What’s New in Public Law

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–Maja Sahadžić, Visiting Professor and Research Fellow, University of Antwerp, and Senior Research Fellow, Law Institute in Sarajevo

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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 Court of Belgium annulled Flanders’ attainment targets for secondary school.
2. The Supreme Court of Japan ruled that the same-sex marriage ban is constitutional.
3. The European Court of Justice decided against Europe’s data-collection regime on flight passengers in the name of civil liberties.
4. The Federal Court of Justice of Germany ruled that an antisemitic sculpture can remain in a church.
5. The Supreme Court of the United States of America overturned the New York handgun law.
6. The Supreme Court of the United States of America rejected a challenge to a rule requiring people who agree to settlements with the agency not to deny its allegations against them.

In the News

1. The Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions will hold a videoconference to discuss issues of the right to life.
2. The government of the United Kingdom announced a plan for a new controversial Bill of Rights.
3. Sri Lanka’s Cabinet passed a constitutional amendment to limit presidential powers.
4. The European Parliament endorsed the deal to extend the legal framework of the EU Digital COVID Certificate for another 12 months.
5. The European Parliament approved the EU candidate status for Ukraine and Moldova.
6. The Parliament of Kuwait dissolved as the country heads to snap elections.
7. The Parliament of Iraq swore in new lawmakers replacing numerous legislators who resigned collectively.

New Scholarship

1. Karlo Basta, The Symbolic State, Minority Recognition, Majority Backlash, and Secession in Multinational Countries (2021) (comprehensively re-examining multinational state politics through the lens of symbolic institutions).
2. Sameen A Mohsin Ali and Mariam Mufti, Political Parties and Decentralization in Pakistan Get access Arrow 52(2) Publius (investigating why national party elites in Pakistan voted to devolve power to the provinces but are hesitant to devolve meaningful fiscal and administrative power to the local level).
3. Mohammad Bashir Mobasher and Mohammad Qadam Shah, Deproblematizing the Federal–Unitary Dichotomy: Insights from a Public Opinion Survey about Approaches to Designing a Political System in Afghanistan 52(2) Publius (drawing on results of an opinion survey about public views in Afghanistan regarding concepts related to federalism).
4. Matteo Bonelli, Infringement Actions 2.0: How to Protect EU Values before the Court of Justice 18(1) European Constitutional Law Review (analyzing how the Commission’s approach has evolved and reflecting on possible future developments in the infringement strategy).
5. André Nunes Chaib, Multinaturalism in International Environmental Law: Redefining the Legal Context for Human and Non-Human Relations 12(1) Asian Journal of International Law (considering how other forms of life relate to the planet and how the separation of human/nature may be relativized, and arguing that these may provide a way to recalibrate our “regulatory” instruments from living with nature to living in nature).  
6. Jiangnan Zhu, The Rise and Fall of Ruling Oligarchs: Fighting “Political Corruption” 22(2) The China Review (conceptualizing the adaptation in corruption crackdowns in China and enriching oligarchical theory).

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. Sant’Anna Legal Studies (STALS) organizes a discussion on the forthcoming book by Wojciech Sadurski “A Pandemic of Populists” (Cambridge University Press 2022) to be held on 29 June 2022 in Pisa and Online (11:00-12:30 CET). Registration in advance is required with giuseppe.martinico@santannapisa.it.
2. LUISS University invites an application for a PhD position with MSCA Doctoral Fellowships issued in the framework of GEM-DIAMOND Consortium titled “Socio-economic contestation turned into democratic conflicts? EU comprehensive trade agreements in front of parliaments: The CETA case.” The deadline to apply is 3 July 2022.
3. LUISS University invites an application for a PhD position with MSCA Doctoral Fellowships issued in the framework of GEM-DIAMOND Consortium titled “National and European courts reacting to dissensus: The case of fundamental rights protection.” The deadline to apply is 3 July 2022.
4. The Constitutional Court of Indonesia organizes the 5th Indonesian Constitutional Court International Symposium “Constitutional Court and Conflict Resolution” to be held in Bali on 5-7 October 2022. The deadline for full paper submissions is 5 August 2022.
5. The Institute for Comparative Federalism invites applications for the yearly Federal Scholar in Residence Program. The deadline for submissions is 1 July 2022.

Elsewhere Online

1. Lisa Claire Whitten, Northern Ireland: A pawn in the new waiting game, Centre on Constitutional Change
2. David Torrance, “The festering issue” – the legality of a second independence referendum, Centre on Constitutional Change
3. Lorenzo Somigli, Can Lebanon be non-confessional? Reforms, identity, and global powers, Eureka!
4. Paul Sargeant, Robin Levinson-King, and Chloe Kim, Supreme Court: What happens if Roe v Wade overturned?, BBC
5. Alex Walker, Upholding standards in public life: the presidential and ‘pragmatic populist’ challenges, The Constitution Society
6. Solon Solomon, The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill: A comparative perspective on the parliamentary role in the amendment of major international agreements, UK Constitutional Law Blog
7. Rachel Griffin, Tackling Discrimination in Targeted Advertising, Verfassungsblog
8. Paul Blokker, Experimenting with European Democracy, Citizen-driven Treaty change and the Conference on the Future of Europe, Verfassungsblog