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. In Tchokontio Happi v. France, the European Court of Human Rights refused the view that the French Government can rely on a lack of resources to explain why the applicant had still not been re-housed.
2. The German Federal Constitutional Court allows Muslim teachers to wear head scarves in schools.
3. The US Supreme Court ruled that under the Supremacy Clause an injunctive relief for violating the Medicaid Act injunctive relief is void.
4. In Detroit, a U.S. District Judge ruled parts of Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry law unconstitutional.
5. In Florida, an appeals court ruled that a retroactive tax law unconstitutional.
6. A federal judge in California orders the state’s correction department to pay for inmate’s sex change.

In the News

1. In South Korea, the Constitutional Court starts hearing arguments on anti-sex trade law.
2. Turkey’s Constitutional Court lifts ban on Twitter and YouTube.
3. Cambodian lawmakers approve a new electoral commission.
4. New release: Report on the relation between Arab constitutions and corruption.
5. The US Supreme Court is asked to seek global guidance when hearing arguments about same-sex marriage.
6. The US Supreme Court will decide on ADA and Fourth Amendment regarding police shootings.
7. A Wisconsin Justice filed suit challenging a state constitutional amendment.

New Scholarship

1. James Q. Whitman, Presumption of Innocence or Presumption of Mercy?: Weighing Two Western Modes of Justice, Texas Law Review, Forthcoming (suggesting a shift away from the American culture of rights for the innocent toward a greater concern with continental-style rights for the guilty)
2. Mathias M. Siems, Bringing in Foreign Ideas: The Quest for ‘Better Law’ in Implicit Comparative Law, 9 The Journal of Comparative Law 119 (2015) (discussing how research in comparative politics, sociology and economics can help in the quest for better law, and what limitations have to be taken into account as we cross academic disciplines)
3. Heinz Klug, Accountability and the Role of Independent Constitutional Institutions in South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Constitutions, New York Law Review, Forthcoming (exploring the relationship between democracy and accountability in South Africa’s post-apartheid constitutional order and urges for the establishment of an institutionalized system of checks and balances)
4. Dan Priel, The Philosophies of the Common Law and Their Implications: Common Law Divergences, Public Authority Liability, and the Future of a Common Law World, Forthcoming in The Common Law of Obligations: Divergence and Unity (Oxford: Hart Publishing, Andrew Robertson & Michael Tilbury eds., 2015) (answering the question of how we could justify the common law if it is made by unelected judges)
5. Adam Shinar, Enabling Resistance: How Courts Facilitate Departures from the Law and Why this May Not Be a Bad Thing, 17(4) New York University Journal of Legislation & Public Policy (2014) (arguing that courts can legitimize an incentive structure to enable public officers to resist the law.)
6. Haider Ala Hamoudi, Wasfi H. Al-Sharaa & Aqeel Al-Dahhan, The Resolution of Disputes in State and Tribal Law in the South of Iraq: Toward a Cooperative Model of Pluralism, in Negotiating State and Nonstate Law: The Challenges of Global and Local Legal Pluralism (Michael A. Helfand, ed. Cambridge University Press 2015) (explaining how Iraqi tribal law and Iraqi state law cooperate in solving disputes.)

Calls for Papers

1. The Fulbright-Hungarian Academy of Sciences announces a fellowship in constitutional studies for US citizens who wish to spend from 3 up to 9 months to conduct research on Constitutional Law in Budapest at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
2. Carleton University Journal of Legal Studies welcomes submissions for its new volume.
3. The National Law School of India Review (NLSIR) is now accepting submissions for the 8^th Annual Symposium on Competition Law.
4. Boston University Law School invites submissions for the Third Annual Workshop for Corporate & Securities Litigation, which will be held Oct. 2-3, 2015, in Boston, MA.
5. The Singaporean Centre for Asian Legal Studies Faculty of Law has issued a call for papers for a two-day workshop concerning Regulating Religion: Normativity and Change at the Intersection of Law and Religion. The workshop will be held in Singapore from 14 – 15 December 2015.

Elsewhere on Blogs

1. Shedding light on the double aspect doctrine, BelConLawBlog
2. Paul A. Djupe, Andrew R. Lewis & Ted G. Jelen, The freedom of religion argument could actually make gay marriage opponents more tolerant, The Washington Post Blog
3. Lyle Denniston, Constitution Check: What do states hope to gain by going to court more often?, Constitution Daily
4. Tunisian anti-terrorism law: A balance between security and freedoms, Middle East Monitor
5. Designing Constitutions in Muslim Countries: What Role for Islam?, Pakistan Horizon
6. Lyle Denniston, Constitution Check: What do states hope to gain by going to court more often?, Constitution Daily