What’s New in Public Law

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—Marieta Safta, Professor Phd, Titu Maiorescu University, Bucharest, Romania

—Niels Graaf, Assistant Professor, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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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. Constitutional Court of Romania, responsible for overseeing the electoral process for the President of Romania, has reviewed several appeals regarding the decisions of the Central Electoral Bureau to either register or reject candidacies for the new round of presidential elections established for May 2025 (after the annulment of elections organized in 2024). The rejection of Mr. Călin Georgescu’s candidacy, which has been the most debated, resulted in protests and street violence, prompting unprecedented security measures during the Constitutional Court session. In the meeting held on March 11, 2025, the Court unanimously rejected the appeals and confirmed the Central Electoral Bureau’s Decision No. 18D, dated March 9, 2025, which rejected the registration of Mr. Călin Georgescu’s independent candidacy for the 2025 presidential elections, as well as the associated electoral symbol.
2. Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Hertegovina, in the case no. U-7/25,   has temporarily suspended the effects of the Law on Non-Application of Laws and Ban on Operation of Extra-Constitutional Institutions of BiH, Law Amending the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska (Official Gazette of the Republika Srpska, 19/25). The Constitutional Court, inter alia, found that  this law generates a probable risk that authorized official persons that implement decisions of the state institutions will be prevented from exercising their duties which can lead to a conflict between these bodies and a potential escalation that would pose a threat to peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
3. Constitutional Court of Lithuania affirmed that the wording of Item 1 in Paragraph 1 of Article 11 of the Electoral Code, dated 10 October 2023, is constitutional. This provision states that a person loses the eligibility to stand as a candidate in elections if they have not completed serving a court-imposed punishment and/or a criminal measure.
4. The Constitutional Court of Italy ruled that Italy’s immigration law, which does not provide a reduced sentence for individuals who use a forged document solely to obtain a residence permit without having committed the forgery themselves, is not unconstitutional.
5. European Court of Human Rights in the case of F.B. v. Belgium held that there had been a violation of the right to respect for private life of a foreign national who complained about the decision to terminate her care as an unaccompanied minor following an age assessment procedure. The Court concluded that the procedure used to assess the applicant’s age did not provide sufficient guarantees as required under Article 8 of the Convention.
6. European Court of Justice  in Cases C-149/23 | Commission v Germany, C-150/23 | Commission v Luxembourg, C-152/23 | Commission v Czech Republic, C-154/23 | Commission v Estonia and C-155/23 | Commission v Hungary (Whistleblowers directive): Five Member States are ordered to pay financial penalties for failing to transpose the Whistleblowers directive. They must pay a lump sum to the Commission; Estonia, if it has still not transposed the directive, must also pay a daily penalty payment               
7. European Court of Justice in Joined Cases C-647/21 | D.K. and C-648/21 | M.C and M.F. (Withdrawal of cases from a judge) Independence of judges stated that the decision to withdraw cases from a judge must be based on objective and precise criteria It must also include a statement of reasons in order to show that the withdrawal of cases was not arbitrary and that it did not amount to a disguised disciplinary penalty.
8. In Case C-315/23, Commission v Croatia (Biljane Donje landfill II), the European Court of Justice has imposed financial penalties on Croatia for its inadequate management of waste at the Biljane Donje landfill, which poses risks to human health and the environment. This decision follows a 2019 judgment in which the Court had previously determined that Croatia had not met its obligations under EU law.|
9. German Constitutional Court. Germany’s political newcomer, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), narrowly missed entering the German parliament like no other party before. Now, the BSW is seeking a recount of the German election results and has approached the Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday. Further lawsuits are expected to follow over the course of the week.

