Author: Tom Ginsburg
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Get ready for new battles over Japan’s Constitution
–Lawrence Repeta, Meiji University Faculty of Law Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is focused on the economy — check out the collapse of the yen and the boom in the stock market since he took center stage. In his policy speech to open the new Diet session on January 28, Abe talked about the economy and…
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Of Pirates and Caymans: Lessons from the Privy Council for Interpretation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law
–Alvin Y. H. Cheung, Barrister-at-Law, Sir Oswald Cheung’s Chambers, Hong Kong At the ceremonial opening of the legal year of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“HKSAR”) on 14 January 2013, Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen SC and Kumar Ramanathan SC, Chairman of the Bar Association, spoke at length about protecting…
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Announcement: European and National Constitutional Law Closing Conference
‘The European Constitution is best perceived as a composite Constitution, comprising constitutional rules and principles developed at European level, complemented by (common) national constitutional rules and principles as well as those from other sources such as the ECHR and international law.
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Japan Developments: An Era Ends, and New One Around the Corner?
Yesterday, the New York Times reported the death of Beate Sirota Gordon, likely the last link to the drafting of the Constitution of Japan in 1946. Sirota had been raised in Japan, and was a civilian employee of the U.S. occupation forces when she was thrust into the drafting process in February of 1946.
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Romanian Elections: An “Original” Democracy?
–Bianca Selejan-Guţan, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Simion Bărnuţiu Faculty of Law The long-awaited process in which Romanians were called to elect their representatives in the country’s Parliament came to an end last month. The Central Electoral Office announced the final results.
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Japan’s Election and Constitutional Revision
Japanese awoke this morning to find that the Liberal Democratic Party had won a massive supermajority in the lower house, more than doubling its seat share from 118 to 294 seats. Its coalition partner Komeito won 31 seats, and the hawkish Japan Restoration Party also won 54 seats, nearly matching the governing Democratic Party of…
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The Real Winner in the Egyptian Constitution? The Military
[cross-posted from the HuffingtonPost] As Cairo’s streets fill with protestors after the rushed passage of the new draft Constitution, all eyes are on the confrontation between the newly re-energized opposition and the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Yet, while controversy swirls around the reach of Islam and the…
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Nuclear protest and the right of assembly in Japan
As disturbing new reports come in [see here, here and here] finding abnormally high levels of thyroid growths in children of Japan’s Fukushima prefecture, there is renewed attention being drawn to the Democratic Party of Japan government’s controversial decision to re-open some nuclear plants this past summer.
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The Secessionist Challenge In Spain: An Independent Catalonia?
Constitutional waters are turbulent in Spain, as a result of recent events in Catalonia. On September 11, large numbers of Catalans took to the streets in Barcelona to celebrate the annual Diada nacional. This time, however, they did so under a new banner: “Catalonia: the next European state”.
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Join I-CON: Debate!
In I.CON’S latest issue, Marek Szydło and Stephen Weatherhill present opposing views on the desirability of designating national parliaments as national regulatory authorities of network industries. Marek’s paper is entitled National parliaments as regulators of network industries: In search of the dividing line between regulatory powers of national parliaments and national regulatory authorities; Weatherhill’s reply…