What’s New in Public Law

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—Maja Sahadžić, Assistant Professor (Utrecht University), Visiting Professor (University of Antwerp), Senior Research Fellow (Law Institute in B&H), and Affiliated Scholar (CUHK).

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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. The Supreme Court of India ordered officials to prohibit farmers from burning crop residue because of the hazardous pollution.
2. The Constitutional Court of Bulgaria will hear a case against the so-called agrophotovoltaics.
3. The Constitutional Court of Kyrgistan reconsidered its decision on the matronymic case.
4. The Constitutional Court of Belgium rejected appeals lodged against smart gas and electricity meters.
5. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is set to give a ruling on the Rwanda migrant plan.

In the News

1. The Indonesian Constitutional Court Ethics Council dismissed the Chief Justice for ethics violations.
2. The European Union Court of Justice ruled that an Austrian law regulating communications platforms cannot be binding on companies based in a different country.
3. The Italian Council of Ministers approved a bill to directly elect future prime ministers.
4. The President of Poland proposed changes to the functioning of the Supreme Court.
5. Council and Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a European eID.

New Scholarship

1. Maartje De Visser and Brian Christopher Jones, Unpacking constitutional literacy (2023) (This article examines the importance, characteristics, and variable nature of constitutional literacy, inviting reflection and further development of what this concept entails and advocates for a wider understanding of constitutional literacy that goes beyond a text-centric focus).
2. Maja Sahadžić, Damir Banović, Dražen Barbarić, and Goran Marković (eds.), Citizens, Constitution, Europe, glossary of essential constitutional concepts in BiH (2023) (explaining the constitutional and political system of BiH through the essential constitutional concepts).
3. Bashir Mobasher, The Constitutional Law and Politics of Ethnic Accommodation: Institutional Design in Afghanistan (forthcoming) (exploring whether the legal and political institutions of Afghanistan were able to incorporate diverse ethnic groups into the political process).
4. Werner Somers, The State of Taiwan, From International Law to Geopolitics (2023) (exploring the historical roots of the Taiwan question, analyzing the international legal status of Taiwan, and outlining the strategy the world’s democracies should adopt in light of those findings).
5. Frans-Willem Korsten, Art as an Interface of Law and Justice, Affirmation, Disturbance, Disruption (2022) (considering the improvement of law and justice to be a global struggle and, whilst the issues dealt with are culture-specific, arguing that the logic introduced are applicable everywhere).

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The University of Ljubljana organizes the 7th Young European Law Scholars Conference (YELS) “A Union of Crises: In Search of Constitutional Resilience” to be held in Ljubljana on 6-7 June 2024. The deadline for paper abstracts is 31 January 2024.
2. The University of Florence, Católica Global School of Law, European University Institute, and Bocconi University with the contribution of Fondazione CR Firenze organize the Digital Constitutionalism School to be held in Florence on 13-15 March 2024. The deadline for applications is 29 January 2024.
3. The University of Michigan Law School invites junior scholars to the 10th Annual Junior Scholars Conference to be held in Ann Arbor on 12-13 April 2024. Applications are due by 5 January 2024.
4. The University of Oxford Programme in Asian Laws (OPAL) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS) announce the first International Forum on Asian Laws to be held in Singapore on 1-2 August 2024. Submission of abstracts is due by 1 February 2024.
5. Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and American University Washington College of Law announce the call for submission for the 2024 Human Rights Essay Award (HREA) with the topic “Protection and Assurance of Human Rights in Digital Environments”. The deadline for submissions is 1 February 2024.

Elsewhere Online

1. Bastian Karge, The Old Man and the European Social Union, Eureka!
2. Giorgio Shani, The shadow of Khalistan, Centre on Constitutional Change
3. Ina Opartyová and Justin Lindeboom, Towards a gender-sensitive EU external trade policy, EJIL:Talk!
4. Tanvi Tuhina, Almost thirty years to reach one-third: will India’s constitutional amendment enhance women’s political participation?, ConstitutionNet
5. Harry Hobbs, Reconciliation Rejected: Is Constitutional Change Possible after the Voice Referendum in Australia?, ConstitutionNet
6. Martin Kretschmer, Tobias Kretschmer, Alexander Peukert, Christian Peukert, Europe and the Global Race to Regulate AI, Verfassungsblog
7. Noam Kozlov, How the War in Gaza May Upend Israel’s Constitutional Limbo, Verfassungsblog
8. Ali Yildiz, Strasburg Weighs In On Political Persecution In Turkey, Verfassungsblog
9. Wolfgang Schulz, Christian Ollig, We Don’t Need No Education?, Verfassungsblog