In the News

1. The Dutch Ministers of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and Legal Protection informed Dutch Parliament about the government’s plans to amend the prohibition of review in Article 120 of the Dutch Constitution. In addition, it adressed the establishment of a Dutch constitutional court. For a translation in English, please reach out to Niels Graaf at n.graaf@uva.nl
2. The Heidelberg Declaration on Transforming Global Meat Governance – To bring together the knowledge and understanding, and to drive the transformative meat agenda forward, a group of scholars drafted a declaration, summarizing the key scientific findings that should propel such transformation, and setting the agenda for future policies, legal frameworks, and further research in this critical area.
3. The preparatory meeting of the Circle of Presidents of the Constitutional Courts, members of the Conference of European Constitutional Courts (CECC),  was held on 28 February 2025 in Tirana, Albania. The Forum prepared the agenda, the discussion themes and the organisation of the Congress of the Conference of European Constitutional Courts to be held in 2027. At the meeting, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo becomes a full member of the CECC.
4. The  SCN (Superior Courts Network) organized by the  European Court of Human Rights welcomes a new member: the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, which brings the membership of the Network to 111 courts from all 46 States.
5. The Venice Commission issued its Urgent Opinion on the amendments adopted by the Georgian Parliament on 13 December 2024 and 6 February 2025 to the Code of Administrative Offences and the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations of Georgia. The request for an Urgent Opinion was made by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr Theodoros Rousopoulos.The Urgent Opinion will be submitted for endorsement to the 142nd plenary session of the Commission (Venice, 14-15 March 2025).
6. Advocate General Spielmann has stated that the European Commission’s action against the Polish Constitutional Court is justified. He noted that the positions taken by the Polish court in its rulings on 14 July and 7 October 2021 represent an unprecedented revolt and significantly undermines the primacy, autonomy, and effectiveness of EU law. On these dates, the Polish Constitutional Court issued judgments that questioned the compatibility of EU law and rulings from the Court of Justice with Poland’s national constitution.
7. The European Court of Human Rights has received a new inter-State application lodged by Slovakia against Belgium. The case concerns the death of a Slovak national following an incident involving the Belgian police at the Brussels-Charleroi Airport. This is the first time that Slovakia and Belgium have been involved in an interstate case before the Court. 
8. The European Constitutional Law Review celebrates its twentieth birthday with a flip to Gold Open Access in 2025. All articles accepted for publication from November 11 2024 will be ‘open access’ and freely available to read online.
9. New expert group focusing on ‘a State Capable of Acting’. This group pursues the goal of strengthening the efficiency and proximity to citizens of the German administration through comprehensive reforms. Founded by media manager and supervisory board member Julia Jäkel, former federal ministers Peer Steinbrück and Thomas de Maizière and the former President of the Federal Constitutional Court Andreas Voßkuhle, the experts will work together to develop concrete approaches on how state structures in Germany can be made fit for the future. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has assumed the patronage of the project. The four initiators Hertie Foundation, Fritz Thyssen Foundation, Mercator Foundation and Zeit Stiftung will be supported by a group of over 50 experienced personalities from politics, science and civil society. In addition, dialogue formats with students and alumni of the Hertie School and Bucerius Law School, in particular younger practitioners from the public sector, will flank the process. Detailed information about this project and our overall activities can be found on the  German website.

New Scholarship

1. Iancu, Bogdan,Romanian Militant Democracy and the Time Machine (this piece situates  the annulment of the Romanian presidential elections in December 2024, and the 2005 invalidation of Călin Georgescu’s candidacy in do-over electionsas partly a a local variant of “authoritarian liberalism”/illiberalism interplays, partly an example of idiosyncratic Eastern traditions of the rule of law showcased in Euro-friendly attire).
2. Edoardo Chiti, Giuseppe Martinico, EU law scholarship: the Italian tradition. (This article discusses the Italian contribution to European Union (EU) law scholarship, highlighting its distinguishing features and evolution over time.)
3. Meiertöns, Heiko:The End of NATO As We Know It: The Case for a European Nuclear Deterrent,(This articles argues that the non-proliferation-treaty regime and the European legal framework for defence require significant readjustment to allow for the pursuit of an independent defence policy)
4. Benvenuti, Simone:Divide and Rule: Italy’s Constitutional Bill on the Reform of Judicial Administration (This blog shows how the Justice Minister’s bill could significantly impact judicial independence and the separation of powers in Italy)
5. Athanasiou, Georgios. 2025. “The Other Side of Article 4(2) TEU?” (This blog post stresses that it important that the invocation of Articles 4(2) TEU and 72 TFEU, aiming at protecting national security, does not lead to disproportionate restrictions  of fundamental rights).  
6. Zurita, Lucía López. 2025. The Road to Hell Is Paved with Good Intentions’ – Denmark’s ‘Ghetto Laws’ before the Court of Justice (This piece analyzes the Opinion on Advocate General Ćapeta on the Danish ‘ghetto laws’, the latest reference on the Race Equality Directive. For the AG, the national law constitutes direct discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin) 
7. Crawford, Lisa Burton, The limits of judicial powers to interpret legislation (This article proposes two ways of reconciling the title’s tension. The first is to recognise that courts have some authority to contribute to legislative content. The second is to recognise that there are some limits on the power of Parliaments to enact vague laws.

 Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The NEW deadline for the submission of papers and panels for the ELU-S (European Law Unbound) Inaugural Conference is April 15th.
2. The 2026 World Congress of Constitutional Law will be hosted by the Universidad Externado de Colombia from 6-10 July 2026. The theme of the Congress will be Sustainable Constitutionalism: Answers for a Changing World.
3. The 2025 World Law Congress  will take place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on May 4, 5 and 6. You can register here.  
4. Call for Papers in Spanish International Journal of Constitutional Law (ICON). Following the success of the call for papers for the first issues in Spanish, the International Journal of Constitutional Law (ICON) is pleased to invite the Spanish-speaking academic community to submit original articles for inclusion in the fifth issue that ICON will publish entirely in Spanish in 2025.
5. CEISAL  (Consejo Europeo para la Investigación en Ciencias Sociales de América Latina / Consejo de Investigaciones Sociales de América Latina) 2025 congress will be held in Paris from 2 to 4 June 2025, on the Nation Campus of the Sorbonne Nouvelle. Following on from Helsinki 2022, this new congress will bring together European and non-European Latin Americanists around the theme of social, environmental and climate justice. Registration details can be found here.
6. The University Titu Maiorescu from Bucharest  invites paper submissions for the International Conference  on Law, European Studies and International Relations 13th Edition with the theme “Mapping the law between legislative vacuum, normative excess and new legal frontiers in the digital age” to be held on May 13-14, 2025. Scholars must submit their contributions by March 30, 2025. Submission details can be found here..
7. The European Group of Public Administration has launched its Call for Papers for the 2025 conference ‘EGPA at 50: Prospects for Public Administration across Europe’. The event takes place in Glasgow, 27-29 August 2025. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 28 March 2025. Submission is via the online conference portal here.,  M.ore information about the conference is also available here.
8. The Centre for the Law of EU External Relations (CLEER) and the T.M.C. Asser Instituut invite abstracts for a conference on ‘Shifting institutional dynamics in EU external relations’ that will take place on 12th December 2025 at the premises of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 30 April 2025.  More information about the conference and registration are available here.
9. Introducing the Marguerite Wolff Article Prize. With a view to increase the visibility of early-career scholars, the ZaöRV/HJIL introduces the Marguerite Wolff Article Prize (MWAP) as of 2025. The Prize aims to honour excellent scholarship published by early-career scholars in the journal.

Elsewhere Online

1. The Constitution Society’ UK announced its new cohort of contributing writers for 2025,  looking forward to bringing us a range of work on aspects and developments in the UK constitution across the coming year. Details can be found here.
2. Statement from the American Bar Association (March 3 2025): ‘The ABA rejects efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession’.. Online Seminar on Friday, March 21 (16:30 CET), on the significant dilemmas faced by government lawyers in the US and Europe and discuss strategies to navigate these challenges with a panel of experts, including Scott Cummings, Lauren Rikleen, and Kutsal Yesilkagit. You can register here.
3. Statement on Academic Freedom by Gleider Hernández, ESIL President, available here.
4. 20^th European Conference of Electoral Management Bodies ‘Stability of electoral law – Practical Aspects’, co-organised by the Council for Democratic Elections and the Central Electoral Commission of Lithuania will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania, 15 and 16 April 2025.
5. The 2025 European Law Institute Annual Conference and Meetings will take place from 22–24 Septemberin Vienna (Austria). Draft Agenda is available here
6. The European Commission sets out its Roadmap for Women’s Rights, and presents the 2025 Report on Gender Equality. Details are available here:
7. The International Executive Committee of EuroPris – The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services meeting took place in Bucharest, Romania, 11-12 March. Founded in 2011, EuroPris promotes ethical and rights-based imprisonment, facilitates information exchange, and provides expert support to members, partner organisations and policy makers.
8. On 10 March 2025, the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Marko Bošnjak, delivered a lecture on the role of courts in tackling democratic backsliding, at Harvard Law School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.