What’s New in Comparative Public Law

—Angélique Devaux, French Qualified Attorney (Notaire Diplômée), LL.M American Law (IUPUI Robert H. McKinney School of Law)

In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in comparative public law. “Developments” may include a selection of links to news, high court decisions, new or recent scholarly books and articles, and blog posts from around the comparative public law blogosphere.

To submit relevant developments for our weekly feature on “What’s New in Comparative Public Law,” please email contact.iconnect@gmail.com.

Developments in Constitutional Courts

1. Europe: The European Court of Human Rights recognized the Church of Scientology as a legal entity, over strong opposition from Russian authorities.
2. Malaysia: The Sessions Court ruled that a University of Malaysia law lecturer can challenge the Sedition Act’s constitutionality in the High Court.
3. Spain: The Spanish Constitutional Court announced that it has suspended the celebration of the Catalan Independence referendum scheduled for November
4. United States: The U.S. Supreme Court will not intervene at this time in gay marriage.
5. Oklahoma: The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma on Tuesday struck down federal tax subsidies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
6. Ohio: The Ohio Supreme Court held that public employees are not personally liable under certain Ohio anti-discrimination laws, but that their actions may subject political-subdivision employers to vicarious liability.
7. Turkey: The Constitutional Court of Turkey held that the Telecommunications Directorate’s authority to close websites within four hours on the basis of national security, protecting public order, or preventing crime was unconstitutional.
8. United States: The U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case on attorneys’ fees for bankruptcy lawyers in the upcoming term.

In the News

1. Libya: Parliament moves to small port city as dangers in Tripoli increase.
2. Sweden: The prime minister announced that the country will recognize the state of Palestine in a move that will make it the first major member of the European Union to do so.
3. France: A citizen was jailed for deliberately infecting partner with HIV.
4. Cambodia: Lawmakers voted to amend the constitution to make the National Election Committee an “independent body.”
5. Latvia: The center right coalition won a majority in the nation’s general election.

New Scholarship

1. Emmanuelle Richez, Losing Relevance: Quebec and the Constitutional Politics of Language, Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 52(1), Forthcoming (evaluating whether Quebec has lost relevance in the constitutional politics of language, proposing a doctrinal analysis of the Supreme Court’s Charter jurisprudence, arguing that constitutional review has increasingly protected individual rights over Quebec’s collective right to maintain its language and culture, and concluding that Quebec is no longer driving concepts of Canadian citizenship)
2. Ruth E. Gavison, Reflections on the Meaning and Justification of “Jewish” in the Expression “A Jewish and Democratic State”, The Israeli Nation-State: Political, Constitutional, and Cultural Challenges, p. 135, 2014 (explaining how it is possible to justify Israel’s existence as a state that is both Jewish and Democratic)
3. Faisal Kutty, “Islamic Law” in U.S. Courts: Judicial Jihad or Constitutional Imperative?, Pepperdine Law Review, Forthcoming (showing that courts treat claims by Muslims using religious law the same way they deal with claims brought by those of other faiths and those of no faith)
4. Dacian C. Dragos and Bogdana Neamtu (Eds.) Alternative Dispute Resolution in European Administrative Law (Springer 2014) (examining the role, general framework, and empirical effectiveness of the main alternative dispute resolution tools in administrative matters within the broader context of the administrative justice system)
5. Fran Quigley, How Human Rights Can Build Haiti, Vanderbilt University Press, 2014 (arguing that the only way to transform Haiti’s dismal human rights legacy is through a bottom-up social movement, supported by local and international challenges to the status quo)

Calls for Papers 

1. The Southeastern Association of Law Schools has issued a call for papers for the 2015 SEALS Annual Conference to be held in Boca Raton, Florida from 27 July to 2 August 2015.
2. The James Crawford Prize of International Journal Dispute Settlement has issued a call for papers.
3. The Georgetown International Environmental Law Review is currently accepting submissions for Issues 2 and 3 of Volume 27.
4. The Journal of Law and Health’s Annual Symposium at Cleveland Marshall Law School has issued a call for papers.
5. The European Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 2015 research forum that will take place May 14-15, 2015 at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
6. The Refugee Law Initiative invites submissions to its Working Paper Series.
7. The Utrecht Journal of International and European Law issues a call for papers in relation to its forthcoming 80th edition on “Privacy under International and European Law.”

Elsewhere Online

1. Sheriff Kumba Joe, The right to education children: Children with disabilities in the Gambia, AfricLaw
2. Eugene Kontorovich, Constitutional problems with international courts, The Volokh Conspiracy
3. L.A. Times Editorial Board, The meaning of U.S. citizenship, Los Angeles Times
4. Eric L. Lewis, Who Are “We The People”?, The New York Times
5. William Partlett, Judicial Backsliding in Russia, Jurist