What’s New in Public Law

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—Sonder Li, GDL Candidate, City University of London

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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. Ecuador’s Constitutional Court decriminalizes euthanasia.
2. The United States Supreme Court hears the appeal regarding Donald Trump’s eligibility as a presidential candidate in Colorado and Maine.
3. The Supreme Court of Panama rejects former President Ricardo Martinelli’s appeal to annul a prison sentence. Therefore, he faces a constitutional ban from becoming a presidential candidate in the upcoming election.
4. The Federal Court of Malaysia declares 16 Islamic laws unconstitutional.
5. The Supreme Court of New Zealand rules in favour of Northland iwi leader Mike Smith, allowing the climate pollution case to continue.
6. Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court orders an investigation into anti-corruption group Transparency International.

In the News

1. Mobile communications company Vodacom intends to appeal to the Constitutional Court of South Africa on ruling that required it pay additional compensation to ‘Please Call Me’ inventor.
2. The United States Court of Appeals decides that Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution for alleged crimes of plotting to subvert the results of the 2020 election.
3. Senegal’s parliament passes a bill to postpone presidential elections for another ten months, sparking protests.
4. Zimbabwe’s governing party Zanu-PF won by-elections and now holds a two-thirds majority, enabling President Emmerson Mnangagwa to change constitutional provisions.
5. Argentina’s lower chambers of deputies approve President Javier Milei’s ‘omnibus’ reform bill.
6. Russian presidential candidate Boris Nadezhdin intends to appeal to the Supreme Court of Russia on the ruling that barred him from the upcoming election.

New Scholarship

1. Aleschia D. Hyde, ‘Discursive Offensive in Colombia: The Development of Afro-Colombian Rights Discourse After 1991’. (The author examines the discursive strategies Afro-Colombians have deployed to ensure their collective rights within the 1991 Constitution and their place within the new Colombian nation-state while simultaneously addressing the issue of mass displacement.
2. Calvin H. Johnson, ‘Grading the Constitutional Convention on Slavery’. (The author examines 11 issues affecting slavery and grades it.)
3. Jean Vilbert, ‘Slavery Under Liberal Constitutionalism: Imperial Brazil’s Ostensible Paradox’. (The author argues that the liberal 1824 Brazil Constitution can be reconciled with the slavery system during the period through a broader concept of constitution, integrating the legal text and culture.)
4. Kyle J. Morgan, ‘Legislative Attitudes Towards Judicial Review and Reconceptualizing the Counter-Majoritarian Dilemma’. (The author analyzes the language of US legislators when discussing the courts to understand their attitudes towards judicial review.)
5. Martin David Kelly, ‘Challenging common good constitutionalism’. (The author comprehensively reviews Adrian Vermeule’s Common Good Constitutionalism.)
6. Paul Finkelman and Gabriel J. Chin, ‘How We Know the US Constitution was Proslavery’. (The authors argue that the US Constitution protected slavery from federal interference and the actions of non-slave states, and the extinction of rebellion was only possible because of the Civil War.)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. Charles University, in cooperation with the International Journal of Parliamentary Studies and Brill, invites submissions for their “Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies”. Proposals should be submitted by 29 February 2024.
2. Széchenyi Egyetem University of Győr invites submissions for their conference “Parliaments of Europe – Europe of parliaments?”. Proposals should be submitted by 29 February 2024.
3. The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with the International Forum on the Future of Constitutionalism, invites submissions for the “3rd Graduate Conference on Constitutional Change”. Registrations are open until 2 September 2024.
4. International Society of Public Law British-Irish Chapter invites proposals for their conference “Techniques of Constitutional Regulation”. Proposals should be submitted by 25 March 2024.
5. Central European University invites applications for one Assistant Professor and Associate/Full Professor in human rights and comparative constitutional law. Applications should be submitted by 29 February 2024.
6. University of Ottawa and Centre for Constitutional Studies is hosting a 1-day workshop on Professor Rosalind Dixon’s new book, Responsive Judicial Review: Democracy and Dysfunction in the Modern Age.

Elsewhere Online

1. Amnesty International, ‘South Korea: Amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court of Korea on recognition of social benefits for same-sex couples’ (5 February 2024)
2. Brian Christopher Jones, ‘Nigel Farage and the UK Constitution’ (5 February 2024)