What’s New in Public Law

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—Juan Sebastián López, researcher in international human rights law and constitutional law, J.D. Universidad Externado de Colombia.

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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 Colombian Constitutional Court held that government authorities are required to assist the elderly, specially in cases where they have been subject to abandonment and the violation of the rights recognized in the Constitution and the Interamerican Convention on Proteecting the Human Rights of Older Persons.
2. The Supreme Court of Pakistan decided that establishing essential qualifications for appointment to any post is the sole discretion and decision of the employer and the court cannot set down guidelines or conditions of eligibility, thus rendering the Court unable to seize the chair of appointing authorities to determine what is best for the employers.
3. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom considered that the State is afforded a slight margin of appreciation when it comes to the protection of the right to strike as regulator of relationships between private employers and workers, thus not being required to provide universla protection in all circumstances.
4. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights declared the State of Honduras responsible for failing to protect the lives of four judges that had been arbitrarily removed from their positions and were also subject to life threats.
5. The First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany helf that the existing provisions that allowed biological fathers to challenge the paternity of legally recognized fathers are incompatible with the Basic Law. With that in mind, legislators are required to allow the biological father to have sufficient and effective legal procedures that allow them to become the legal father of a child.

In the News

1. The United States Supreme Court will hear final arguments to determine whether former president Donald Trump can be tried on criminal charges related to the conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
2. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushes a Bill that will be central in efforts to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda.
3. Data Protection concerns could lead to the Dutch government to ceasing their activities with Facebook pages should Meta not modify the way it operates.
4. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urges the reestablishment of democracy and an end to repression and impunity in Nicaragua.
5. The United States vetoes UN Security Council resolution that recommended the state of Palestine’s full membership in the world body.

New Scholarship

1. Husa Jaakko, Constitutionalism, Comparativism, and Asia – No more ‘Separate but Equal’?, The Journal of Comparative Law, 2024.
2. J. Buis Emiliano, Gutiérrez Ramírez Camilo (Eds.). El Derecho internacional humanitario en la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz de Colombia Volumen II, Tirant lo Blanch 2024.
3. Pevar L. Stephen, The Rights of Indians and Tribes, OUP 2024.
4. Ragone Sabrina, Smorto Guido, Comparative Law: A Very Short Introduction, OUP 2024.
5. Waldron Jeremy, The Crisis of Judicial Review, H.L.A. Hart Memorial Lecture (2024).

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The Revista Derecho del Estado is currently receiving contributions related to the way feminism, gender studies and queer theory transform legal academia and practice for its 60^th number. Deadline for proposals: May 10^th, 2024.
2. The 6^th Seminar of the Colombian Chapter of the International Society of Public Law ICON-S is currently receiving proposals for individual submissions, fully formed panels, book discussions and book presentations. Deadline for proposals: Math 31^st, 2024.
3. The 19^th ESIL Annual Conference will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 September 2024 on “Technological Change and International Law”. The Preliminary programme along with an early bird registration has been published.
4. The International conference on business and human rights, and unconstitutional change of government hosted by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria and the School of Law, University of Rwanda are currently receiving papers for the conference that will be held as part of the 33^rd Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competitition. Abstract submission deadline: April 30^th, 2024.
5. The Editorial Committee of Public Law invites Guest Editors to submit proposals for a themed set of ‘Analysis’ papers to be published in the April 2025 issue of the journal. Deadline for submissions: April 26^th, 2024.

Elsewhere Online

1. Gonzalo A. Ramirez-Cleves, The Proposal for a National Constituent Assembly in Colombia, IACL-AIDC Blog.
2. Neha Kumari, Federalism: Constitutional Amendments and Centre-State Relations, The Society for Constitutional Law Discussion.
3. Gaurav Mukherjee, The Right to Education and Democratic Backsliding in India, Verfassungsblog.
4. Gautam Bhatia, Judicial Review of Administrative Action: A Critique of the Judgment of the High Court of Kenya, Constitutional Law and Philosophy.
5. Anna Nocquet-Wass, The Constitutionalisation of Abortion (Interruption Volontaire de Grossesse) in France, IACL-AIDC Blog.