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What’s New: Week of May 4

— 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. Jamaica’s Constitutional Court voided an environmental permit for mining in the Dry Harbour Mountains. It held that the Prime Minister acted unlawfully and violated residents’ right to a healthy environment.
  2. A Kenyan appellate court overturned a 2022 High Court decision that had recognised abortion as a constitutional right. It held that abortion remains restricted except in limited circumstances, such as when necessary to protect the life or health of the mother.
  3. A U.S. federal judge blocked termination of Temporary Protected Status for Yemeni refugees. The court said ending the protection could expose them to serious danger if returned to Yemen.
  4. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case accusing Cisco Systems of aiding human rights abuses in China by allegedly helping develop surveillance technology used against Falun Gong practitioners. The case will determine whether U.S. law allows corporations to be held liable for assisting abuses abroad, with a ruling expected later in 2026.
  5. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld a law restricting parliamentary privilege for members of a spy watchdog committee. It ruled that the restriction is constitutional because it is narrowly focused on protecting classified information.
  6. A Kenyan court temporarily stopped the Director of Public Prosecutions from intervening in a contentious child custody dispute. The ruling ensures that the custody case proceeds without prosecutorial interference while related legal issues are determined.

In the News

  1. A Tanzanian Commission investigating post-election violence has recommended a national reconciliation process, deeper criminal investigations, and the adoption of a new Constitution by 2028 to guide future elections.
  2. The Maldives Supreme Court upheld a constitutional amendment requiring Members of Parliament to vacate their seats if they are dismissed from or resign from their political party.
  3. Switzerland’s National Council rejected a proposal to simplify the naturalisation process by centralising rules and reducing residency requirements.
  4. Egypt’s Cabinet approved a decree allowing registered landowners to apply for licences to explore and exploit mineral resources on their own land.
  5. In Liberia, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf condemned the explusion of lawmaker Yekeh Kolubah, while the government defended the action as constitutionally justified.

New Scholarship

  1. Francesco Lucherini, ‘Sustainable Development in Comparative Constitutional Design’, The American Journal of Comparative Law (2026) 1-43 (Examines constitutional integration of sustainable development, distinguishing weak and strong sustainability and advocating embedding ecological limits in constitutional governance).
  2. Marieta Safta, ‘The Procedure for the Adjudication of the Exception of Unconstitutionality in Romania: Theoretical Foundations and Jurisprudential Configuration’ 1 Law of Ukraine (2026) 152–178 (Analyses Romania’s constitutional review procedure and the role of constitutional court jurisprudence in shaping admissibility and litigation rules).
  3. Vladislava Stoyanova, ‘Positive obligations as coercive “rights” and compulsory vaccination under the European Convention on Human Rights’ International Journal of Constitutional Law (2026) 1-38 (Critically analyses the European Convention on Human Rights’ framing of compulsory vaccination as a tension between positive and negative obligations).
  4. Sayantani Bagchi, ‘Courts, Unwritten Conventions and the Constitution of India’ Special Issue Comparative Constitutional Law & Administrative Law Journal (2026) xi-xxxiii (Explores judicial engagement with constitutional conventions as interpretive but non-binding tools in India).
  5. Krati Gupta, ‘Three Branches, Two Democracies: A Critical Look at Separation of Powers in India & the USA’ 1(2) Avalon Journal of Law (2026) 231–238 (Presents a comparative analysis of separation of powers and institutional balance in India and the United States).
  6. Brian Christopher Jones, The influencers: Situating front-end constitutional guardianship, Legal Studies (profiles influential front-end actors that support and advise decision-makers, exploring their relevance to the UK constitution and also to wider constitutional theory)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

  1. The Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law invites abstracts for its 2026 International Conference on “Human Rights under Challenge and the Reconfiguration of International Law,” to be held on 2 October 2026 in Heidelberg, Germany. Abstracts are due by 31 May 2026.
  2. The School of Law, University College Cork (UCC), invites applications for a Summer Workshop for Early Career Researchers in Public Law to be held on 26 June 2026, ahead of the ICON•S Annual Conference. Applications should be submitted by 15 May 2026.
  3. The 2026 World Congress of Constitutional Law, themed “Sustainable Constitutionalism: Answers for a Changing World,” will be held at Universidad Externado de Colombia from 6–10 July 2026.
  4. The International Journal of Transitional Justice invites papers for a 2027 special issue on “Guarantees of Non-Repetition through Constitutional Reform in Transitional Justice”. Abstracts and full papers (5,000–10,000 words) are due by 1 July 2026.
  5. The 21st International Conference on Constitutional Law (ICCL 2027) will be held in a hybrid format in Phuket, Thailand, on 24–25 February 2027, bringing together scholars and practitioners to present research on all aspects of constitutional law.
  6. The Indian Journal of Commercial Law and Constitutional Governance (IJCLCG) invites papers for its inaugural Issue (Volume 1, Issue 1). Submissions are due by 7th May, 2026.
  7. The Frankfurt Law Review invites submissions for a special issue on ‘Digital Transformation’. Proposals should be submitted by 31 May 2025.
  8. The European Yearbook of Constitutional Law announces a call for applications for their ninth volume on ‘Reimagining Constitutional Identity in Europe’. The deadline for proposals is June 1, 2026.

Elsewhere Online

  1. Christopher Rutledge, ConCourt’s SAHRC ruling a dangerous retreat from meaningful human rights enforcement Daily Maverick (1 May 2026).
  2. Angelo Sathayu Sathorn, Can an Electoral Commission Know Voter Choices? A Constitutional Perspective on the Use of Barcodes in the Recent Thai General Election ICONnect (1 May 2026).
  3. Katherine P. Wu, The President’s Immunity is Only as Strong as His Legal Authority Jurist (30 April 2026).
  4. Scott Bomboy, The Supreme Court’s Callais decision sets new framework for racial gerrymandering Constitutional Center (30 April 2026).
  5. Faith Gakii, The Human Right to Healthy Animals: How Anthropocentric and Ecocentric Reasoning Need Each Other in Constitutional Animal Protection IACL-AIDC Blog (30 April 2026).
  6. Jessica Cejnar, Fairness or Uniformity: The Real Basis of the Duty to Give Reasons in Remling European Law Blog (30 April 2026).

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