What’s New in Public Law

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—Silvia Talavera Lodos, PhD Candidate, School of Advanced Studies Sant’Anna.

—Benjamin Nurkić, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Law University of Tuzla and a member of the Constitutional Committee of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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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. Romania’s Constitutional Court has annulled the country’s presidential elections, including the first round and the upcoming runoff initially scheduled for Sunday (8 December) between far-right candidate Călin Georgescu and liberal Elena Lasconi.
2. On December 14, 2024, South Korea’s National Assembly impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol with a 204 to 85 vote, including 12 members of his own People’s Power Party. The next crucial step is the Constitutional Court’s deliberation on the constitutionality of the impeachment motion.
3. The new Supreme Court Rules 2024 will come into force for proceedings in the UK Supreme Court on 2 December.
4. Mexico’s Supreme Court rejected a proposal that aimed to dismantle key elements of the recent overhaul of the country’s court system, effectively ending any challenge to the judicial redesign, which now requires nearly all judges to be elected rather than appointed.
5. Brazilian judge orders Adele song be pulled globally over plagiarism claim.

In the News

1. Chilean mine proposal could face Supreme Court review.
2. Croatia will hold a presidential election on 29 December.
3. Hungary and Slovakia veto EU sanctions on Georgian officials as protests continue.
4. Serbia students continue protests despite government concessions.
5. Spain introduces bill to combat online fake news.

New Scholarship

1. Filipe Brito Bastos, 2024, Judging Composite Decision-Making: The Transformation of European Administrative Law (By conducting a thorough analysis of case law, the author demonstrates how principles relating to composite decision-making depend on the adherence to rule of law requirements by both national and Union authorities, under a framework referred to as the ‘Unitary Protection’ doctrine)
2. Andrew Robertson and Jason W Neyers (Eds.), 2024, Private Law and the State (This edited volume explores the relationship between the state and private law, addressing not only why states recognize and enforce private law obligations, but also how the state is subject to private law, the relationship between private and public law, and the role of public interest in private law).
3. Aida Torres Pérez, 2024, The constitutional impact of rule-of-law spending conditionality, (This article evaluates the validity, effectiveness, and broader impact of the Conditionality Regulation, along with other conditionality mechanisms, on the EU constitutional framework, highlighting potential constitutional concerns and governance challenges).
4. Sofia Ranchordás, 2024, The Invisible Citizen in the Digital State: Administrative Law Meets Digital Constitutionalism, (This chapter explores how the digital transformation of the public sector has made administrative law increasingly invisible, undermining citizens’ ability to exercise their rights).
5. Marina Baptista-Rosa, 2024, Animals as Subjects of Rights: Brazil’s Constitutional Blueprint, (This article explores how Brazil is the only country with a directly applicable constitutional provision for animal protection, supported by a robust legal framework that allows various actors to invoke this protection in judicial proceedings).
6. S. El-Manaseer et al., 2024, The Commitments of Legislative and Executive Authorities in Enforcing Constitutional Court Judgments (This study examines the legislative and executive responsibilities in enforcing constitutional court judgments, with a focus on the effectiveness of Article 59 of the Jordanian Constitution and Article 15 of the Constitutional Court Law).

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The Constitutional Law Institute welcomes submissions on all topics related to constitutional rights for a day-long conference on Friday, May 16, 2025, at the University of Chicago Law School.
2. The American Society of Comparative Law invites all interested comparative law scholars to consider submitting a paper to the next annual Comparative Law Work-in-Progress Workshop. This event will be hosted by the University of Illinois College of Law and held in-person in Champaign-Urbana, from May 1-3, 2025.
3. The Editorial Team of the Frankfurt Law Review is inviting submissions for its 01/2025 issue. Essays on civil law, legal history, legal philosophy, criminal law, and especially public/international law are welcome. Submissions should be in German or English, not exceeding 6000 words, and must be submitted by 31 December 2024.
4. MediaLaws is pleased to announce a call for papers for a workshop organized by the Erasmus Center of Law and Digitalization and the Amsterdam Law & Technology Institute, to be held on 3-4 June 2025. The theme of the event is “Security in the Digital Age,” focusing on security, digital infrastructures, and fundamental rights. The deadline for submission of abstracts (500 words max) is on 10 February 2025.
5. The Department of Legal Studies at Bocconi University in Milan and the Venice Commission are organizing a 2-day international conference titled “The Venice Commission 1990-2025. Taking stock of 35 years for democracy through law.” Abstracts (up to 4,000 characters) should be submitted by 31 January 2025 to conference2025.venicecommission@unibocconi.it, with the subject “The Venice Commission 1990-2025.”

Elsewhere Online

1. Miriam Schuler, Paving the way for an enforcement of democracy under Article 10 TEU? The Court’s judgments in Cases C-808/21 Commission v Czechia and C-814/21 Commission v Poland.
2. Milka Sormunem, Politicizing Constitutional Review: The Case of the Finnish Pushback Law.
3. Diego Valadés, Judicial reform in Mexico: an institutional setback, Diritti Comparati.
4. Jeong-In Yun, 2024 Martial Law in South Korea — The Crossroads Between Democratic Regression or Proof of Strong Democracy.
5. Marton Sulyok, A Tale of Two Constitutions: How Comparative Constitutional Law Can Help Us Understand Different Legal Cultures.
6. D. Tinashé Hofisi, Judicial Review in Southern Africa: The rise of Constitutional Courts.
7. Narupat Rattanakit, Thailand’s Revolving Senate: How Constant Changes Cement Military Power.