What’s New in Public Law

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—Robert Rybski, Assistant Professor & Head of “Sustainable Finance – Postgraduate Studies in Law and Finance”  at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw, Rector’s Plenipotentiary for Environment and Sustainable Development.

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In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in 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 public law blogosphere. To submit relevant developments for our weekly feature on “What’s New in Public Law,” please email iconnecteditors@gmail.com.

Developments in Constitutional Courts

1. Turkey’s Constitutional Court rejected a request to postpone until after May parliamentary elections its ruling on suspending the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party.
2. Latvia’s Constitutional Court will hear a case against regulation allowing the logging of newer pine, spruce, and birch forests.
3. The German Federal Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional provisions, which introduced a 15% increase in state funding for political parties.
4. The U.S. Supreme Court took up cases regarding the ability of social media companies to remove certain posts.
5. The Constitutional Court of Seychelles dismissed a petition for the recusal of its judges in a case concerning the constitutionality of the 10th Constitutional Amendment.

In the News

1. Less than 9% of Poles think judicial reforms have improved courts.
2. Thousands protested in Lisbon after a public prosecutor initiated a proceeding before Portugal’s Constitutional Court claiming the unconstitutionality of the law that criminalizes the abuse of pets.
3. Lawmakers introduced abortion rights into the New York State Constitution.
4. Amid the failed no-confidence vote for the Government in December, Slovakia’s Parliament amended the Constitution and introduced the possibility of holding early elections.
5. A heated debate ensued after the Vice President of India questioned the ‘basic structure’ doctrine.
6. A Moscow court ruled to close the Moscow Helsinki Group, Russia’s oldest human rights organization.

New Scholarship

1. Kamila Rezmer-Płotka, Why Women Became the Enemy of Democracy in Poland? The Illiberal Regime’s Response to the Women’ Rights Movement, Przegląd Politologiczny 2022 No. 3 (explains the Polish government’s attitude towards women as an enemy of democracy at the institutional level during the two waves of protests. The study shows that during the period considered, restrictions specific to neo-militant democracies in the area of assembly and association, speech and press, and restrictions on religious freedom were imposed to limit the activity of protesters viewed as enemies of the democratic system.)
2. Michael J. Gerhardt, How Impeachment Works, Missouri Law Review 2022 vol. 87 (explores how members of Congress may fulfil their oaths to do “impartial justice according to the laws and Constitution of the United States;” whether, or to what extent, presidents have abused their powers; how well the American public and media understand the stakes and issues involved in the impeachment process; and to what extent Article III courts refrain from reviewing any aspect of impeachment trials)
3. Zhong Zhang, Ruling the Country without Law: The Insoluble Dilemma of Transforming China into a Law-Governed Country (2022), Asian Journal of Comparative Law (explores an insoluble dilemma in China where despite more than 40 years of legislation to build a ‘law-governed country’, the Communist Party of China has to rule the country extralegally to avoid legal challenges to the supremacy of its rule)
4. Maartje De Visser, Promoting Constitutional Literacy: What Role for Courts?, German Law Journal 2022, vol. 23 (explores the role of constitutional judges in advancing constitutional literacy, understood as knowledge relating to the functioning of the constitutional order)
5. Benjamin Nurkić, Radbruch’s Formula in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Untapped Potential for Strengthening the Rule of Law, Društvene i humanističke studije DHS 2022 No. 3 (explores the similarity between Radbruch’s Formula and provision VI/3(c) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which regulates the possibility of initiating a concrete review of the constitutionality of laws by ordinary courts)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. First submission cycle for the ICON•S Annual Conference on “Islands and Ocean: Public Law in a Plural World,” taking place in person in Wellington, hosted by the Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington and its New Zealand Centre for Public Law, closes on 31^st January 2023. Do not forget to submit your proposal!
2. Wroclaw Review of Law, Administration & Economics invites submissions for its Special Issue „Public Law in the Age of Climate Change”. Interested contributors are asked to send their contributions by 1^st April, 2023 to: renata.kusiak-winter@uwr.edu.pl
3. The Journal NAD New Authoritarian Regimes and Democracies: Law, Institutions, Society calls for papers to be published in issue 1/2023.  A special section will be included with a focus on “Ukraine 2023: constitutional, international and geo-political assets and the peace perspectives in the European and Eurasian regions”.  The deadline for submission of essays is by 15^th April, 2023, for other contributions by 15^th Mary, 2023.
4. The Ius Commune research programme Constitutional Processes in the Global Legal Order organizes a workshop on the Ukrainian conflict at the occasion of Ius Commune conference  2023 (11-12 May 2023). The workshop will take place on Thursday 11 May 2023. Interested researchers are invited to submit abstracts of up to 500 words by 15^th  February, 2023. Abstracts should be sent to: m.kanetake@uu.nl;  denise.prevost@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
5. The Ackerman Center at The University of Texas at Dallas and the US Air Force Academy invite proposals for a joint conference at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs from October 11-13, 2023. Proposals should be submitted by email to WHHRConference@utdallas.edu by 1^st March, 2023 with the subject line “WHHR Proposal”.
6. Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law invites to the next Max Planck Masterclass with Professor Daniel Halberstam, which will take place  on 24-27 April 2023 at its premises in Heidelberg, Germany. All interested persons are welcome to submit a completed online application (CV, letter of motivation) by 28^th February 2023 here.

Elsewhere Online

1. Jerzy Zajadło, Tomasz Tadeusz Koncewicz, Hostile Constitutional Interpretation, Verfassungsblog
2. Dragoș Călin, The system of investigation of offences committed by judges and prosecutors in Romania, once again under the attention of the CJEU, The Official Blog of UNIO – EU Law Journal
3. Rivka Weill, War over Israel’s Judicial Independence, Verfassungsblog
4. Francesco Gallarati, The Future Rights of Present Generations: A New Paradigm of Intergenerational Justice?, IACL-AIDC Blog
5. Camilla Pickles, A Promising Future?, Verfassungsblog
6. Mark Deng, South Sudan’s Permanent Constitution-Making: Another Bad History in the Making?, IACL-AIDC Blog