What’s New in Public Law

—Maja Sahadžić, Ph.D. Researcher (University of Antwerp)

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 contact.iconnect@gmail.com.

Developments in Constitutional Courts

1. The Supreme Court of Namibia reversed its previous judgment in a case of an accused brought into the country unlawfully by state security agents.
2. The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany referred a case concerning the Public Sector Purchase Program of the European Central Bank to the European Court of Justice.
3. The Constitutional Court of Zambia held that persons in lawful custody and those whose freedom of movement is restricted under a written law should be entitled to vote in future elections.
4. The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled that military facilities in the Republic of Srpska are owned by the state and not by the entity.
5. The Constitutional Court of Chile reviews the constitutionality of a bill legalizing abortion.
6. The Constitutional Court of Austria reviews statutory rent regulations.
7. The Constitutional Court of Turkey held that fixed fines for breaching the electricity market legislation are not unconstitutional.
8. The Czech Constitutional Court ruled in a landmark decision in a restitution case of land confiscated by the communist regime.

In the News

1. A Thai provincial court in Khon Kaen sentenced activist Jatupat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpattararaksa to two-and-a-half years in prison for sharing a BBC article about the King.
2. The main opposition party in Nepal refused to support the constitutional amendment bill that is scheduled to be put to a vote in parliament later this week.
3. The President of Mali has suspended plans for revising the Constitution under pressure from the opposition.
4. An appellate court in Beida held invalid the vote by the Constitution Drafting Assembly approving its draft constitution.
5. The US Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York scheduled oral arguments in a lawsuit against President Trump alleging that he has violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution with his foreign family businesses.
6. The El Salvador Legislative Assembly abolished a law that allowed child marriage.
7. The House of Representatives in Morocco approved a law that allows citizens to raise, during a trial, the unconstitutionality of a legislative provision deemed to be an infringement of their constitutional rights and freedoms.
8. A court in Beijing shut down a company from breaking air-pollution rules
9. Venezuela’s new chief prosecutor vowed to jail protest leaders as the Constituent Assembly passed a new hate crimes law.
10. The new controversial Constitutional Assembly in Venezuela was criticized by South American governments and the United States after giving itself the power to pass laws, superseding the opposition-led Congress.
11. The Tunisian President called for a change in the Constitution to legalize interfaith marriage and amendments to women’s inheritance.
12. The ruling and opposition parties in Georgia have started a dialogue on constitutional changes.

New Scholarship

1. Zachary D. Clopton, Diagonal Public Enforcement, Stanford Law Review (forthcoming 2017) (exploring diagonal public enforcement at the inter-state, intra-state, and individual levels)
2. Lee Epstein and Thomas G. Walker, Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Institutional Powers and Constraints (2017) (analyzing classic and contemporary landmark cases, including key opinions that shape the development of constitutional doctrine in the United States)
3. Peng Hor, Phallack Kong and Jörg Menzel (eds.), Cambodian Constitutional Law (2016) (offering a comprehensive source of information, comparisons, and analyses on Cambodian constitutional law)
4. Boaz Atzili and Burak Kadercan, Territorial designs and international politics: the diverging constitution of space and boundaries, 5 Territory, Politics, Governance (2017) (introducing the concept of “territorial designs,” pertaining to the delineation of the external boundaries, to the constitution of the society within these boundaries, and to the interaction between delineation and constitution)
5. Elspeth Guild, Stefanie Grant and C. A. Groenendijk (eds.), Human Rights of Migrants in the 21st Century (forthcoming 2018) (examining the human rights of migrants in the context of the UN’s negotiations in 2018)
6. Nobuaki Kondo, Islamic Law and Society in Iran, A Social History of Qajar Tehran (2017) (examining the relationship between Islamic law and the Iranian society during the nineteenth century)
7. Barbara Havelkova, Gender Equality in Law: Uncovering the Legacies of State Socialism (2017) (examining legal developments in gender-relevant areas, most importantly in equality and anti-discrimination law in Czechia)

Call for Papers and Announcements

1. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) invites applications for the position of a program officer in its Constitution Building Program, based in The Hague. The deadline for submission of applications is September 15, 2017.
2. The Antwerp Consortium on the Organization of Rulemaking and Multi-level Governance in Europe (ACTORE) of the University of Antwerp invites submissions for the workshop “Judicial Governance: The role of European and International Courts and their Interaction with other Actors,” on December 14-15, 2017, in Antwerp. The deadline for abstract submission is September 1, 2017.
3. The Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in Transnational Law. The deadline for submission of applications is September 30, 2017.
4. The Journal of South Pacific Law welcomes submissions for its annual volume. The submission deadline is August 30, 2017.
5. The Saint Petersburg State University, European Society of International Law (ESIL), and Threefold Legal Advisors LLC invite submissions for a workshop on “The 1917 Russian Revolution and Its Impact on Law: International and Comparative Perspectives,” to be held on October 21, 2017, in Saint Petersburg. The deadline for abstract submission is September 15, 2017.
6. The Indian Constitutional Law Review invites submissions for its new volume. The deadline for manuscript submission is September 1, 2017.
7. The Faculty of Law of the Charles University organizes an international doctoral workshop on “Transformations of Law in Transnational Contexts,” on September 16-17, 2017, in Prague. The deadline for abstract submission is September 1, 2017.
8. The Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia invites applications for the Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, P.C., UBC Professorship in Constitutional Law. The deadline for submission of applications is September 8, 2017.

Elsewhere Online

1. Michael Gordon, Audit 2017: How democratic is the basic constitutional law of the UK?, Democratic Audit UK
2. Gerhard van der Schyff, Reviewing the recent Ban on Ritual Slaughter in Flanders, Verfassungsblog
3. Kenneth Mori McElwai, The Anomalous Life of the Japanese Constitution, Nippon
4. Colin PA Jones, Dentsu may not escape with summary justice, The Japan Times
5. Alison Young, Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave… The EU (Withdrawal) Bill 2017-19 and Human Rights post Brexit: Part 1 / Part 2, OxHRH
6. Joseph Petersen, The Dummies Guide to Constitutional Law Or: How I Learnt To Stop Worrying and Love Dual Citizenship, Petersen Legal
7. Marty Lederman, If federal law prohibits the sports gambling, which way does that cut in Christie v. NCAA?, Balkinization
8. Staci Zaretsky, Constitutional Law In The Age Of Trump: Law Professors React, Above the Law
9. Florian Hoffmann, Knowledge Production in Comparative Constitutional Law, Alterity – Contingency – Hybridity, The Völkerrechtsblog
10. Matthias Goldmann, Summer of Love: Karlsruhe Refers the QE Case to Luxembourg, Verfassungsblog
11. Ruthann Robson, Federal Judge Declares Louisiana’s Restriction on Non-Native Born Marriage Applicants Unconstitutional, Constitutional Law Prof Blog
12. Alan Renwick and Meg Russell, The Independent Commission on Referendums: Issues and Early Ideas, The Constitution Unit
13. Pierre de Vos, Can political parties expel MPs who disobey orders?, Constitutionally Speaking
14. Michael Maley, The 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Plebisurvey: Issues and Controversies, AUSPUBLAW
15. Elizabeth B. Wydra, Trump, if innocent, has nothing to fear of grand jury of fellow citizens, Constitutional Accountability Center