What’s New in Public Law

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—Surbhi Karwa, PhD Candidate, UNSW – Sydney

—Yacine Ben Chaabane Mousli, University Paris Panthéon-Assas, Law clerk at the Administrative Court of Paris

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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 India delivered an important judgment on the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The judgment has repercussions on issues of federalism, democracy, and concept of sovereignty. 
2. The Colorado Supreme Court holds that section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies to former US President Donald Trump. This disqualifies him from holding office again.
3. Australia’s High Court rules that indefinite detention is unconstitutional.
4. In its October 26th decision, the French Constitutional Council considers that the legislator has to take into account future generations’ needs when they adopt measures likely to cause serious and lasting damage to the environment.
5. The European Union Court of Justice finds the FIFA and UEFA rules on prior approval of interclub football competitions are contrary to competition law and the freedom to provide services.

In the News

1. Crisis of democracy deepens in India as 141 opposition members of parliament have been suspended.
2. Chileans have voted against the second draft constitution to replace the existing constitution.
3. The approval of the immigration bill by the French Parliament sparks controversy as it undermines the rights of migrants.
4. The European Parliament and the Council agreed on a new Pact on Migration and Asylum, marking a major drawback for migrants’ rights.
5. Hungary’s Parliament passes the Sovereignty Protection Act which allows the state to investigate and prosecute those accused of undermining ‘sovereignty’ of the country.

New Scholarship

1. Ali Usman Qasmi, Quam, Mulk, Sultanat: Citizenship and National Belonging in Pakistan (tracing development of ideas of citizenship and belonging in post-colonial Pakistan)
2. Issue 2 of the newly released journal, Comparative Constitutional Studies focusing on constitutional methods is out now.
3. The Special Issue of Wisconsin Law Review on Public Law in the States is out now. The issue focuses on subnational democracy, government and institutions in different US states.
4. César Rodríguez-Garavito and Jacqueline Gallant, Addressing Climate Emergency: The Untapped Potential of South African Constitutional Law (contextualizing and identifying gaps and opportunities of right-based climate litigation in South Africa and globally)
5. Rosalind Dixon, The New Responsive Constitutionalism (theorizing ideas of responsiveness in constitutional design and interpretation through comparison of Australia, Kenya and UK)
6. Carina Barbosa, UN Interventions and Democratization : Case Study of States in Political Transition (analyzing UN’s interventions in the process of constitution making in states undergoing political change)
7. Tom Gerald Daly, Constitutional Repair: A Comparative Theory (contemplating the transnational craft of constitutional repair and elaborating a novel syncretic theory of repair)
8. Scott Stephenson, Are Political “Attacks” on the Judiciary Ever Justifiable? The Relationship Between Unfair Criticism and Public Accountability (by drawing on the experiences from Australia and the United Kingdom, this article assesses the value of unfair criticism as a form of public accountability).
9. François Barque (eds.), Non-enforcement of constitutional court rulings, (addressing the non-implementation of constitutional court rulings through a theoretical and comparative approach, in French).

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. Berkeley Centre on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination, NLSIU-Bangalore are now inviting submissions for 11the Annual Conference on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination.
2. Call for papers is now open for the 2024 Junior Scholars Conference at the University of Michigan Law School.
3. The Max Planck decolonial comparative law program invites submissions for papers to be presented at the upcoming workshop scheduled to take place in Brasília.
4. The first ICON.S France conference will take place on July 5, 2024 at Paris Nanterre University on the theme “Crises and challenges in public law”, and it welcomes conference proposals.
5. The Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge invites applications for Visiting Fellowship for scholars from the global south on religious boundaries.

Elsewhere Online

1. Adam Chilton, Mila Versteeg, How Constitutional Rights Matter (ConstitutionWorld PodCast)
2. Daniel Ghezelbash, Anna Talbot, High Court Reasons on Immigration Ruling Pave Way for Further Legislation (28 November 2023)
3. Symposia on Turkish Constitutional Courts in IACL Blog this week.
4. Multiple blog posts on implications of the Indian Supreme Court’s judgment on Ar. 370 of the Indian Constitution can be found here.
5. Daniel Holder, Andrew Forde, Avoiding the Legacy of Impunity (21 December 2023)
6. Rachael Walsh, Testing the Limits of Deliberative Constitutionalism (21 December 2023)