Author: i_conn_admin

Morocco Quiety Reforms Constitution

Without the fanfare (or violence) of Egypt and Tunisia, it seems the Arab Spring is leading to real reform in Morocco. A good summary of the constitutional changes proposed by the King. To be put to national referendum July 1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/a-king-a-speech-and-a-new-constitution-for-morocco/2011/03/29/AGSximcH_blog.html

21 June, 2011
Recent Commentary on the Proposed Amendments to the Egyptian Constitution

Recently, Tom Ginsburg described in this blog some of the proposed constitutional amendments for the Egyptian Constitution and flagged Tamir Moustafa’s brief analysis of them in foreign policy. It is also worth drawing people’s attention to commentary by two other commentators with long experience watching Egyptian constitutional developments.

1 March, 2011
Suharto and Mubarak’s Final Days: Similar Trajectories Leading to Very Different Modes of Transition

On The New Republic’s website on February 2, 2011, Thomas Carothers suggested that those leading the Egyptian transition might want to draw some lessons from the experience of Indonesia. He notes several aspects of the Indonesian transition from the regime of Suharto to a new regime that, he believes, helped Indonesia achieve what was, in…

13 February, 2011
Andrew Arato on “Egypt’s Transformation: Revolution, Coup, Regime Change, or All of the above?”

Andrew Arato has kindly contributed the following post: “Egypt’s Transformation: Revolution, Coup, Regime Change, or All of the above?”: Among those who believe that in the modern world democracy is a universal value, all have been inspired, amazed and totally convinced by the Egyptian democratic movement.

12 February, 2011
What is legality worth in an Egyptian transition?: Some initial thoughts.

Given recent amendments to the Constitution, trying to oust the NDP regime in a formally constitutional manner will delay Mubarak’s formal retirement as head of state for a considerable period and might require significant concessions to current NDP elites. The current Egyptian constitution was enacted in 1971.

5 February, 2011
The Price of Legality in an Egyptian Transition, Part II–some other voices weigh in

As I noted in my last post, under the current constitutional scheme in Egypt, elites in the ruling National Democratic Party can hold hostage the “legality” of any quick regime change. To recap: Under the current constitution, as soon as the president is forced out, elections must be held within 2 months and must be…

4 February, 2011
Southern Sudan’s Constitutional Review

On January 21 the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) issued a presidential decree for the “formation of the Technical Committee to review the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan” and to present a final draft of a transitional constitution to the President by April 25.

3 February, 2011
Should He Stay or Should He Go: Negotiation as the Price of Constitutional Legality in an Egyptian Transition

There is an ingenious device that one finds in the Egyptian constitution—one analogous to some of the “poison pills” that corporations occasionally adopt to prevent hostile takeover. If a President resigns or is otherwise removed, power will be transferred to high officials appointed to their office by the President.

2 February, 2011
Independent Institutions in Iraq

The Iraq Federal Supreme Court (FSC), following a petition by Prime Minister Maliki’s office, has just ruled that independent commissions such as the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) and the Central Bank of Iraq are to be attached to the executive branch.

26 January, 2011
Comparative Originalism

Thank you to Tom for noting my book review! I did want to add one thing: The issue of how the courts of other countries interpret their constitutions is relatively understudied. There is a good book with single-country studies from 2007 edited by Jeffrey Goldsworthy (Monash University, Australia).

7 October, 2010