What’s New in Comparative Public Law

–Margaret Lan Xiao, SJD Candidate, Case Western Reserve University

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 Somaliland Constitutional Court settled the presidential and parliamentary elections deadline.
2. The Czech Constitutional Court rejected a complaint filed by a Romany man who demanded compensation for being sent to a special school in the 1980s.
3. South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld as constitutional an individual’s prison sentence for violating the Military Service Act by refusing to enlist.
4. Sixteen out of the 22 candidacies filed for the October presidential election in Burkina Faso have been endorsed by the country’s Constitutional Council.
5. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that an activist lacks standing in his lawsuit against the government over the legality of the National Security Agency’s meta-data collection.

New Scholarship

1. Jeremy D. Bailey, James Madison and Constitutional Imperfection, Cambridge University Press, September 2015 (presenting an account of James Madison’s political thought by focusing on Madison’s lifelong encounter with the enduring problem of constitutional imperfection)
2. Michael C. Davis, The Basic Law, Universal Suffrage and the Rule of Law in Hong Kong, Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, Vol. 38, No. 2, 2015 (exploring Hong Kong perspectives on recent developments such asthe Umbrella Movement, the June 2015 PRC State Council White Paper, and the August 2015 decision by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on electoral reform in Hong Kong)
3. Stephen Gardbaum, Revolutionary Constitutionalism, UCLA School of Law Research Paper No. 15-26 (defining the notion of revolutionary constitutionalism as using the constitution-making process to attempt to institutionalize and bring to a successful conclusion a political revolution and offering reflections on revolutionary constitutionalism)
4. Tom Hickey, The Republican Virtues of the “New Commonwealth Model of Constitutionalism”, International Journal of Constitutional Law (Forthcoming)(arguing in favor of the “new commonwealth model of constitutionalism” practiced in Canada, the UK and elsewhere)
5. Tori L. Kirkebo, Closing the Gap. A Human Rights Approach to Regulating Corporations, PluriCourts Research Paper No. 15-06 (examining the current system regulating state and corporate behavior with respect to human rights and taking a threefold approach to analyze how one can best regulate corporations to secure an increased protection of rights)
6. Dimitry Kochenov, EU Law without the Rule of Law: Is the Veneration of Autonomy Worth It?, 34 YEL 2015 (Forthcoming) (concluding that the EU is not driven by the Rule of Law as an institutional ideal, but rather that the EU deploys the Rule of Law to shield itself from potential internal and external contestation)

In the News

1. Singapore’s president dissolved the parliament on the advice of the prime minister.
2. Iran’s president publiclyopposed a parliamentary vote on the landmark nuclear deal reached with world powers.
3. Myanmar’s parliament was suspended ahead of the first nationwide poll in 25 years to be contested by opposition leader.
4. Kenya’s national assembly has rejected a proposal by the finance ministry to increase the minimum core capital for banks.
5. China’s top legislature adopted a prisoner amnesty deal as well as several law amendments.
6. The final version of the new Nepal draft constitution, featuring a seven-province federal model, was tabledbefore the Constituent Assembly.
7. Following the parliament’s approval of a reform plan aimed at eliminating government corruption, Iraqi President Fuad Masum released a statement endorsing constitutional amendments.

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The New Zealand Centre for Public Law at Victoria University of Wellington, Faculty Law, Boston College Law School, and The International Society of Public Law (ICON·S) invite submissions for a two-day symposium on quasi-constitutionality and constitutional statutes, to be held on the Pipitea campus of Victoria University of Wellington, Faculty of Law (Old Government Buildings) on Thursday & Friday, May 19-20, 2016.
2. Kabarak University School of Law, Boston College Law School and the International Society of Public Law invite submissions for a two-day Symposium on Constitutional Change and Transformation in Africa, to be held on the campus of Kabarak University in Nakuru on Thursday and Friday, June 9-10, 2016.
3. The Future of Privacy Forum has issued a call for papers for presentation at a conference on “Designing Ethical Review Processes for Big Data Research” to take place on December 10, 2015.
4. Northeastern University School of Law Legal Scholarship 4.0 has issued a call for papers for its second annual Legal Scholarship 4.0 conference on “Tackling the Urban Core Puzzle” to be held on October 29 – 31, 2015.
5. The Legal Writing Institute has issued a call for papers for the workshop of “Tried and True: Sharing what Works for you in Your Legal Writing Course” to be held on December 4, 2015 at Washington University in St. Louis.
6. The International Journal of Legal Research and Governance has issued a call for papers for its upcoming issue.

Elsewhere on the Internet

1. Derek O’Brien, Magna Carta, the Right to Trial by Jury and the ‘King of Sleaze’, UK Constitutional Law Association Blog
2. Dan Priel, Strategizing in the Shadow of Precedent: Another  Look at Henry v. British Columbia, TheCourt.ca
3. Humphrey Sipalla, To achieve transformation, Kenyan law needs to shun a hierarchy of sources, AfricLaw
4. Eugene Volokh, Appeals court upholds ban on demonstrations on the Supreme Court plaza, The Washington Post
5. Sasha Volokh, Federal common law: it’s actually everywhere!, The Washington Post