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. The Spanish Constitutional Court rules Catalonia’s independence vote unconstitutional.
2. Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court strikes down part of the parliamentary elections law.
3. The Supreme Court of Nepal has rejected amnesty for civil war crimes.
4. The Italian Court of Cassation concluded that the Italian Constitution does not extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.
5. In South Korea, the Constitutional Court removes ban on adultery.
6. The US Supreme Court ruled that the retailer Abercrombie & Fitch violated anti­discrimination laws when it denied a Muslim woman a job because of her head scarf.

In the News

1. The International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL) launches a new blog.
2. University of Ottawa law professors Joseph Magnet and Tolga Yalkin recently held a colloquium on constitutional design for Eritrea. The proceeding brought together constitutional lawyers, area specialists, experts from related disciplines and political stakeholders for a day long discussion about how Eritrea is likely to transition from the present authoritarian regime and to consider the possibilities for post-authoritarian  governance and development of Eritrea in its regional context. The detailed colloquium report can be found here.
3. Japan’s prime minister seeks to revise the Constitution.
4. In Thailand, the Constitution Drafting Committee suggests that the entire Senate should be appointed not elected.
5. In the State of Indiana, a legislation to enrich the right to farm has been defeated in the Senate.
6. In Ferguson, residents filed a lawsuit alleging constitutional violations after recent racial unrest.
7. By virtue of the privacy rights in the state’s constitution, recreational marijuana is now legal in Alaska.
8. The Wisconsin Senate has voted to approve the right-to-work bill.

New Scholarship

1. Mario Cajas, La Historia de la Corte Suprema de Justicia de Colombia, 1886-1991 (The Universidad of The Andes and Icesi University, January 2015) (analyzing the decisions of the Colombian Supreme Court, its relationship with other political institutions, and the strategic behavior of the Court and its justices)
2. Raimondas Ibenskas, Understanding Pre-electoral Coalitions in Central and Eastern Europe, British Journal of Political Science (2015) (examining the patterns and factors of electoral alliance formation in eleven democracies in Central and Eastern Europe by focusing on joint candidate lists.)
3. Nico Krisch, The Structure of Postnational Authority, Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals – IBEI (2015) (discussing different factors that tend to underestimate the presence of authority in global governance.)
4. Nicholas W. Barber, Constitutionalism: Negative and Positive (2015) (explaining the concept of constitutionalism and challenging some main misunderstandings it.)
5. Ernest A. Young, Constitutionalism Outside the Courts, Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series (2015) (discussing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Cooper v. Aaron and its implications on constitutional interpretation and enforcement by extrajudicial institutions, and the notion of judicial supremacy.)
6. Einer Elhauge, Contrived Threats v. Uncontrived Warnings: A General Solution to the Puzzles of Contractual Duress, Unconstitutional Conditions, and Blackmail (2015) (providing a solution to the puzzle of contractual duress, unconstitutional conditions, and blackmail, and explaining why the Medicaid defunding threat in Obamacare was unconstitutional.)
7. Alba Ruibal, Movement and Counter-Movement: A History of Abortion Law Reform and the Backlash in Colombia 2006-2014 22(44)Reproductive Health Matters (2014) (examining the process of progressive implementation and reactionary backlash in light of the Colombian Constitutional Court Decision C-335/2006, which liberalized the country’s abortion law.

Calls for Papers

1. The Yonsei Journal of International Studies invites submissions for its spring/summer 2015 issue.
2. Koç University Law School, Boston College Law School and the International Society of Public Law invite submissions for a full-day workshop on unamendable constitutional provisions, to be held on the campus of Koç University Law School in Istanbul on Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
3. The Irish Journal of European Law welcomes submissions for its 2015 volume.
4. The AALS Sections on Comparative Law and on Defamation and Privacy is now accepting proposals for the AALS Annual Meeting: Perspectives on Privacy Law.
5. The 4^th Asia Pro Bono Conference and Legal Ethics Forum Organizing Committee announces a call for papers for its annual conference to be held at Mandalay University in Mandalay, Myanmar on 3-6 Sep. 2015.
6. The Natural Resources Journal (NRJ) seeks proposals for academic articles on law and policy issues surrounding the National Park Service.

Elsewhere on Blogs

1. Arit John, Does the Supreme Court Care That Americans Support Gay Marriage?, Bloomberg
2. Lyle Denniston, Constitution Check: Will the government’s global wiretap program ever be subject to challenge?, Constitution Daily Blog
3. Ashby Jones, Gun-Control backers test new approach, WSJ Blog
4. Lisa Griffin, Online Dispute Resolution Worldwide, ComparativeLawProfBlog
5. Arun K. Thiruvengadam, Secularism and the Constitution of India: controversy under the Modi administration, ConstitutionNet