What’s New in Comparative Public Law

—Mohamed Abdelaal, Alexandria University (Egypt)

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. Polish constitutional court to discuss ritual slaughter ban.
2. Bahrain court suspends main opposition group.
3. The Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore affirms law criminalizing homosexuality.
4. The Singapore Court of Appeal upholds constitutionality of section 377A of the Penal Code criminalizing homosexual and transgender activity.
5. Constitutional Court of Ecuador ruled that congress may vote on proposal to allow unlimited re-election terms.
6. St. Petersburg parking ordinance ruled unconstitutional.
7. North Dakota Supreme Court upholds law restricting medication abortion.

In the News

1. Europe rights body condemns Azerbaijan crackdown on activists.
2. Ukraine election results in large support for pro-European party.
3. Italy adopts Supreme Court’s view of ICJ authority.
4. Spain state advisor supports move to block Catalonia independence vote.
5. UN rights body urges Israel to investigate alleged war crimes.
6. China passes new counter-espionage law to strengthen national security.
7. Myanmar leadership considers amending constitution, limiting military veto power.
8. Argentina lawmakers pass controversial energy law.

New Scholarship

1. Silvia Suteu, A New Form of Direct Democracy: Constitutional Conventions in the Digital Era, Edinburgh School of Law Research Paper No. 2014/39 (2014), (The author aims to evaluate whether the novelty in mechanisms of constitutional change also translates into novelty in the quality of the process of constitution-making and legitimacy of the end product.)
2. Stefan Voigt, Jerg Gutmann & Lars P. Feld, Economic Growth and Judicial Independence, a Dozen Years on: Cross-Country Evidence Using an Updated Set of Indicators, CESifo Working Paper Series No. 5010 (2014), (The paper presents more recent data on de jure and de facto judicial independence confirming previous results that de jure judicial independence is not systematically related to economic growth, but de facto judicial independence is highly significantly and robustly correlated with growth.)
3. Mario Sarria, La Corte Suprema de Justicia bajo el gobierno del General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla “The Supreme Court under the goverment of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla”, 2014 (The paper explores the political role of the Supreme Court of Colombia and its relationship with the government of General Rojas during the government of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla.)
4. Faisal Kutty, The Myth and Reality of ‘Shari’a’ Courts in Canada: A Delayed Opportunity for the Indigenization of Islamic Legal Rulings, 7 Univ of St. Thomas L J (The article discusses the Ontario government’s passage of the Family Statute Law Amendment Act, 2005 ostensibly precluding the enforcement of faith-based decisions issued by arbitration panels pursuant to the Arbitrations Act, 1991. The author argues whether Islamic law and liberal democracy can co-exist within a liberal constitutional framework, and how Ontario also delayed an opportunity to indigenize or Canadianize Islamic law rulings in a manner that would help in the integration process of its Muslim citizens.)
5. James May & Erin Daly, Ten Good Practices in Environmental Constitutionalism: Structure, Text and Justiciability, 14(39) Widener Law School Legal Studies Research Paper (The authors discuss Environmental constitutionalism as a relatively recent phenomenon of constitutional law, international law, human rights, and environmental law. The article also explains how good practices in environmental constitutionalism can serve as a useful construct for considering the relationship between sustainability, energy and governance.)

Call for Papers

1. The Kentucky Law Journal welcomes submissions until November 14, 2014, at 5:00 PM EDT for Volume 103, Issue 4, set for publication in Spring 2015.
2. The Indian Journal of International Economic Law is now accepting submissions for its upcoming issue. Volume 7.
3. The University of Baltimore School of Law’s Center on Applied Feminism seeks submissions for its Eighth Annual Feminist Legal Theory Conference to be held on March 5 and 6, 2015.
4. The Editorial Board of The Business Lawyer is soliciting submission of articles and essays for Volume 70.
5. The International Journal Vallis Aurea is now accepting submissions for the next issues.

Elsewhere on Blogs

1. Max Ehrenfreund, Quarantining Ebola doctors may well be unconstitutional, The Washington Post Blog
2. Bradley Joondeph, Argument preview: The scope of the states’ constitutional authority to tax the personal income of their residents, SCOTUSblog
3. Aiden Hunt, Will Supreme Court Footnote lead to rescheduling Marijuana?, Marijuana.com
4. Faisal Kutty, Creeping Sharia or Conspicuous Islamophobia?, Columbia J of Intl Affairs
5. Jaclyn L Neo, Should constitutional principles be eternal?, Singapore Public Law Blog