What’s New in Public Law

–Dhruv Singhal, B.A. LL.B. (Hons) Candidate at National Law University, Jodhpur, India

—Miracle Okoth Okumu Mudeyi, LL.B. (Hons) University of Nairobi, Advocate Trainee, Kenya School of Law, Kenya

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 Kenya has struck out an application seeking “leave to admit” a petition on the date of the next presidential election, holding that such leave is unknown to the Supreme Court Rules and that its exclusive original jurisdiction under Articles 163(3)(a) and 140 is not engaged for pre-election disputes; such interpretation questions fall to the High Court under Article 165(3)(d).
2. In a unanimous decision, South Africa’s Constitutional Court held under section 167(4)(e) that only it may decide whether the National Assembly failed to fulfil a constitutional obligation, and found that Parliament did not facilitate reasonable public involvement in appointing members of the Commission for Gender Equality. The Court declared the appointments invalid and suspended the order for 12 months to allow a fresh process.
3. South Africa’s Constitutional Court refused leave to appeal in Sunwest International t/a GrandWest Casino & Emfuleni Resorts v Provincial Gambling Boards. The case asked whether casino “free-play” loyalty credits count toward “adjusted gross revenue” for provincial gambling-tax purposes. Writing for a unanimous Court, Kollapen J held the dispute was a narrow question of statutory interpretation that did not raise a constitutional issue or an arguable point of law of general public importance. The result leaves the lower-court position intact and confirms that the Court’s extended jurisdiction remains reserved for issues of broader public significance.
4.  The Constitutional Court in Indonesia held that Article 23 of the State Ministries Law (Law No. 39/2008) applies to deputy ministers, not just ministers. It declared Article 23 conditionally unconstitutional unless read to ban deputy ministers from concurrently holding: (a) other state offices; (b) commissioner/director posts in SOEs or private companies; and (c) leadership of bodies funded by the state or regional budgets.
5. The Constitutional Court in Uganda has declined to judicially introduce no-fault divorce, holding instead that under the Divorce Act the protections and legal remedies attending judicial separation must apply equally to husbands and wives, giving effect to constitutional guarantees of equality and family protection

In the News

1. The UK government has paused all new refugee family-reunion applications, effective 3:00 pm on 4 September, framing the move as a “temporary” suspension while it designs a replacement policy; an official economic note sets out options and signals a shift toward channeling families into ordinary (and stricter) migration routes—raising immediate Article 8 ECHR concerns and debate about family-unity norms.
2. The EU AI Act’s governance rules and obligations for general-purpose AI (GPAI) took effect on 2 August. The Commission’s timeline confirms immediate transparency/copyright duties for GPAI providers and a staged regime for “systemic-risk” models—marking the first operational bite of the AI Act beyond the February bans.
3. Tunisia abruptly dissolved its Access to Information Authority (INAI), shuttering offices and reassigning staff—an escalation in the dismantling of independent oversight that civil-society groups warn undermines constitutional transparency guarantees and press freedom.
4. Uganda opposition filed a petition over the issue of trying civilians in military courts. After Parliament passed—and the President signed—the UPDF (Amendment) Act, 2025, the National Unity Platform filed a Constitutional Court challenge on 13–14 Aug, arguing the law defies the Supreme Court’s January ban on trying civilians in military courts.
5. Guinea heads toward a 21 September constitutional referendum; expert platforms outline unresolved legal design choices (terms, eligibility, bicameral legislature) and the transition calendar, with policy forums weighing the vote’s implications for a return to civilian rule.

