What’s New in Public Law

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—Anubhav Kumar, Advocate & Researcher, Supreme Court of India 

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In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in public law. “Developments” may include links to news, high court decisions, new or recent scholarly books, 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. Adani-Hindenburg Case Verdict: SC rejects prayer for SIT probe into allegations against Adani; asks SEBI to complete investigation in 3 months
2. Israel’s Supreme Court overturns part of Netanyahu’s controversial judicial overhaul
3. Top Turkish appeals court ignores Constitutional Court ruling, denies TİP MP Atalay’s release again
4. Court Of Appeal Rules B.C. Supreme Court Can Decide If Human Rights Tribunal Parties Settled
5. Constitutional court rulings involving illegitimate PiS-appointed judges not valid, finds Supreme Court.
6. Constitutional Court rejects stay review for three Tibetans.
7. Supreme Court strikes down ‘People’s War Day’ holiday

In the News

1. Donald Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene after Colorado court bars him from primary ballot.
2. Police disappointed by court striking law banning public drug use.
3. Turkish Court Again Defies Constitutional Court Ruling on MP’s Release
4. Guinea Junta Unveils Constitutional Referendum For 2024
5. Plea filed in Supreme Court seeking stay on revamped criminal laws
6. Erdoğan’s advisor targets the Constitutional Court, says it creates systemic crisis

New Scholarship

1. Tom Gerald Daly & Dinesha Samaratne, Democratic Consolidation and Constitutional Endurance in Asia and Africa (Forthcoming 2024) (Explores the relationship between democratic consolidation and constitutional endurance in Asia and Africa, challenging existing frameworks of understanding)
2. Yaniv Roznai & Amichai Cohen, Populist Constitutionalism and the Judicial Overhaul in Israel (2023) (Explain that compared with other systems, Israeli democracy is especially vulnerable to populism, because of its unique institutional design factors coupled with social factors. Only with understanding these factors can one grasp the risks that the judicial overhaul poses to Israeli democracy.)
3. John Sebastian, Under-inclusive laws and constitutional remedies: an exploration of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (2023) (Argues that there is no support in principle or case law for the argument that under-inclusive laws are subject to lower scrutiny than over-inclusive ones. Linked to this is the question of constitutional remedies for under-inclusive laws, which the paper analyses drawing on jurisprudence from India and other jurisdictions. Contrary to dominant opinion and argues that, were the CAA to be declared unconstitutional, the appropriate remedy would be to extend its benefits to those hitherto uncovered by it, rather than striking it down.)
4. Julian Scholtes, The Abuse of Constitutional Identity in the European Union (2023) (a novel theoretical framework for the appraisal of constitutional identity arguments. Offers an in-depth analysis of the formulation and assertion of constitutional identity arguments by national constitutional courts and governments against EU law)
5. Frederick Schauer, Constitutional Avoidance as Constitutional Conformation (2023) (Argues that this principle — often labeled the principle of constitutional avoidance — is misnamed and in order for a court to avoid a constitutional ruling, it must identify the constitutional question. And in doing so, it makes rather than avoids a constitutional decision. According, the American practice of constitutional avoidance turns out to resemble the practice in other jurisdictions of interpreting states in a way that makes them conform to constitutional requirement.)

Calls for Papers and Announcement

1. The Leverhulme Research Leadership Award PhD studentship: The Social Life of Law in Authoritarian Contexts project is offering two fully funded MPhil/PhD scholarships. This studentship is open to new SOAS students only. More details here.
2. Georgetown Journal of Gender and Law (GJGL) is accepting submissions now. The Journal is now reviewing submissions for Volume XXV. The Journal looks for articles or notes that further the Journal’s mission of advancing legal scholarship and examining the intersection between sexuality, gender and race. Submissions can be sent through Scholastica or directly to lawgenderjournal@georgetown.edu.
3. The National Law School of India University invites online applications for the position of Academic Fellow on a Contract Basis. The 2-year full-time Academic Fellowship Programme is aimed at graduates and postgraduates from law, social sciences, humanities and allied fields who are preparing to enter law practice or academic careers in law, public policy or the social sciences.
4. Jurnal Kajian Pembaruan Hukum (Journal of Studies in Legal Reform), a fully open-access refereed journal that aspires to publish a contemporary analysis of legal reform in Asia is inviting submission for Volume 4:1 January-June 2024. Details are here.
5. Just Society’s Early Career Scholar Grant 2024 is accepting applications for a research stay at Syddansk Universitet – University of Southern Denmark. More details are available here.

Elsewhere Online

1. Lara Ibrahim, COP28 and Its Shortcomings: The Inadequate Protection of Human Rights,  Oxford Human Rights Hub.
2. Michael C. Dorf, Is Abortion “Freedom” a More Powerful Slogan than “Choice”? Dorf on Law.
3. Anshul Dalmia, Who Judges the Judges? Intellectual Bias as a Ground for Judicial Recusal, Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy
4. Luciano Pezzano, The Obligation to Prevent Genocide in South Africa v. Israel: Finally a Duty with Global Scope?, EJIL Talk
5. Christine Savino, Non-Refoulement of Uyghur Prisoners in India, Oxford Human Rights Hub.