What’s New: Week of August 17

— Olumide Opeyemi Toyinbo, Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria

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 South African Constitutional Court has blocked Shell’s offshore exploration plans along the Wild Coast. The Court found that affected communities were not properly consulted and overturned the earlier decision that had allowed the exploration to proceed.
  2. In France, the Constitutional Council has rejected a law that would have banned children under 15 from accessing social media. The Court held that the measure disproportionately restricted freedom of expression and communication and did not provide sufficient safeguards for privacy.
  3. Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has limited complaints over presidential insults. The Court ruled that only the President or Vice-President can file a complaint over alleged insults against them.
  4. South Africa’s Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal over President Cyril Ramaphosa’s impeachment proceedings. The Court’s decision leaves in place the order stopping public hearings by Parliament’s Impeachment Committee.
  5. Colombia’s Constitutional Court has resumed its review of the pension reform. The Court is considering whether Congress corrected a procedural error in passing the reform.
  6. In Taiwan, the Constitutional Court has ruled that parts of the law on child sexual assault are unconstitutional. The Court found that the law unfairly limited victims’ access to justice and ordered 11 cases to be retried.

In the News

  1. Hungary’s Parliament has elected former head of the Supreme Court, András Baka, as President. He is expected to oversee the adoption of a new constitution to replace the Orbán’s 2011 Constitution.
  2. Guinea-Bissau has launched a national campaign ahead of a constitutional referendum scheduled for 30 August. The campaign will explain the proposed constitutional amendments to voters before the referendum.  
  3. Bhutan’s Parliament has held its first meeting with civil society organisations to strengthen cooperation. The participants agreed to make the meeting an annual forum and improve public participation in legislative processes.
  4. South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has backed constitutional reforms to introduce a four-year presidential term with the possibility of re-election.
  5. Sierra Leone’s Parliament has approved a contested overhaul of the country’s electoral rules. The reforms would lower the threshold for winning the presidency, introduce proportional representation for parliamentary elections, and reserve 30 percent of political leadership positions for women.

New Scholarship

  1. D. Jubaedah, Z. Zulbaidah, D. Syaripudin, M. Mahbub and M. Waeno, ‘Beyond the Six Recognized Religions: Comparative Madhhab Perspectives on Religious Freedom and Indonesian Constitutionalism’ 8(2) Mazahibuna: Jurnal Perbandingan Mazhab (2026) 351–368 (examining religious freedom and the relationship between state law, Islamic jurisprudence and Indonesian constitutionalism).
  2. V. Galenso Syarief, M. Miharja, G. Nachrawi and Y. Gunawan, ‘Algorithmic Constitutionality: New Challenges for Constitutional Law in the Era of Artificial Intelligence’ 4(3) Greenation International Journal of Law and Social Sciences (2026) 678–684 (examining emerging constitutional challenges created by artificial intelligence and algorithmic decision-making).
  3. A. Mukundan, Debayan Gupta and Subhashis Banerjee, ‘Validity, Reliability, and Transparency in Artificial Intelligence Regulation’ Computers and Society (2026) (examining AI regulation through the principles of validity, transparency and proportionality, with reference to informational self-determination).
  4. Nicola Fabiano, ‘Inferential Capability Does Not Determine Legal Scope’ (2026) Computers and Society (examining how the EU AI Act and GDPR regulate AI-generated inferences and proposes a framework for addressing inference chains in agentic AI systems).
  5. Manabu Ishizaki, ‘Constitutional Issues in the Unification Church Dissolution Case’ 10(4) The Journal of CESNUR (2026) 3–30 (examining the constitutional issues arising from the dissolution of the Unification Church in Japan, including freedom of religion, freedom of association and the constitutional limits on dissolving religious organisations).
  6. I. Bar-Siman-Tov, ‘Regulating (Ab)uses of Omnibus Legislation through Judicial Review – An Empirical Study‘ (2026) European Journal of Risk Regulation, 1–35.

Calls for Papers and Announcements

  1. St. Joseph’s College of Law, India has issued a call for papers for a conference on “Reimagining the Right to Higher Education and Democratic Participation in a Changing World.” The deadline for submission of abstracts is 8 September 2026.
  2. Ukraine’s Competition Commission has announced a competitive selection for a vacant position on the Constitutional Court under the President’s quota. Candidates can submit their applications from 10 August to 8 September 2026.
  3. Applications are open for the 6th Kırımlı Dr. Aziz Bey International Humanitarian Law Competition and Advanced School. The event will take place in Istanbul from 30 October to 4 November 2026. This year’s theme is accountability under international humanitarian law. The early-bird deadline is 1 September, while the final deadline is 1 October 2026.
  4. The University of Amsterdam has issued a call for papers on the legal governance of data centres. The special issue will cover areas including AI governance, data protection, environmental law and constitutional law. The deadline for abstracts is 31 August 2026.
  5. The Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law is inviting abstracts for Volume 30. The special forum will focus on the wider United Nations system and its institutions. The deadline for abstracts is 28 August 2026.
  6. The Centre for Constitutions in Context (CCC) at Warwick Law School invites everyone to its 2026 Annual Lecture on 23 September 2026. It will be delivered by Professor Pippa Norris (Harvard Kennedy School of Government) on the ‘Cultural Roots of Democratic Backsliding’. The lecture will be online, held between 2pm-3:30pm BST, and registration is free (via Eventbrite).
  7. The Socio-Economic Inequalities and Poverty Discrimination Working Group (SEIPD) call for contributions for their second conference, “Litigating Socio-Economic Equality and Poverty Anti-Discrimination: Strategies and Limitations”, to be held at the University of Antwerp on 8–9 October 2026. The submission deadline is 20 August 2026.

Elsewhere Online

  1. Gabor Spuller, Between Values and Identity: Autochthonous Constitutional Traditions as a Bridge in Supranational Systems ICONnect (15 August 2026)
  2. Taylor Rodrigues, (Democracy) Watch Out: The Supreme Court ushers in a new era of judicial review in 2026 SCC 28 Gowling WLG (14 August 2026)
  3. Anna Vardanyan, A Constitution at the Crossroads: Armenia’s Reform Debate in a Shifting South Caucasus ICONnect (14 August 2026)
  4. Irodi Chika Judith, When the Mob Becomes the Court: The Dangers of Jungle Justice in Nigeria Barristerng (15 August 2026)
  5. Lewis Ngunyi, Why Kenya must defend 2010 Constitution Daily Nation (15 August 2026)
  6. www.iconnectblog.comwww.iconnectblog.comI·CONnect is featured as one of Feedspot’s 30 best constitutional law blogs.

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