Category: Developments
-
Egypt’s New Draft Constitution of 2013: An Introduction and Appraisal
—Mohamed Arafa, Alexandria University (Egypt) and Indiana University McKinney School of Law The Egyptian interim government supported by the Egyptian al–qwaat al–mosellaa(h) (military) recently released the new draft Egyptian Constitutional Charter. This draft Constitution is intended to replace, via amendment, the more Islamist–oriented de facto 2012 Constitution established during the recent reign of the Muslim…
-
A New Legal Definition of Religion?
—Lorenzo Zucca, Reader in Jurisprudence, King’s College London Scientology is a religion: this much is clear in the UK Supreme Court’s December 11 ruling in the high profile case of Hodkin v Registrar. The facts of the case are simple. Mrs.
-
Orthodox in the Extreme: India’s Same-Sex Jurisprudence in Comparative Perspective
—Rehan Abeyratne (Jindal Global Law School) and Nilesh Sinha (Syracuse University) Last week, the Indian Supreme Court issued a controversial ruling in Koushal v. Naz Foundation. It upheld the constitutionality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.”
-
Checking Institutions and the Institutional Control of Politics
—David Landau, Florida State University College of Law This week, the Colombian National Procuraduria [a sort of National Attorney General or Inspector General] removed the leftist, democratically-elected mayor of Bogota, Gustavo Petro, from office and banned him from participation in politics for 15 years.
-
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).
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.
-
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…