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 Constitutional Court of Hungary ruled that the 2019 transfer of many of the country’s main research institutes from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences to a new network part-controlled by the government is not an infringement on scientific freedom.
2. On 1 January 2023 a Constitutional Court will start functioning in Kazakhstan to ensure more effective protection of human rights as citizens will be able to appeal directly to the court.
3. The Constitutional Court of Taiwan decides whether article 1052 of the Civil Code, limiting the circumstances in which couples can file for divorce, violates the constitutional protection of individual freedoms.
4. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on the Biden administration’s expulsion policies for undocumented migrants.
5. The Constitutional Court of South Africa ordered the parole of a prisoner currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of a South African Communist leader and anti-apartheid activist. This decision led to protests across the country.

In the News

1. The European Commission presented different options to Member States to make sure that Russia is held accountable for the crimes committed during the war in Ukraine. Particularly, the European Commission proposed the establishment of an ad hoc international tribunal or a specialised ‘hybrid’ tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russia’s crime of aggression.
2. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the latest developments in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, recognising Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and as a state that “uses means of terrorism”.
3. After mass domestic protests, China adopted a shift in its Covid strategy as it moves to ease some virus restrictions, especially in the districts of Shanghai and Guangzhou.
4. The Italian lower Chamber approved a motion committing the government not to ratify the reform of the European Stability Mechanism in consideration of the state of ratification in other member States and of the relative impact on the evolution of the European regulatory framework.
5. The the U.S. Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriages. Now the bill has to be examined by the House of Representatives.

New Scholarship

1. Jaakko Husa, Interdisciplinary Comparative Law (2022) (this book offers a critical analysis of the difficulties of interdisciplinarity in comparative law).
2. Shreya Atrey, Sandra Fredman (eds.), Exponential Inequalities (forthcoming 2023) (this volume offers an understanding of inequalities as they arise and are exacerbated by crises such as pandemics, wars, democratic crises, recessions, and climate disasters).
3. Charles M. Fombad, Nico Steytler (eds.), Constitutionalism and the Economy in Africa (forthcoming 2023) (this book examines whether the quest for constitutionalism in Africa has resulted in economic growth).
4. Emilia Justyna Powell, Islamic Law and International Law (2022) (the volume examines the presence of Islamic law-related arguments in the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice).
5. Angela M. Páez.  Who Are You and What’s Your Issue? Winning in Collective Litigation in Colombia (2022) (the article explores how litigants’ resources and the type of right under litigation affect judicial decision-making).  

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The first International Congress of Comparative and Constitutional Law “Cuba CON-PARA” will take place in Havana from 4 to 6 April 2023. Cuba CON-PARA is organized by the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana and is co-sponsored by several academic and research centres from Italy, Mexico and Cuba. A call for papers has been launched and will close on 15 February 2022.
2. The Italian Association “Diritto pubblico comparato ed europeo” (DPCE) is pleased to announce the call for papers for the 2023 Seminar, to be held at the University of Pescara (Italy) on 29-30 June 2023, on the subject of “Constitutionalism, Pacifist Principle and Armed Conflicts”. Submissions may be sent in Italian or in English by 1 February 2023.
3. The Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) annual conference on “Constitutionalism in Developing Democracies” will be hosted by Ulster University from 4 to 6 April 2023. Authors wishing to present at the conference (in person or virtually) must submit their abstracts by 9 January 2003.
4. Hasselt University is pleased to announce the third edition of the Young Legal Researchers Conference, which will take place on 16 December 2022 at the Law Faculty of Hasselt University in a hybrid format. The theme of the conference is: “Back to the basics: Fundamental principles of law in contemporary challenges”.
5. The organisers of the Stellenbosch Annual Seminar on Constitutionalism in Africa (SASCA) are pleased to announce the call for papers for the tenth anniversary of the Stellenbosch Annual Seminar on Constitutionalism in Africa, which will be held in Stellenbosch (South Africa) from 19 to 22 September 2023. The deadline for submitting proposals is 30 January 2023.

Elsewhere Online

1. Kim Lane Scheppele, R. Daniel Kelemen, John Morijn, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The Commission Proposes Freezing Funds to Hungary, Verfassungsblog.
2. Patrick Gardiner, Conflating the Powers of the Commissarial and the Sovereign Dictator in Tunisia, Verfassungsblog.
3. Ben Stanford, No ID? No vote! Voter ID comes to Great Britain, LSE blog.
4. Dalibor Rohac, Governing the EU in an age of division, LSE blog.