Category: Developments
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The Scottish Constitution After Independence
—Stephen Tierney, Edinburgh School of Law [Cross-posted from UK Con Law Blog] According to the Scottish Government White Paper issued this week, Scotland’s Future, an independent Scotland will have a new written constitution (this repeats the commitment contained in the Scottish Government’s earlier White Paper of March).
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European Court of Human Rights Condemns Greece for Banning Same-Sex Civil Unions
–Christina M. Akrivopoulou, Greek Refugee Appeals Authority On November 7, the European Court of Human Rights decided Vallianatos and others v. Greece, which condemned Greece for banning same-sex civil unions. Law 3719/2008 introduced civil unions within Greece as an alternative to the institution of marriage for heterosexual couples that share stable relationships, but excluded same-sex…
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Indian Supreme Court Rules on Bureaucratic Independence
–Nick Robinson, Fellow, Program on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School [cross-posted from Law and Other Things] Last week saw the Supreme Court decide T.S.R. Subramanian vs. Union of India. The judgment, involving the independence of the bureaucracy, is arguably the latest in a fascinating line of jurisprudence from the Court over the last decade and…
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Turkey’s Constitutional Process
—Bertil Emrah Oder, Dean, Koç University Law School [cross-posted from the Hürriyet Daily News] After the refusal of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) proposal by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the constitutional plan as to the 60 agreed articles seems to have been put aside from further political consideration.
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Chile’s Constitutional Moment?
–Oya Yegen Chile is going through a “constitutional moment”. Demand for replacing the 1980 Constitution, inherited from the Pinochet regime, has not been so clearly expressed or been so central to presidential elections until the last couple of years. Now, with a presidential election due to take place this Sunday, the issue has come to…
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Resources for Readers: The Future of the Canadian Senate
Tomorrow, the Canadian Supreme Court will begin three days of hearings on the constitutionality of proposed changes to the Senate of Canada. This could be the most important case in Canadian constitutional law since the 1998 Secession Reference. The hearings will be broadcast live here starting tomorrow at 9:30am EST.
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Nuclear Controversy and the Right to Petition in Japan
—Tokujin Matsudaira, Kanagawa University Faculty of Law Last week, Taro Yamamoto, a member of Japanese House of Councillors in the Diet, set off a controversy when he personally handed a letter to the Japanese Emperor expressing concern about the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
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Golden Dawn Party Faces Prosecution
–Christina M. Akrivopoulou, Appeals Asylum Authority, Greece One of the most important recent events in Greece has been the attempt to prosecute the far-right Golden Dawn party. The ongoing prosecution raises important questions about the proper limits of toleration for ultra-nationalist, racist parties in a democracy.
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Indonesian Constitutional Court Rejects Blasphemy Law Case
—Melissa Crouch, National University of Singapore In April 2013, the Indonesian Constitutional Court rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of the Blasphemy Law (although the court decision was only made publically available in September 2013). As I argued previously, this was the most likely outcome, given the weak constitutional nature of the arguments raised and…
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Ireland’s Senate Survives
—Eoin Carolan, University College Dublin In a result that defied all pre-referendum opinion polls, a narrow majority of voters last week rejected a proposal to abolish Ireland’s Seanad (Senate). The proposal, which was closely associated with Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny, was defeated by 51.7% to 48.3%, a margin of almost 42,500 votes.