What’s New: Week of March 16

— Vrishti Shami, Affiliate Research Fellow, Dr. Ambedkar Chair on Constitutional Law and Social Inclusion, NALSAR University, Hyderabad

 — Osama Noor, Law Clerk-cum-Research Associate, Supreme Court of India

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 (MK) of Indonesia held an anti-corruption statute’s definition of the term ‘obstruction of justice’ to be unconstitutional, formally revising the provision to prevent potential over-criminalization and legal uncertainty.
2. The Indian Supreme Court has stayed a trial court proceeding after the judge in that matter was cautioned for using nonexistent citations generated by AI. The Court described the matter as one concerning the ‘integrity of adjudicatory process’ and has identified this as judicial misconduct inviting potential legal consequences for the judge.
3. The Indian Supreme Court for the first time has allowed  passive euthanasia of a man who has been physically and mentally incapacitated since 2013. The Court also urged the Government of India to bring a comprehensive law to govern passive euthanasia.
4. Ecuador’s Constitutional Court ruled that the automatic application of a rule requiring an applicant to reach majority before requesting modification of their gender on identity documents is unconstitutional, and required civil authorities to consider each case individually.
5. The US Supreme Court declined to hear a dispute over copyright for AI generated material, thereby upholding the law that AI cannot be an author.

In the News

1. South Korea’s National Assembly has passed a bill allowing an increase in the number of Supreme Court justices, allowing a progressive increase from 14 judges to 26 over a three-year period starting in 2028.
2. The Indian Supreme Court has resolved to allow future High Court Chief Justices to transfer to their courts two months before assuming office, to improve administration of justice.
3. Kenya’s Parliament has enacted a law establishing a contributory pension fund and enhanced medical benefits for judges, in a measure described as an effort to strengthen the Kenyan Constitution’s provisions on judicial independence.
4. Britain’s Parliament has passed legislation barring hereditary peers from sitting or voting in the House of Lords. The Leader of the upper house described this constitutional change as the fulfillment of prior reforms which sought to establish that inherited titles should not be the basis of parliamentary representation.
5. Indian legal scholar, M.P. Singh, who authored a notable treatise on constitutional law as well as several works in comparative law, has passed away.

New Scholarship

1. Michael C. Leach, The Rule of Law in International Development Paradox and Practice (Routledge, 2026)
2. Anat Scolnicov (ed), Constitutional Transplantations: The Diffusion and Adoption of Constitutional Ideas (Hart Publications, 2026)
3. Benjamin Schonthal, Courts, Constitutions and Karma: Buddhism, Law and the Practices of Legal Pluralism in Sri Lanka (Cambridge University Press, Studies in Law and Society, February 2026)
4. David Freeman Engstrom, David Marcus & Elliot Setzer, ‘Managerial Courts‘ The Yale Law Journal (Volume 135, March 2026)
5. Mark Tushnet, ‘Transformative Constitutionalism Around the World: Some Notes on the Concept, NLUID Journal of Legal Studies Volume 8, 2026
6. Baboki Jonathan Dambe and Olebile Daphney Muzila ‘The Absence of Judicial Discretion to Condone Non-compliance in Election Petitions in Botswana: Procedural formalism over Substantive Justice?’ Statute Law Review, Volume 47, Issue 1, 2026)
7. Joshua C. Macey, Ketan Ramakrishnan and Brian M. Richardson ‘Against General Law Constitutionalism’ University of Chicago Law Review (forthcoming)
8. Anmol Jain, ‘Judicial Obliqueness:  The Supreme Court, the Office of the Speaker, and the Politics of Constitutional Abstraction’ Demoptimism Working Paper 2026/2 (February 2026). 
9. Adam A. Davidson and Jocelyn Simonson, Expanding Sources of Knowledge in Legal Scholarship, The University of Chicago Law Review (March 2026)
10. Jonathan D. Glater, Blown Chances, Harvard Law Review ( March 10, 2026)
11. Lilach Litor, Global Constitutionalism and Social Movement Unionism, Cambridge University Press (March 9, 2026)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. From June 11 – 13, 2026, Harvard Law School’s IGLP will collaborate with Sciences Po Law School to convene the Global Scholars Intensive in Paris, France. The last date to apply is 23 March 23 2026.
2. The UCLA Law Review has opened calls for submissions for its 2027 symposium. Application will close on 24 April and be reviewed on a rolling basis.
3. The Demoptimism Working Paper Series invites submissions from scholars at all career levels on issues relevant to our digital platform’s five focus areas: democratic crisis; resisting threats; constitutional repair; renewing participation; and redesigning democracy. Submission Guidelines and all past papers are at the link.
4. The Rosa Luxembourg Stiftung’s interdisciplinary Ambedkar Summer School will take place from May 10-16 2026. The last date to apply is 30 March 2026.

Elsewhere Online

1. Keith E Whittington, The Historic Case for Birthright Citizenship, The Dispatch (March 2, 2026)
2. Leighton Fernando G. Cook, Reconstruction’s Immigrant Protections: Federal Preemption of Disparate Punishments Against Immigrants, The Yale Law Journal Forum (March 9, 2026)
3. Arafat Hosen Khan, Weaponized Legalism and the Promise-Performance Gap: Press Suppression in Transitional Democracies: Part 2 – Comparative Global South Perspectives, Oxford Human Rights Hub (March 10, 2026)