What’s New in Public Law

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—Matteo Mastracci, Digital Rights Researcher, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), and PhD Researcher, Koç University, Istanbul

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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. Croatia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the anti-pandemic measures introduced by the country’s government are legitimate and in accordance with the Constitution.
2. The Constitutional Court of Armenia has declared unconstitutional the part of the order of the Minister of Health of Armenia, according to which unvaccinated working citizens must take PCR tests for coronavirus at their own expense.
3. The German Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that the constitutional mandate to protect the right to life obliges the German legislator to protect people with disabilities and comply with the triage requirement.
4. The Korean Constitutional Court upheld ban on workplace change which favours the restriction introduced by the government on foreign workers who decide to change their jobs
5. The Turkish Constitutional Court has ruled that the police violated the right to life of Aynur Kudin, a 28-year-old Kurdish woman who died from a brain haemorrhage after falling down a staircase while trying to avoid inhaling tear gas during the Kobani protests of October 2014.

In the News

1. Azerbaijan’s parliament adopted a new media law which according to experts may have an extensive chilling impact on media freedom and independence in the country.
2. Belarus government released draft constitutional amendments that may allow the sitting President Lukashenko to further consolidate its power and remain in office until 2035.
3. Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic party is planning to propose the dissolution of an independent agency responsible for monitoring personal data protection and abuse of power.
4. Kosovo Supreme Court has ordered a retrial for an MP of the Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista, who was sentenced to two years of imprisonment for inciting ethnic, racial or religious intolerance.
5. North Macedonia’s parliament is due to accept Zoran Zaev’s resignation as Prime Minister setting the agenda for the formation of a new government in the country.
6. Russia’s Supreme Court has ordered the closure of the Russian human rights organisation Memorial International. The Ngo was active in recovering the memory of the millions of innocent people executed, imprisoned, or persecuted in the Soviet era.
7. The Jogorku Kenesh, unicameral Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic, adopted amendments to the law on the election of deputies, proposing the introduction of a new electoral system and reducing the gender quota.

New Scholarship

1. BIRN and SHARE Foundation, Online Intimidation: Controlling the Narrative in the Balkans, (December, 2021) (reporting and reviewing more than 800 cases of digital rights violations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.)
2. Vicki C. Jackson, Yasmin Dawood, Constitutionalism and a Right to Effective Government? (forthcoming, 2022) (analysing the role of effective governments in sustaining modern constitutionalism)
3. Paolo Sandro, The Making of Constitutional Democracy, from creation to application of law, (forthcoming, 2022) (arguing for the crucial significance of the distinction between law-creation and law-application in the field of political theory)
4. David Schultz, Constitutional Precedent in US Supreme Court Reasoning, (forthcoming, 2022) (examining the role of constitutional precedent in US Supreme Court reasoning)
5. Marcelo Neves, Symbolic Constitutionalization (December, 2021) (providing an understanding of modern constitutionalism and the symbolic function of constitutions)
6. Thomas H Morawetz, Metaphor and Method: How Not To Think About Constitutional Interpretation (December, 2021) (discussing and analysing the use of interpretive strategies in constitutional decision-making)
7. David Bilchitz, Fundamental Rights and the Legal Obligations of Business (2021) (investigating how to determine the substantive content of the legal obligations of corporations that emanate from the fundamental rights of individuals)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. Global Constitutionalism (GlobCon), welcomes proposals on special issues from scholars in law, politics, international relations, and political philosophy as well as related fields that address constitutional principles and norms on a global scale. Deadline for abstract submissions is June 24, 2022.
2. The Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, American University Washington College of Law, United States is accepting submissions for the upcoming 2022 Human Rights Essay Award Competition. The topic of the 2022 Award is “Climate Change and Human Rights: Impacts, Responsibilities, and Opportunities.” Deadline for submissions is January 31, 2022.
3. The European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Luxembourg is hiring a lecturer in EU law. The main working areas will be general EU law, including EU constitutional law, EU fundamental rights protection and EU judicial and law enforcement cooperation. Deadline for submissions is January 16, 2022.
4. The ERC research project “DISSECT: Evidence in International Human Rights Adjudication” (ERC-AdG-2018-834044) at the Department of European, Public and International Law, Ghent University, is seeking to fill one full-time research position at post-doctoral level. Deadline for submissions is January 10, 2022.
5. Young scholars of European law (i.e., all scholars who have not yet secured a full professorship) are invited to apply for the 5th Annual Conference of Young Scholars of European Law (YELS) to be held on 3 June 2022, at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. The event is co-organized by King’s College London, UK. Deadline for abstract submission is January 31, 2022. General registration is open until May 15, 2022. 

Elsewhere Online

1. Fjori Sinoruka, Massive Data Leaks in Albania Pose Public Security Question, B.I.R.D.
2. Kanika Chugh, Suppression of Reproductive Rights in Texas, Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law
3. Kyong-Min Son, The perpetual reinvention of democracy, The Loop
4. Lorenzo Gradoni, Chasing Global Legal Particles: Some Guesswork about the Nature of Meta’s Oversight Board, EJIL: Talk!
5. Richard Martin, Illiberal Britain, Verfassungsblog
6. Sasa Dragojlo, Serbian Woman’s Tweet About Male Violence Goes Viral, Balkan Insight
7. Sjoerd Lopik, The second anniversary of the urgenda climate ruling: a day to celebrate?, Strasbourg Observers