What’s New in Comparative Public Law

–Angelique Devaux, French Licensed Attorney (Notaire)

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 Singapore Court of Appeal ruled that the use of caning as a criminal penalty is constitutional.
2. Alabama Supreme Court challenged a federal court order allowing same-sex marriage.
3. Federal court in Nebraska puts same-sex marriage on hold.
4. Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court ruled the Electoral Districts Law unconstitutional.
5. Alabama Supreme Court ruled school choice program constitutional.
6. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a state regulatory board violated federal law against unfair competition when it tried to prevent lower-cost competitors in other fields from offering teeth-whitening services.

New Scholarship

1. Andrei Marmor, Randomized Judicial Review, (USC Gould School of Law Center for Law and Social Science, Legal Studies Research Papers Series No. 15-8) (challenging the counter majoritarian argument for judicial review)
2. Elaine Fahey, The Actors of Postnational Rule-Making: Contemporary Challenges of European and International Law (Routledge, 2015) (exploring the range of actors involved in rule-making within European Union law and Public International law)
3. Jaclyn L Neo, Riots and Rights: Law and Exclusion in Singapore’s Migrant Worker Regime (Asian Journal of Law and Society) (2015)(examining the legal framework regulating unskilled and low-skilled migrant workers in Singapore)
4. Helder de Schutter and Lea Ypi, The British Academy Brian Barry Prize Essay: Mandatory Citizenship for Immigrants (British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 45, Issue 2, April 2015) (defending the idea of mandatory citizenship for immigrants)
5. Mark Cammack, Adriaan Bedner & Stijn Van Huis, Democraty, Human Rights, and Islamic Family Law in Post-Soeharto Indonesia (New Middle Easter Studies, forthcoming) (examining the developments in Indonesian family law in the aftermath of the political transition that occurred in 1998 by focusing on the position of the Islamic courts and the role of the women’s movement as a driver of reform)

In the News

1. Neysun A. Mahboubi interviewed by CCTV on the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
2. The President of Colombia’s Constitutional Court has resigned after being accused of corruption.
3. German’s Parliament approved gender quota legislation for large companies.
4. Slovenia approved same-sex marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples.
5. Notaries from Italy protest against Remzi reform [Italian].
6. UK Parliament will debate a bill on equal pay.

Calls for Papers and Applications

1. The International Society of Public Law calls for papers for its conference to be held in New York City on July 1-3, 2015, at the New York University School of Law.
2. The European University Institute is looking for candidates to fill a chair in constitutional and/or Public Law.
3. The European University Institute, Department of law is looking for a national reporter of Denmark and Lithuania for the Euro-Crisis Law Project.
4. The Center for Asian Legal Studies (National University of Singapore) calls for papers for its conference called “The Life and Future of British Colonial Sexual Regulation in Asia” to be held on 8-9 October 2015.
5. The Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and Cleveland State Law Review calls for presenters for its spring symposium to be held on April 17, 2015.
6. The International Journal of Law and Policy Review is currently accepting submissions for its July 2015 issue.
7. The Institute of Public Finance and Tax Law of the University of Heidelberg invites submissions for 2015 Doctoral Seminar on International and EU Tax Law to be held on 19th and 20th June 2015 in University of Heidelberg, Germany.
8. The Business and Human Rights Journal (BHRJ) calls for papers for the journal to be launched at the 4th UN Business and Human Rights Forum in December 2015.
9. The African Association of International Law calls for papers for a conference on “International Economic Law and Development in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities,” to take place August 29-31, 2015, in Libreville.
10. The Irish Society for European Law calls for papers for its 2015 volume.

Elsewhere on Blogs

1. Endy Bayuni, Commentary: Calling for national referendum on capital punishment, The Jakarta Post
2. François Mailhé, French Same-Sex Marriage, a Strange International Public Policy, Conflictoflaws.net
3. Editorial, Update Discriminatory Civil code, The Japan Times
4. Darien Shanske, Opinion analysis: Court adopts broad standards for adjudicating what constitutes a tax discrimination under the 4-R Act, The SCOTUSblog
5. Michael Levenson, Civil rights fight looms on charter schools cap, Citing burden on poor, lawyers ready challenge, The Boston Globe
6. Ryan Scoville, Why Teaching International Law in American Universities matters, Just Security
7. Steven D. Schwinn, Obamacare Subsidies May Turn on Federalism, Constitutional Avoidance, Constitutional Law Blog