—Wilson Seraine da Silva Neto, Master Student at the University of Coimbra – Portugal; Postgraduate in Constitutional Law at the Brazilian Academy of Constitutional Law
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
- The U.K. Supreme Court will hold hearings in October on whether Scotland can call an independence referendum without the consent of the British government.
- South Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down a law that authorized mobile carriers to share personal data with law enforcement agencies without notifying the user, local media said.
- The South African Constitutional Court has dismissed Ace Magashule’s application to appeal his suspension as the ANC’s secretary-general.
- The American Bar Association passed a unanimous resolution opposing the so-called Insular Cases, a series of Supreme Court decisions that decreed limits to the rights of U.S. citizens in territories based largely on their race.
- The Portuguese Constitutional Court will decide whether mistreatment of animals constitutes a crime. In past cases, the justices considered that the prison sentence can only be applied in situations where constitutionally protected values are violated, which would not be the case for animal welfare.
- The São Tomé Constitutional Court granted the request made by the president of the country’s parliament, allowing him to pay in installments a fine of 375,000 dobras (15,112 euros) for failing to render the accounts of the presidential campaign in 2021.
In the News
- Kiribati is in the midst of a constitutional crisis after its government detained one of its most senior judges, Australian citizen David Lambourne, after a failed attempt to deport him.
- Khoi and San people marched to the constitutional court to hand over a memorandum in which they demanded that their indigenous rights be recognized, equally applied and upheld in South Africa.
- Recently retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has been named the honorary co-chair of the National Constitution Center’s board of trustees, where he joins Justice Neil Gorsuch, who has served in that position since 2019.
- Former members of Joe Biden’s commission on the Supreme Court say their work had value even though the president hasn’t yet backed any changes in the eight months since they submitted the final report.
- The Community of Madrid will present an appeal of unconstitutionality to the royal decree of the energy plan of the Government of Spain, considering that it is “putting into question the own competences” of the Community, specifically, those linked to trade.
- Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha reiterated that the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Thailand will decide when he will reach the eight-year limit of his premiership.
- UNC and Harvard University’s affirmative action cases will no longer be heard together by the Supreme Court, per a 22 July 2022 order.
New Scholarship
- Allan McCay, Neurotechnology, law and the legal profession (2022) (sets out the: challenges and opportunities that developments in neurotechnology may bring for the profession, and the impact it may have on cognitive performance and the way lawyers work).
- Fábio Lopes Alfaia, Reserva do Possível e Discricionariedade Jurídica (2020) (analyzes the principle of reserve for contingencies as a structuring and conditioning legal norm for the interpretation and application of rules and principles of public law)
- Johannes Reich, Originalismus» als methodologischer Scheinriese und verfassungspolitische Konterrevolution (2022) (critical analyze on originalism as dominant methodology for interpreting the US Constitution)
- Joseph Cudjoe Awudja, Ronald Mensah, Adwoa Kwegyiriba, Agyemang Frimpong, Public Attitudes towards Death Penalty Provisions: Relevance of Ethico-Phenomenological Principles in the Operation of Articles 3 (3) & 19 (2) of the 1992 Republican Constitution of Ghana (2022) (the article recommends that the death penalty be abolished under the Ghana new constitution and replaced with life imprisonment without parole and that any amendment to abolish the death penalty be approved by a national referendum, as it involved an entrenched constitutional provision)
- Peter T. Muchlinski, Advanced Introduction to Business and Human Rights (2022) (this book charts the field of business and human rights, finding that corporate responsibility to respect human rights is gradually evolving into a binding legal duty in both national and international law)
- Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, The Rule of Law in Brazil (2022) (This book provides a broad perspective of the functioning, evolution, and dynamics of the rule of law in Brazil.)
Calls for Papers and Announcements
- The Global Summit on Constitutionalism is now accepting submissions for individual papers and fully-formed panels.
- The University of Coimbra Institute for Legal Research welcomes Papers to the The Colloquium/Workshop Migrations, human rights and citizenship which intends to analyze, discuss, and propose solutions on the impact of migration in different citizenship contexts, in today’s complex and heterogeneous societies. The Abstracts of 300 words (max.) should be submitted by 10 October 2022 to mhrc@ij.uc.pt.
- The University of Coimbra Institute for Legal Research launched an international competition for 3 post-doctoral fellowships, at the University of Coimbra Institute for Legal Research. Candidates must be highly motivated and qualified young researchers (maximum 3 years of PhD) from all social sciences, not just law. Knowledge of Portuguese is not a requirement if the person can express themselves in English as a working language.
- The International Journal of Law Management & Humanities invites Research papers, Articles, Short Notes, Book Reviews, Case Commentaries, and others contributions for its Volume V Issue IV. Submission Deadline for First Round: 20 August 2022.
- The Centre of Excellence for Environment and Forest Laws, ICFAI Law School, Hyderabad invites manuscripts for a book on Environment Law. The last date for submission of Chapters is 31 August 2022. Submissions are to be emailed at centexcellenvlaw@ifheindia.org.
- The Constitutional Research Institute of the Constitutional Court of Korea will hold its 11th International Symposium on 26 August on the theme “Global Constitutionalism and the System for the Protection of Global Human Rights.”
Elsewhere Online
- Richard Albert, Made To Be Broken: Richard Albert On The Difficulty Of Amending The U.S. Constitution, The Sun
- Samer Alnasir, Iraq Urgently Needs a Real Constitution, IACL-AIDC Blog
- Akhil Amar, Tackling Kennedy, America’s Constitution Podcast.
- Jesse Russell, A Legacy of Equal Justice, Law & Liberty
- Angie Gou, Ellena Erskine & James Romoser, Stat Pack for the Supreme Court’s 2021-22 Term, SCOTUSblog
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