New Scholarship

1. In the German Law Journal, Victoria Miyandazi traces the Role of Kenyan Courts in Tackling Persistent Inequalities: Navigating Deference and Accountability”. The article traces how Kenya’s superior courts adjust the balance between restraint and intervention in equality and socio-economic rights cases. Miyandazi proposes an accountability-centred approach in which courts tailor standards of review and remedies so that public bodies address persistent inequities while the separation of powers is respected.
2. A new book, Reimagining Social Justice Scholarship, edited by Tamara Shefer, Carmine Rustin and Floretta Boonzaier, rethinks how social-justice research is done, centring lived experience, co-produced knowledge and community-embedded methods. Its decolonial and feminist framing speaks to public-law debates on equality and socio-economic rights, offering practical ways to connect doctrine with everyday harms and to design remedies that are both effective and legitimate.
3. In a  forthcoming article in the Virginia Law Review, “The Practice of Executive Constitutionalism” Conor Clarke and Daniel Epps map how the United States Executive Branch develops and transmits constitutional meaning through tools such as Office of Legal Counsel opinions, signing statements, agency guidance, enforcement discretion and control of litigation. By comparing these practices with judicial methods, the authors identify when executive-led constitutionalism can be justified and where institutional reforms may be warranted, particularly amid renewed claims of unilateral authority.
4.  A new volume,The Basic Structure Doctrine in Malaysia: Themes and Perspectives, edited by Kevin YL Tan and HP Lee, traces the doctrine’s trajectory in Malaysia, from its rejection in Loh Kooi Choon (1975) to its endorsement by the Federal Court in Sivarasa Rasiah (2010) and its subsequent consolidation. Contributors combine theory, country context and comparative perspectives to show how the basic-structure debate intersects with Malaysian politics, including tensions between Islamist and secular visions and the role of the Malay Rulers.
5.  Richard H. Fallon Jr.in The Changing Constitution: Constitutional Law in the Trump-Era Supreme Court offers a wide-angle account of contemporary U.S. constitutional law through recent and landmark Supreme Court decisions. Chapters address freedom of speech and religion, the Second Amendment, abortion, affirmative action, LGBTQ rights, and presidential powers. Setting these disputes against a longer historical backdrop, he argues that constitutional doctrine is continually shaped by political and institutional dynamics, which explains both innovation and periodic reversals.

Call for Papers and Announcements

1. Submissions are now open for Volume II of the Journal of Comparative Constitutional Jurisprudence (JCCJ). Topics include the jurisprudence, philosophy and evolution of constitutionalism, constitutional conventions across jurisdictions, and comparative or transnational constitutional rights. The journal is double-blind peer-reviewed. Deadline: 30 September 2025 (11:59 pm IST). More information can be found here.
2. Submissions are open for the Building Democratic Resilience: Institutions and Attitudes in Latin America workshop (LBJ School, University of Texas at Austin), 6 March 2026. The organisers invite work-in-progress on democratic backsliding and resilience in Latin America, including institutions, public attitudes, civic engagement, and threats such as executive overreach, criminal violence and corruption. Proposals are due 15 October 2025. More information can be found here.
3. Submissions are open for “Evidence Matters Before Regional Human Rights Courts: The African Court in Critical and Comparative Perspective,” a conference in Pretoria on 11–13 May 2026, co-hosted by DISSECT (Ghent University) and the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Abstracts (≤300 words) are due 30 September 2025 by email. More information can be found here.
4. The Indian Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for a writing workshop on “Asian Cities and International Law” for early- and mid-career international law teachers, to be held 13 December 2025 in New Delhi. Details are here
5. The Hanley Democracy Center (University of Miami) has issued a call for proposals for the “Constitutions for Peace” conference, to be held on 15–16 November 2025 in Coral Gables; abstracts are due 15 September 2025.  More information can be found here.
6. 2026 Eurasia Policy Forum: Contemporary Political Myth and Reality in Eurasia, University of Texas at Austin, February 12-13, 2026. This interdisciplinary conference addresses constitutional design and legal reform, state-building and democracy, myth and reality experienced by individuals and networks, memory and identity, misinformation and disinformation, among other topics. Lodging and partial travel covered. Submissions due October 15, 2025. Details in the call for proposals.

Elsewhere Online

1. The UK Constitutional Law Association hosts David Erdos on the Information Commissioner’s handling of the “Afghan spreadsheet” data breach, with a close read of the ICO’s post-hoc memorandum and the implications for accountability in UK data-protection enforcement. The post is here.
2. EJIL:Talk! runs in-depth commentary on the Inter-American Court’s preliminary-objections judgment in Chirinos Salamanca v Venezuela, including analysis of representation disputes and jurisdiction, and a follow-up that situates the ruling within inter-American doctrine. Read the pieces here.
3. The UCL Constitution Unit announces a public webinar titled “How should the UK’s parliaments scrutinise international agreements” on 24 September. Details are here.
4. Ideas of India features historian Narayani Basu on K. M. Panikkar, with a discussion of statecraft, diplomacy, and constitutional thought in mid-century India. The episode and transcript are here.
5. For an Australian perspective on campaign-finance reform, Graeme Orr explains the new Commonwealth regime in Law Society Journal, while the Australian Electoral Commission provides a clear FAQ on commencement and scope. See the analysis here.