex Informatica?” The co-conveners welcome abstracts from senior and early career scholars, legal practitioners, and experts in the field. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 February 2022.
3. The Centre of Excellence for International Courts (iCourts) and Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order (PluriCourts) are hosting a Summer School for PhD students in the field of international courts and international organizations. Summer School will take place in Copenhagen on 7-11 June 2022. The deadline for applications is 7 February.
4. On 5 and 6 April 2022, the University of Siena and the University of Milan, together with the “Scuola Normale Superiore” of Pisa and under the patronage of RUniPace, will host in Siena an international Conference on “The Role of Women and Women’s Civil Society Organizations in Peace Processes.” A call for papers has been launched and will close on 1 March 2022.
5. The International Journal of Parliamentary Studies invites scholars of all levels of seniority and types of experience to submit papers on parliamentary issues.
6. The Ludovika University of Public Service will host the Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies on 12-13 May 2022 in hybrid form. The call for papers is open until 15 February.
7. On 22 March 2022, Hasselt University will host the hybrid conference “State Neutrality and Religious Diversity in the Public Sphere and Public Education in Europe.” The deadline for conference registrations is 15 March 2022. The conveners have also launched a call for posters (only open to PhD students). The deadline is 15 February 2022.

Elsewhere Online

1. Roni Mann, A more democratic Supreme Court? Not so fast, Verfassungsblog
2. Roberto Gargarella, Restoring the Validity of Law in Democratic Societies,  Verfassungsblog
3. Ece Göztepe, Silvia von Steinsdorff, A Matter of Pragmatism rather than Principle. How to Restore Constitutional Democracy in Turkey, Verfassungsblog
4. Dragoș Călin, Case C-817/21, Inspecția Judiciară. Compatibility of the organization of an authority competent to carry out the disciplinary investigation of judges, which is under the total control of a single person, with the rules of the rule of law, Unio – EU Law Journal