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. The highest Constitutional Court in South Africa disqualifies former President Jacob Zuma from contesting in the next elections on the ground of a 15-month prison sentence in contempt of court case. 
2. England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) holds 2023 regulations concerning police powers in protests passed unlawful.
3. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been granted leave to appeal against his extradition to the US by the High Court in London. 
4. The Defence team in criminal trial against former US President Donald Trump for allegedly falsifying business records completes its defence.  
5. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea delivers advisory opinion on climate change and holds (amongst various other aspects) that under Article 194 of the UNCLOS, state have specific obligations to prevent, reduce, and control marine pollution. A commentary on the opinion can be found here.

In the News  

1. International Criminal Court prosecutor files application for warrants of arrest against leaders of Hamas and the Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Israel for war crimes and crimes against humanity. 
2. The Punjab Assembly in Pakistan passes the controversial defamation law which is likely to harmfully impact free speech, media freedom, and women’s rights.
3. Moldova’s Parliament approves holding a referendum on constitutional amendment for permitting the accession to the European Union.
4. The President of Georgia vetoes the controversial ‘foreign agent’ law that had sparked protest in the country. Critics say that the bill is likely to threaten civil liberties. 
5. Rights group express concern over the nomination to the Supreme Court of Argentina.

New Scholarship  

1. Işik D. Özel, ‘Erosion of Economic Institutions in the Age of Democratic Backsliding: An Analysis of the Turkish Case’ (identifying mechanisms of institutional erosion in the context of Turkish economic institutions)  
2. Marcus Schnetter, ‘Constitutional Courts as Guarantors of EU Charter Rights: A Rhetorical Perspective on Constitutional Change in Austria and Germany’  (analysing the role rhetoric played in the so-called charter judgement and right to forgotten II order in Austria and German constitutional courts)
3. Mikael Ruotsi, ‘A Doctrinal Approach to Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendments: Judicial Review of Constitutional Amendments in Sweden’ (presenting a doctrinal justification of the theory of unconstitutional constitutional amendment)  
4. The new issue of the International & Comparative Law Quarterly is out now. (Articles include dignity and women’s rights, climate change, and comparative law in Thailand, amongst others)
5. Nicholas W. Waterbury, ‘Justice Isn’t Blind: Attorney Attractiveness and Success in US Federal Court’ (examining the influence of extraneous factors like physical attractiveness of attorney in decision making in US federal courts using generalizable causal inference strategy)
6. Chaihark Hahm, ‘Constitution of South Korea: A Contextual Analysis’ (part of Hart series, providing contextual analysis of the Constitution of South Korea)
7. Leah Trueblood, ‘Referendums as Representative Democracy’ (presenting an alternative theory of referendums on how referendums can support representative democracy rather than undermining institutions of representative democracy)

Calls for Papers and Announcements 

1. Call for papers is now open for ‘Judicial Watch Series’ on the themes of judicial independence and accountability by ICJ-Kenya.
2. Call for papers is now open for the Asian Law and Society Association to be held on 13-14 December 2024 at Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea.
3. Call for papers is open on a rolling basis for the Junior Faculty Forum for South Asian Law Teacher Workshop Series 2024. You can email at: jffilt20@gmail.com
4. Registrations are now open for the Hague Academy of International Law 2025 winter courses.
5. Registrations are now open for the Third Graduate Conference on Constitutional Change to be held at the University of Texas, Austin, on 9-11 December 2024.

Elsewhere Online  

1. Tania Groppi, ‘Local Authorities as Guarantors of Rule of Law: Recent Developments in Council of Europe’ (17 May 2024)
2. Hayley Hooper, ‘Historical Origins of the Principle of Legality in British Public Law’ (20 May 2024)
3. Alan Bogg, ‘Bringing the Right to Strike Home: Secretary of State for Business and Trade v. Mercer’ (10 May 2024)
4. Türker Ertas, ‘The US Supreme Court’s Razor Wire Decision and Governor Abbott’s Defiance: Rejection of Judicial Supremacy and Undermining of the Rule of Law’ (16 May 2024)
5. Video: How Free and Fair are India Elections Today? (18 May 2024)