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What’s New: Week of November 17

—Alan Mauricio Jiménez Díaz, PhD. Candidate, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.

—Sumit Kumar Ganguly, Assistant Professor, SGT University, Gurugram, 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 U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis’s petition seeking to overturn damages awarded for refusing to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and to reconsider Obergefell v. Hodges,  leaving intact lower-court rulings and maintaining nation-wide marriage equality, despite dormant dormant state-level bans.
  2. In Pakistan, two Supreme Court judges resigned in protest against the 27th Constitutional Amendment which establishes a separate Federal Constitutional Court to hear cases involving constitutional interpretation and limits the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to civil and criminal appeals.
  3. The South African Constitutional Court ruled that the South African Riding for the Disabled Association could intervene in a land restitution process, reversing a prior denial. Holding that the right to compensation for improvements to state land had statutory protection, the Court remanded the case for determination of the compensation.
  4. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Poland violated a woman’s rights by delaying publication of a 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling on abortion, creating legal uncertainty that forced her to seek a termination abroad. The Court found the Constitutional Tribunal was improperly constituted and ordered compensation to the applicant for financial and emotional harm.
  5. The Madras High Court in India held that cryptocurrency is “property,” barring a company from pooling investor tokens to cover losses from a major hack. The decision imposes fiduciary duties on exchanges and strengthens investor ownership claims. This is an interim order, but has wider implications for the regulation of digital assets.
  6. The Federal Court in Malaysia held that courts, including itself, do not have any jurisdiction to review pardon boards’ decisions, which have separate jurisdiction. The Court reversed a prior decision that allowed the revision of sentences, holding that it amounted to interfering with the clemency process.
  7. The Judicial Committee of Privy Council upheld a decision that invalidated a public inquiry into Trinidad & Tobago’s Las Alturas housing project, holding that the inquiry commission had breached natural justice and fairness by failing to give the former Chairman of the Urban Development Corporation a chance to respond or defend himself.

In the News

  1. Ecuador will vote on a major referendum that could allow the establishment of a Constituent Assembly and a new, more neoliberal Constitution, although critics warn that this potential alignment with U.S. interests could weaken labour and environmental protection as well as political representation.   
  2. The European Parliament voted to scale back the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, limiting it to the largest companies and dropping climate-planning obligations, with a final text yet to be negotiated with member states.
  3. Bangladesh’s interim Government of Bangladesh will hold General Elections in February 2026, along with a constitutional referendum, which, if approved, will mandate a new constitutional reform council to amend the Constitution within 180 days.
  4. Israel’s Knesset advanced two controversial bills: one imposing a mandatory death penalty for Palestinians convicted of attacks deemed to target the state, and another granting the government power to shut down foreign media without judicial oversight. Far-right leaders championed the measures, while Palestinian authorities, rights groups, and legal advisers warned of discrimination and threats to press freedom. Both bills require two more readings before becoming law.
  5. The International Commission of Jurists warned that Pakistan’s 27th Amendment weakens judicial independence and erodes rule-of-law protections and rights by restructuring courts, judicial transfers, and executive immunity in a manner that allows significant executive influence over the judiciary.
  6. The U.S. government reopened after a record 43-day shutdown that caused delays in benefits and pay, extended furloughs, and costs rising into the billions, when Congress approved a short-term funding bill that ended a deadlock over health insurance.
  7. Spain’s Constitutional Court and the Venice Commission hosted the sixth World Conference on Constitutional Justice in Madrid, focusing on the human rights of future generations and intergenerational justice. The event featured addresses from regional human rights courts, and discussions between judges and court presidents from around the world on environmental protection, access to science, judicial independence and cultural heritage.
  8. Colombia marked 40 years since the Palace of Justice court siege, where an M-19 attack and a violent military response left more than 100 dead and 11 still disappeared. Survivors and families continue to seek accountability, truth and proper identification of victims, amid recent comments by President Gustavo Petro that reignited debates over responsibility.

