Author: Richard Albert
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New Scholarship Review: Interview with Vanessa MacDonnell
–Richard Albert, Boston College Law School In this installment of I-CONnect’s interview series, I speak with Vanessa MacDonnell about her forthcoming paper on The Constitution as Framework for Governance. In her paper, Professor MacDonnell proposes a new way of thinking about the role of government, specifically with regard to its affirmative obligations to advance and secure constitutional…
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Book Review/Response: Paul Blokker, Jiri Priban and Bogusia Puchalska on Civic Constitutionalism
[Editor’s Note: In this installment of I•CONnect’s Book Review/Response Series, Jiří Přibáň and Bogusia Puchalska each review Paul Blokker’s recently-published book New Democracies in Crisis? A Comparative Constitutional Study of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Paul Blokker then responds to the reviews] Review by Jiří Přibáň –Jiří Přibáň, Cardiff Law School, reviewing Paul Blokker, New Democracies…
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Recent Developments in Egypt: Interview with Mohamed Arafa
–Richard Albert, Boston College Law School In this installment of I-CONnect’s interview series, I speak with Mohamad Arafa about recent developments in Egypt. Professor Arafa teaches at Alexandria University in Egypt, where he specializes in constitutional, criminal and Islamic law. In our conversation, Professor Arafa provides an update on the latest developments in Egypt, discusses…
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New Scholarship Review: Interview with Ozan Varol
—Richard Albert, Boston College Law School In this first installment of I-CONnect’s interview series, I speak with Ozan Varol about his forthcoming paper on Temporary Constitutions. In his new paper, Professor Varol explores the costs and benefits of designing temporary constitutions.
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The Constituent Power of Student Protests in Chile
–Fernando Muñoz León, Assistant Professor, Universidad Austral de Chile 2011 was an important year for social movements and popular protest in liberal democracies. For instance, the United States had the Occupy movement and Spain the Indignados. Chile had its own share in the form of massive student protests that put the government on the ropes…
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Egypt: What’s Next?
—Mohamed Abdelaal, Assistant Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, Alexandria University, School of Law Was the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi on June 30 a popular revolution or a military coup? The debate is outdated. What is more important is that the events of June 30 returned Egypt to square one, right back where it…
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The Liberty-Equality Debate: Comparing the Lawrence and Naz Foundation Rulings
Cross-posted with permission from the Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog. —Ajey Sangai, Research Associate, Jindal Global Law School Last month marked the 10-year anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas, where the United States Supreme Court ruled that laws that criminalized sodomy were unconstitutional.
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Why Entrench Formal Amendment Rules?
–Richard Albert, Boston College Law School Constitutional changes, both big and small, are underway in Egypt, Fiji, Tunisia and elsewhere. Constitutional designers in these and other countries face daunting challenges in dividing powers between governmental branches, balancing state prerogatives with individual rights, and managing majority-minority relations.
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Liberalizing Abortion in Ireland: The New Legal Framework
–Christina M. Akrivopoulou, Adjunct Lecturer, Democritus University of Thrace The new Irish Law on “Protection of life during pregnancy” acknowledges the potential risk for the pregnant woman’s life as a reason justifying abortion, and represents the greatest evolution regarding the liberalization of abortions in Ireland since the 19th century.
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Indonesian Constitutional Court Reconsiders Blasphemy Law
–Dr. Melissa Crouch, Postdoctoral Fellow, Law Faculty, National University of Singapore In 2012, a new case challenging the constitutionality of Indonesia’s Blasphemy Law was lodged with the Constitutional Court.[1] Since Indonesia’s transition to democracy, over 150 individuals from minority religious groups have been convicted of blasphemy.