Author: i_conn_admin
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Greece, the Euro, and the FCC
The German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has denied an application for a temporary injunction to stop Germany’s contribution to the aid package for Greece (German decision here, English press release here). The challenged law authorized the federal government to guarantee loans up to 22.4 billion euros.
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The Iraq Judiary: A Correction and Apology
I feel compelled to update my March 31 post about the Iraq Federal Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the meaning of “largest Council of Representatives bloc” in Article 76 of the Iraq Constitution. I maligned the Court for ruling that the phrase referred to post-election coalitions (multiple party lists that come together to form a…
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Iraq’s Bush v. Gore?
A Special Iraqi Electoral Court today waded even deeper into political and electoral waters, ordering a partial recount of votes cast in last month’s parliamentary election. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/world/middleeast/20iraq.html?hp In so doing the court upset the Independent Higher Electoral Commission’s certification of the results and has played right into the hands of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who…
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A Step Backwards for the Iraq Judiciary
The Iraq judiciary has made great strides in its capacity and independence since the fall of the Saddam regime, as demonstrated by brave and politically unpopular decisions made in the name of fair and impartial adjudication. In 2008 the Iraq Supreme Court vacated the Council of Representative’s decision to strip a parliamentarian’s immunity so he…
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A Step Backwards for the Iraqi Judiciary
The Iraq judiciary has made huge strides in its capacity and independence since the fall of the Saddam regime, making brave and politically unpopular decisions in the name of integrity and fair and impartial adjudication. In 200 The political turmoil over the Iraq elections was bound to touch the judiciary —It could have been an…
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New President at the FCC & Some Thoughts on the Appointment Process
Last week, Hans-Jürgen Papier retired from his position as President of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) and chief judge of the First Senate upon expiration of his 12 year term on the court. His successor as President is the former Vice-President of the Court Andreas Voßkuhle (FCC press release in German here).
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More on Constitutional Concerns regarding EU Data Retention Directive
Readers will likely recall that the German Federal Constitutional Court earlier this month held unconstitutional a German law requiring the retention of certain telecommunication data (German decision here, German press reports in English here and here). The law that was invalidated transposed Directive 2006/24/EC, passed largely in response to the Madrid and London bombings, into…
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More on Constitutional Concerns regarding EU Data Retention Directive
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Popular Consultation in Sudan
Tom, you’re right to highlight Sudan as a possible “hot spot” for constitutional reform in 2010 (and beyond), but not necessarily in the context of “crisis.” This isn’t to say some sort of crisis is out of the question (or even unlikely), but it is not the only scenario in which meaningful constitutional reform might…
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Addendum to Iraq’s Election Quandary
The Speaker of Iraq’s Parliament acknowledge today the inevitability of a “constitutional and legislative vacuum” as a result of the unavoidable gap between the end of the current Parliament’s legislative term and the time before elections can be conducted and a new Parliament and government formed — about two months by the Speaker’s estimation.