New Scholarship

  1. Adekunle Akinola, The Human and Ecological Health Impacts of Carbon Emissions: Structural Injustice, Legal Fragmentation, and the Path to Integrated Climate Governance (2025) 2(4) Fountain University Law Journal  (arguing that carbon emissions exacerbate environmental injustice and calling for integrated governance linking public health, ecological protection, and emissions accountability)
  2. A. Junaedi Karso, Natural resources governance and the vulnerability of indigenous communities in Indonesia (2025) 7 Frontiers in Political Science (proposing integrated state-customary systems, and measures such as improved recognition and independent institutions to strengthen natural resource governance in Indonesia with reference to vulnerable indigenous communities)
  3. Joseline Hardrick, LOCS, LAW & Liberation – An Examination of the CROWN Act and Racialized Notions of Professionalism (20245) 9 Southern Journal of Policy and Justice 119 (critiquing racialized standards of professional discrimination, drawing from the author’s personal experiences and locating them within broader accounts of structural racism and liberation, to advocate for legal reforms)
  4. Jan Klabbers, Of cheques and balances: Funding and separation of powers in international organizations law (2025) International Journal of Constitutional Law (examining how growing reliance on private funding reshapes separation of powers in international organizations and arguing that mechanisms like global administrative law and inter-organizational review can substitute traditional checks, illustrated through global health)
  5. Michael Lustenberger, Florian Spychiger, Lukas Küng, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations—Governance, Technology, and Legal Perspectives (2025) Proceedings of the 2nd European DAO Workshop Zurich, Switzerland, Springer Link (examining how decentralized autonomous organizations combine decentralized governance with blockchain technology, reshaping organizational structures and decision-making, and addressing their potential for transparency and innovation while highlighting challenges such as centralization risks, legal uncertainty, and regulatory integration.)
  6. Tímea Drinóczi, Giulia A. Pennisi, Helen Xanthaki (eds), Language for Legislation and Legislation through Language (Routledge, 2026) (a collection of chapters drawing on European case studies to show how drafting and interpretation shape law’s meaning and implementation across diverse contexts, and exploring how linguistic tools and methodologies can improve legislative clarity and effectiveness).

Calls for Papers and Announcements

  1. The ICON•S Constitution-Making Interest Group invites submissions for the ICON•S Annual Conference 2026, to be held in Dublin on 27–29 July 2026. The deadline for abstracts is 31 January 2026.
  2. The ICON•S Austrian invites registrations for the 2nd ICON•S Austrian Chapter Conference on Academic Freedom and Democracy, to be held at the University of Graz, on 7th and 8th of September 2026.
  3. ICON·S Chile invites submissions for its Fourth Annual Conference, “Government and Democracy: Transformations of Public Power in the 21st Century,” to be held on 8–9 January 2026 at Universidad Central in La Serena. Applications must be submitted through the online forms by 28 November 2025.
  4. The University of Lausanne invites early career scholars to apply for its Research Workshop on Open Constitutional Democracy, to be held on 26–27 August 2026. The deadline for abstracts is December 19, 2025.
  5. The SLSA Annual Conference, to be held at the University of Sussex from 30 March-1 April 2026, has opened its calls for papers, as well as registration and bursary applications. Early-bird registration is available until 29 January 2026.
  6. The American Society of International Law, in collaboration with the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and the Neurenberg-Kesin Chair of International Conflict Resolution, invites submissions for a conference on international courts and tribunals, to be held on 19 February 2026 at the University of Ottawa (Common Law Section). The deadline for abstracts is December 1, 2025.
  7. The University of Havana Faculty of Law announces the II International Congress of Comparative and Constitutional Law, “Cuba CON-PARA 2026,” to be held in Havana on 4–6 February 2026. Submissions are due by 20 December 2025.
  8. Utrecht University invites contributions to a workshop on “Business, Armed Conflict, and International Law” on 25–26 June 2026.
  9. Utrecht University, in collaboration with Maastricht University, invites submissions for the 14th AIDP Symposium for Young Penalists, “Criminal Law in the Age of Transitions – Between sacred cows and core values of criminal justice system” to be held on 9–10 April 2026 in Utrecht. Abstracts are due by 28 November 2025. Submission details here.
  10. SGT University, India, Faculty of Law invites submissions for an edited volume on Constitutionalism in South Asia: Crises, Challenges, and Comparative Experiences. Register interest here.
  11. The Autonomous University of Madrid has opened its 2025 Tomás y Valiente Contract Programme, aimed at recruiting two outstanding early-career researchers in Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law. Applications must be submitted online between 23 October and 28 November 2025.

Elsewhere Online

  1. Erick Guapizaca Jiménez: Why Does Ecuador Keep Writing New Constitutions? (ICONnect, 11 November 2025)
  2. Nathan Whetton: Legislating against concealing identity at protests (UK Constitutional Law Association, 12 November 2025)

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