What’s New in Public Law

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—Surbhi Karwa, PhD Candidate, UNSW-Sydney

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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. In a significant ruling on the health of democracy in India, the Supreme Court of India declares the electoral bond scheme to be unconstitutional for violation of the right to information of citizens.
2. The Federal Court of Canada recognizes the constitutional convention on the fulfilment of judicial vacancies within reasonable time. The court imposes the convention by duty on the government to comply.
3. Hearing continues in the International Court of Justice regarding the UN General Assembly’s request for the opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
4. The High Court of Ireland begins hearing two cases by asylum seekers arguing that the UK is not a ‘safe third country’ due to potential impact of Rwanda policy.
5. The US Supreme Court denies a petition to appeal filed by the Department of Correction, Missouri, concerning the legality of exclusion of jurors based on religious beliefs.
6. Former President Donald Trump’s request to delay the enforcement of penalties in the civil fraud case against him, has been denied by the concerned judge.
7. A US District judge denies three Republican states Missouri, Kansas and Idaho’s motion to join the appeal at the US Supreme Court on the abortion pill case.
8. The Constitutional Court in Thailand declares that the main opposition party Move Forward’s campaign for reform of Article 112 (lese majeste law) an ‘attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy’ and hence unconstitutional.

In the News

1. In Nigeria, the senate constitutes a 45-member committee to review and amend the constitution.
2. In Sri Lanka, tussle reemerges between the President and the independent Constitutional Council. The President questions the authority of the Constitutional Council to reject his nominee to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
3. In Mexico, protest rallies emerge against interference with the country’s electoral agency, the National Electoral Institute, by the President.
4. The Senegal Constitutional Council finds Parliament’s postponement of elections unconstitutional.
5. In Michigan, ‘right to work’ laws that negatively impact the working of unions, according to experts, were repealed.

New Scholarship

1. Joesf Weinzierl, Demoicratic Authority: On the Nature and Grounds of the EU’s Right to Rule (theorising preferred moral standard to evaluate the authority of the EU and demonstrating the impact of such standards on the practical reasoning of those subject to the EU’s authority)
2. Mila Versteeg et.al., The New Homelessness (analysing a series of Ninth Circuit decisions and arguing that the cases have produced a unique new legal right that can reshape the law and policy on the issue of homelessness)
3. The new issue of the Journal of American Constitutional History is out.The issue contains a symposium on the Dobbs judgement from a historical perspective.  
4. Matiangai V.S. Sirleaf, Tendayi Achiume, Reflecting on Race, Racism and Transitional Justice (Introduction to the forthcoming special issue of the International Journal of Transitional Justice on race, racism, and transitional justice)
5. Lorianne Updike Toler, In the Room Where Constitution Happens (presenting historical and empirical evidence from the constitution-making process in New Hampshire between 1776 and 1784 to investigate the link between constitutional legitimacy and constitution-making with the involvement of rights groups)
6. Oran Doyle, Constitutional Identity, Legal Autonomy, and Sovereignty: Costello v Government of Ireland (analysing Costello v. Government of Ireland regarding constitutional identity and more broadly European constitutionalism)
7. Christina Voigt, Caroline Foster, International Courts versus Non-Compliance Mechanisms (a collection of essays arguing that non-compliance mechanisms sometimes may be more effective than more formal international courts and tribunals)
8. Ladislav Vyhnánek, et. al., The Dynamics of Proportionality: Constitutional Courts and the Review of Covid Regulations (analysing the strictness of the court’s approach in reviewing governmental acts during Covid-19 and proposes ‘semiprocedural review’ as the best way forward)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. Registrations are now open for the ICON Writing School 2024.
2. Call for Authors is now open for the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law.
3. Call for papers is now open for the IACL Roundtable 2024 on ‘Thinking the Constitution Out of the State: On the Use of Constitutional Law by Non-State Actors’ in France. 
4. Applications are now open for the Bingham Early Career Fellowship in Constitutional Studies at Balliol College, University of Oxford.
5. Call for Papers is now open for the ICON-S GBIE’s conference on ‘Techniques of Constitutional Regulation’ at the London School of Economics.
6. Applications are now open for the CTLS Global Conference 2024 on ‘Constitutionalism in Times of Crisis: Transnational Perspectives on Challenges & Way Forward’ in London.
7. Applications are now open for the British Academy International Fellowship 2024.

Elsewhere Online

1. Sam Bookman, Smith v Fonterra: A Common Law Climate Litigation Breakthrough (12 February 2024)
2. IACL Blog Symposia on Animals in Constitutional Law (February 2024)
3. Salmoli Choudhuri, Where is the Public in the Republic of India: Present People and Absent Public (16 February 2024)
4. Hugh Linehan, et al, Head-to-Head: Podcast on The Yes and No Arguments Ahead of the Family and Care Referendums (14 February 2024)
5. Rosalind Dixon and Gautam Bhatia have submitted an amicus brief in the marriage equality litigation in Japan. Read the brief here and sign here, if interested. More information on the litigation is available here.
6. Rosalind Dixon, Constitutional Fixed Points & the Australian Constitution: Cass Sunstein on ‘How to Interpret the Constitution’ (21 February 2024)
7. Watch African Law Matters’ interview with former Justice Albie Sachs discussing lessons on the development of constitutional democracies from Africa.
8. Sándor Ésik, Viktor Orban’s Newest Tool for Crushing Dissent (February 2024)
9. Verfassungsblog publishes their first profile of the series ‘Outstanding Women of International, European and Constitutional Law’ (14 February 2024)
10. Verfassungsblog discusses the Trump trials and their impact on American democracy. It includes two pieces by Samuel Issacharoff and Mark Graber (February 2024)
11. Alice Donald, Joelle Grogan, UK’S ECHR: Record How Common are Rule 39 Orders and How Often is the UK Found to Have Violated Rights (25 January 2024)