Category: hp
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Hungary’s proto-authoritarian new Constitution
Hungary is about to give itself a new constitution: 21 years after the peaceful transition from communism to democracy the nationalist-conservative government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, by virtue of its 2/3-majority in parliament, has tried to put the country on a entirely new constitutional course, with exceptional haste: Last week a draft for a…
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From Cairo: Kristen Stilt on Assessing Tahrir’s First Ballot Box
[cross-posted from Foreignpolicy.com] The need to establish stability during a period of great uncertainty was a central issue in Egypt’s constitutional amendment referendum held on March 19. Advocates of a “yes” vote championed an immediate path to political, economic, and social stability through amendments to the most offensive provisions of the constitution, which would be…
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Transition for a Constitution in Exile
In light of the momentous events in the Middle East, some may have missed an important story out of India: The Dalai Lama has announced his intention to retire and has asked for amendments to Tibet’s “Constitution” to allow him to do so.
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The Indian Supreme Court and the Government of Pakistan
In a recent judgment issued just last week (Gopol Dass thr. Brother Anand Vir vs. Union of India & ANR, writ petition No. 16 of 2008), the Supreme Court of India addressed its decision directly to the Government of Pakistan. Speaking on behalf of an Indian citizen imprisoned in Pakistan since 1984, the Indian Supreme…
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Dispatch from Cairo: What the Egyptian Constitutional Amendment Referendum is Really About
Many Egyptians are intensely debating the pros and cons of the constitutional amendment referendum taking place here in Egypt on Saturday, March 19, but in these discussions, what would seem to be the most obvious topic is almost completely missing: the content of the amendments themselves.
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New report on Judicial Terms
The Reports section of this website has a new report on the length of judicial terms for highest courts. About 10% of national constitutions provide for an unspecified life term for supreme court justices; another 5% provide for a life term subject to a specified retirement age.
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Kenya: Constitution passes first test
In what is the first real test of Kenya’s new Constitution, the President has backed down by withdrawing nominees appointed inconsistently with the Constitution to fill four significant public positions: Chief Justice, Attorney General, Deputy Public Prosecutor and Controller of the Budget.
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Arato on The Return of Revolutions
We certainly said good-bye to revolutions too soon, between 1989 and 1995. Yes, we were right Romania was the exception, and the series of changes of regime certainly did not represent revolutions. Yet the fact that the latter were represented finally and definitively by the journalistic cliche as the „Revolutions of 1989” demonstrates the tremendous…
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Egypt: Parliament to the Rescue
Egypt’s military has begun to commandeer its revolution. Its handpicked commission of legal experts has come up with recommendations for patching up the existing constitution to suit the post-Mubarak era. These top-down reforms have been generated within the space of 10 days and without broad popular participation.
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Egypt’s amendments announced
Egypt’s eight-member committee charged with drafting constitutional amendments has announced their proposals. Originally tasked with modifying six provisions, they instead called for eight amendments. [An excellent discussion of the issues at stake, featuring our contributor Tamir Moustafa, can be found here.