What’s New in Public Law

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–Silvio Roberto Vinceti, Adjunct Lecturer, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

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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 Supreme Court of Ireland ruled that the proposed ratification of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada as it now stands is unconstitutional.
2. In a high-stakes case concerning an alleged “sweetheart” tax deal, the ECJ ruled that the Commission erred in identifying the applicable reference system.
3. The ECtHR upheld the extradition of a UK citizen to the US despite the alleged risk of life imprisonment without parole.
4. The Italian Constitutional Court returned the proceedings concerning irreducible life imprisonment’s constitutionality to the Court of Cassation.
5. Ireland’s High Court upheld the constitutionality of the newly adopted Personal Injuries Guidelines.
6. US Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch argued that the US Constitution’s Jury Trial Clause requires 12-person juries in serious criminal cases.

In the News

1. the Republican Party is inching toward a House majority in the US midterm elections, while control of the Senate remains a tossup possibly to be decided in the December 6 Georgia runoff.
2. Vermont, California, and Michigan codified the right to abortion in state constitutions, while voters in Kentucky rejected an amendment affirming that the right to abortion is not enshrined in the state constitution. Montana voters rejected the “Born Alive” ballot measure.
3. EU Commission proposed a “stable, regular and predictable” support package to Ukraine.
4. EU Parliament and EU Council reached an agreement on national emission reductions from transport, buildings, waste, and agriculture.
5. Polish government requested suspension of the one million euro daily fine for failing to comply with judicial independence standards.
6. A constitutional crisis looms over Kosovo in the wake of the resignation of Serb members of parliament, mayors, and judicial officials.

New Scholarship

1. Caterina Milo The role of knowledge and medical involvement in the context of informed consent: a course or a blessing? (2022) (discussing issues of over-medicalization and de-medicalization in informed consent legal framework).
2. Haukur Logi Karlsson The Emergence of the Established “By Law” Criterion for Reviewing European Judicial Appointments (2022) (discussing the role of the ECHR and CFR “establish by law” clause in safeguarding independence in judicial appointments).
3. Yasser Kureshi Seeking Supremacy: The Pursuit of Judicial Power in Pakistan (2022) (describing Pakistan’s judiciary shift from a more deferential to more assertive and confrontational role toward military and civilian authorities).
4. Susan Rose-Ackerman Democracy And Executive Power: Administrative Policymaking In Comparative Perspective (2022) (evaluating interactions between constitutional and administrative law in the executive rulemaking procedures in the US, UK, France, and Germany).
5. Ewald Wiederin, Die Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit in Österreich 1919–1939 (2022) (discussing the trajectory of constitutional review development in Austria).
6. Danai Petropoulou Ionescu & Mariolina Eliantonio Soft Law Behind the Scenes: Transparency, Participation and the European Union’s Soft Law Making Process in the Field of Climate Change (2022) (shedding light on the soft law-making process in the context of climate change regulation).
7. Vicente F. Benítez-Rojas Beyond Invalidation: Unorthodox Forms of Judicial Review of Constitutional Amendments and Constitution-amending Case Law in Colombia (2022) (discussing Colombia Constitutional Court’s case law on the judicial review of constitutional amendments and foreshadowing possible illiberal misuses).

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. University of Liverpool International Law and Human Rights Unit invites contributions to the conference “Distortion, Distillation, Disorder: International Law and Critique Twenty Years After the Invasion of Iraq” to take place at the University of Liverpool on March, 27-28, 2023. The abstract deadline is on November 18, 2022.
2. The European Society of International Law calls for papers for its 18th Annual Conference on the theme “Is international law fair?” that will be held in hybrid form in Aix-en-Provence and online from August 31 to September 2, 2023, with pre-conference workshops on August 30-31. The deadline for abstract submission is January 31, 2023.
3. The Race and Rights Lab of the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame invites paper proposals for a Workshop on Race and International Relations to take place at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs on March 31, 2023. The deadline for abstract submissions is December 20, 2022.
4. invites manuscript submissions for an Open Access Supplement on “Reimagining Public Health Preparedness With Lessons From COVID-19.” Papers should be submitted before January 17, 2023.
5. Edinburgh Law School announced the 9th edition of the annual Edinburgh Postgraduate Law Conference on the theme “Law in the 21st Century Challenges and Adaptations.” The conference will take place in a hybrid format on May 30-31, 2023, with panels online and in-person at the Edinburgh Law School. Abstracts are due by January 1, 2023.
6. The University of Chicago Law School seeks a Law & Philosophy Fellow for the academic year 2023-24. Application is due by January 27, 2023.
7. Jindal Global Law Review calls for expressions of interest to review titles for its upcoming issue on “Critical Constitutionalism: Power, Rights, Justice,” to be published in June 2023. Expressions of interest are due by November 20, 2022.
8. Comparative law scholars are invited to submit a paper proposal for presentation at the Annual Comparative Law Work-in-Progress Workshop that will take place at the University of Pennsylvania Law School on January 19-21, 2023. Papers are due by November 18, 2022.
9. The University of York and the Globalization and Law Network at Maastricht University will host an event to discuss Anu Bradford’s 2020 book “The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World.” The event will take place at the Maastricht University Campus on December 15, 2022.

Elsewhere Online

1. Daphne Keller The EU’s new Digital Services Act and the Rest of the World Verfassungsblog
2. Carna Pistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Constitutional Court Protects the Rule of Law Against Illiberal Memory Politics IACL-AIDC Blog
3. M. Lutfi Chakim  The Indonesian Proposal to Establish a Constitutional Supremacy Index IACL-AIDC Blog
4. Merris Amos The place of human rights in the Constitution of the United Kingdom U.K. Constitutional Law Blog
5. Michael C. Dorf Should District Judges Appoint Historians as Neutral Experts? The Legislative Fact Problem Dorf on Law
6. Marco Bronckers The EU’s Inconsistent Approach towards Sustainability Treaties: Due diligence legislation v. trade policy EJIL:Talk!