Author: dlaw
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The Declining Influence of the United States Constitution
Mila Versteeg and I have just put out a paper that might be of interest to readers of this blog entitled “The Declining Influence of the United States Constitution”. It’s an empirical look at the extent to which constitution-makers in other countries emulate the U.S.
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A reason to draft constitutions carefully?
On the lighter side of the news: according to this report, owing to a slight omission in the drafting of North Dakota’s constitution (namely, the omission of a requirement that state officials take an oath of office), it is questionable whether North Dakota is legally a state.
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Constitutional Court confirmation politics in Taiwan and Korea
– Dennis Tang instead of female judge who had questioned evidence re: eight-year-old’s consent in rape case– Cho Yong, Lawyers for Democratic Change, false address– retirement of Justice Cho Dae-Hyen, in background
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Thailand’s Constitutional Court to consider legality of ruling party
Following last week’s general elections in Thailand, the losing Democrat Party has asked Thailand’s Constitutional Court to dissolve the winning Pheu Thai party. Thailand’s Constitutional Court, like a number of other specialized constitutional courts (e.g., Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey), has the constitutional power and responsibility to rule upon the lawfulness of political parties (per…
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The Future of the Canadian Supreme Court-Part II
We may soon have the chance to see how Richard Albert’s interesting prognostications regarding the future of the Canadian Supreme Court play out. Professor Albert’s recent predictions on this blog concerning the possibility that Prime Minister Stephen Harper may bring an unprecedented dose of American-style conservatism to the Court take on new urgency and force,…
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Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court rules for same-sex civil unions
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ruled that partners in same-sex civil unions are constitutionally entitled to the same rights as married persons. The constitutional provision on which it relied requires the state to “promote the good of everyone, without distinction of origin, race, sex, color, age and other forms of discrimination.”
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The death penalty around the world in 2010: an empirical snapshot
Amnesty International has released figures on worldwide use of the death penalty in 2010. The U.S. clocks in at number 5 in terms of the sheer number of executions, ahead of Saudi Arabia and behind Yemen. These are absolute numbers, though, not per capita figures.
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A sad postscript to the Ugandan High Court anti-gay hate speech ruling
A sad postscript to the Ugandan High Court ruling against the Ugandan tabloid “Rolling Stone” (no relation to the American magazine) that had outed gays and urged that they be killed, discussed previously on this blog here and here. The three named plaintiffs in the case, all very brave gay rights advocates, had argued that…
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The Canadian angle to the Ugandan High Court’s ruling
Follow-up on Tom’s very timely coverage of the Ugandan High Court decision forbidding a tabloid newspaper from publishing the names and pictures of suspected homosexuals (and urging that they be killed). The CBC reports on the Canadian angle to this story: the Ugandan decision cited with approval a 2002 Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench decision…
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ECHR: Irish abortion law violates European Convention on Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights has just handed down a decision in A, B, and C v. Ireland, in which it holds that Ireland’s strict ban on abortion violates Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to respect for one’s privacy and family life).