Category: Developments
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An Occasion to Rethink American Presidential Succession
United States Senator Daniel Inouye passed away last week on December 17. Senator Inouye was the senior member of Hawaii’s congressional delegation, a World War II hero, the first Japanese-American to hold office in Congress, and one of the longest-serving senators in American history.
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The Brazilian Supreme Court: Between Activism and Judicial Responsibility
–Claudia Maria Barbosa, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Brazil On December 17, 2012 the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court, (Supremo Tribunal Federal, STF), concluded the hearings of Criminal Case no. 470/2007, known as Mensalão (“Big Monthly”) – a criminal scheme to buy political support in Congress involving 37 accused, among them ministers from former President Lula’s…
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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 Once and Future Court
—Erin Delaney, Northwestern University School of Law I regret to inform you, should you have been interested in applying for one of the three upcoming vacancies on the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, that the deadline has passed. Applications were due at 5pm on October 30.
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Canada Upholds Anti-Terrorism Law
—Richard Albert, Boston College Law School Today, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its long-awaited ruling on the Anti-Terrorism Act passed by Parliament in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Writing for a unanimous panel in two interrelated cases, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin upheld the controversial anti-terrorism…
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In Memoriam: Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson
—Brian Ray, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University Arthur Chaskalson, the first President and Chief Justice of the South African Constitutional Court died on December 1, 2012. Many have highlighted the remarkable and courageous role he played in the anti-apartheid movement, including his defense of Nelson Mandela and others during the infamous Rivonia trials.
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Constitution-Making in Turkey: Towards a Presidential System?
—Ozan Varol, Assistant Professor, Lewis & Clark Law School Although recent academic and popular commentary on constitution-making has largely focused on the constitutional transitions in progress across the Arab World, I wanted to take this opportunity to update the I•CON community on the constitution-drafting process currently underway in Turkey.
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Awful Process, Terrible Ending and (Most likely) Disastrous Results
—Andrew Arato, Dorothy Hart Hirshon Professor of Political and Social Theory, The New School No serious interpreter has claimed that the Egyptian constitution-making process has been satisfactory or even adequate. Even in the context of revolutionary populist constitution making to which this case belongs, the Egyptian version is distinguished by its inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies.
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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.