What’s New in Public Law

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–Nicola Abate, Ph.D. candidate in Law and Teaching Assistant at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain).

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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. The Supreme Court of the United States rejects emergency bid to halt West Point’s race-conscious admissions.
2. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo published its constitutional review of the constitutional amendments.
3. The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously upheld a law that affirms First Nations, Inuit and Métis jurisdiction over child welfare.
4. The Supreme Court of the United States hold oral argument about the 14th Amendment that bars certain public officials from serving in the government again if they took part in an insurrection.
5. The Constitutional Court of Romania establishes the retiree’s new constitutional right to work.
6. The Constitutional Council censured 32 articles (out of 86 articles) of the law to control immigration and improve integration.
7. The Colombian Constitutional Court outlaws use of diagnostic tool known as parental alienation syndrome.
8. The Hague Court of Appeal ordered the Dutch government on 12 February 2024 to stop supplying Israel with F-35 fighter jet.
9. The Colombian Constitutional Court upholds the right to health and to life with dignity of two women who were denied the supply of cannabis-based preparations as treatment for the illnesses from which they suffer.

In the News

1. The Colombian Constitutional Court elects its President and Vice-President for 2024.
2. Alexander Stubb of the centre-right National Coalition Party won Finland’s presidential election.
3. Former U.S. President Donald Trump said he would “encourage” Russia to attack any NATO member country that didn’t meet its financial obligations to the defense alliance.
4. The prime ministers of Spain and Ireland asked the European Commission to urgently review Israel’s Human Rights complieance in Gaza.
5. The rise of the AfD makes German politics reflect on the rules that govern Germany’s constitutional court.
6. The Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis and Canadian Minister for Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng co-chaired the fourth Joint Committee of CETA.
7. President Nayib Bukele secured a thumping victory in El Salvador’s presidential elections.
8. Greece is the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage.
9. Special counsel David Weiss accused a former FBI informant of lying about the involvement of President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in deals with Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings.

New Scholarship

1. S. Gardbaum, Comparative Political Process Theory II (the author seeks to refine and supplement his previous work on comparative political process theory, applying the new, fuller version to recent proposed and enacted judicial reforms in Israel).
2. A. Dorfmna, A. Harel, Reclaiming the Public (the authors defines and defends the intrinsic value of ‘the public’ that resides in our public institutions and the officials that run them).
3. A. Sethi, When Should Courts Invalidate Constitutional Amendments? (the author seeks a balance by trying to prevent the courts from abusing their powers, but leaving them scope to pre-empt threats to the democratic and/or constitutional project).
4. Brandon Marc Higa & Joshua D. Faumuina, Japan’s Same-Sex Marriage Cases (2021-2023) and the Fight for Freedom of Marriage in Japan (the paper five trial court decisions analyzing the constitutionality of domestic laws prohibiting same-sex marriage in five of its district courts).
5. S. Issacharoff and S. Verdugo, Constituent Populism, Democracy, and Failed Promises: The Case of the Chilean Constitutional Convention (2021-2022).
6. R. Daniel Kalemen, Will the European Union escape its autocracy trap? (the paper explores the intertwined questions concerning the European Union’s reaction to the rise of increasingly autocratic member governments).
7. A. Matovski, Popular Dictatorships. Crises, Mass Opinion, and the Rise of Electoral (the author argues that crisis legitimation strategy makes electoral authoritarianism the most significant threat to global peace and democracy).
8. J. M. Balkin, Memory and Authority. The Uses of History in Constitutional Interpretation (the author explains how lawyers and judges invoke history selectively to construct authority for their claims and undermine the authority of opposing views).
9. R. Rubio Núñez – The Constitutional Process in Iceland: A case of success without a happy ending (the author comprehensively describes the Icelandic constitutional process).
10. The Economis: EIU provides the 2023 snapshot of the state of democracy in 165 independent states and two territories.

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The World Justice Project invites legal practitioners or academics living in the European Union (EU) to participate in a new project funded by the European Commission to measure justice, governance, and the rule of law at the subnational level within all EU members. Participation requires completing a 30-minute questionnaire on topics such as civil law, civil liberties, commercial law, constitutional law, criminal law, or labor law. Register at this link if interested.
2. The Call for Application for the Fifth Annual Workshop on Research Methods in Fundamental Rights at the Centre for Fundamental Rights at the Hertie School, taking place from 10-12 June 2024. The deadline is 20 March 2024.
3. The Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (American University Washington College of Law) is now accepting applications for the 2024 Summer Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (May 28 to June 14, 2024). The deadline to apply is May 1, 2024.
4. The Faculty of Law of the Charles University, in cooperation with International Journal of Parliamentary Studies and Brill, is organizing the “Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies” (10 June 2024). Proposals should be submitted by 29 February 2024.
5. The call for papers for “The Pavia Graduate Conference in Political Philosophy” (24-25 September 2024) is open until Tuesday 30th April 2024.
6. The Call for paper for the “Segundo Seminario para Investigadores en Formación sobre los Derechos Fundamentales de la Unión Europea” at UNED (Spain) is open until 22nd April 2024.
7. The Call for Papers for the conference “Parliaments of Europe – Europe of Parliaments” (10 May 2024) organized by the Széchenyi István University of Győr (Hungary) is open until 29 February 2024.
8. The Call for Paper for the Call for Papers “Workshop on Gender and Work” organized by the Barcelona School of Economics at Barcelona, October 14-15 2024, is open. The deadline is April 30, 2024.
9. The UK Supreme Court is inviting applications for up to 11 Judicial Assistants to support the work of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The deadline is 31 March 2024.
10. The UCL is invitig to apply for a Research Assistant position as part of the new research project on ‘The Silence of States in International Law’ (‘State Silence’). The deadline is 25 February 2024.
11. The RDE Blog is looking for monthly columnists to write posts between 1500 and 2000 words.
12. Registration is now open for the 3rd Graduate Conference on Constitutional Change at the University of Texas at Austin, to be held on December 9-11, 2024. Graduate students of all levels are welcome. More details here. Applicants will be notified on a rolling basis.

Elsewhere Online

1. R. Dixon, Book discussion “Responsive judicial review” on Friday 23th February 2024  10:00 a.m – 12:00 a.m (CET time) at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona
2. M. Revenga Sánchez, Constitucionalismo versus populismo: un encuadre general
3. A. Howe, Supreme Court appears unlikely to kick Trump off Colorado ballot
4. L. Castellanos-Jankiewicz, Dutch Court Halts F-35 Aircraft Deliveries for Israel
5. K. Duden, Protect the German Federal Constitutional Court!
6. C. Fernández Blanco and M. Victoria Kristan, The Year of the Defense of Life, Liberty and Property. Javier Milei’s Omnibus Executive Order
7. J. McIntyre, Why Nicaragua’s Article 62 Intervention in South Africa v. Israel is Potentially Unhelpful
8. S. Wallace, The Rwanda bill: A constitutional tipping point?