What’s New in Public Law

–Angélique Devaux, Cheuvreux Notaires, Paris, France, Diplômée notaire, LL.M. Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

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 contact.iconnect@gmail.com.

Special Announcement: ICON-S Mexican Chapter

We are happy to announce the establishment of the ICON Mexican Chapter founded by Micaela Alterio (professor of constitutional law at ITAM) and Roberto Niembro (clerk at the Mexican Supreme Court). The aim of the Mexican Chapter is to pursue the mission of ICON-S within Mexico and to promote the objectives and the values of ICON-S. In particular, the commitment to an inter-disciplinary approach to public law that engages constitutional, administrative and international law scholars and practitioners so as to better understand global and transnational legal developments. This year the Mexican Chapter will organize a national conference focus on the hundred-year-old Mexican Constitution with the participation of distinguished scholars, judges and governmental officials. Further information will be published soon. We encourage interested scholars and practitioners to become part of this new project. For more information, please contact Ana Micaela Alterio (malterio@iconmexicanchapter.org, ana.alterio@itam.mx) or Roberto Niembro (rniembro@iconmexicanchapter.org).

Developments in Constitutional Courts

1. The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, Germany ruled in favor of “the right for a patient who is suffering and incurably ill to decide how and when their life should end” provided the patient “can freely express their will and act accordingly.”
2. The Constitutional Court of Croatia ruled that the Yugoslav abortion law allowing a woman to terminate up to the 10th week of pregnancy does not breach the Constitution, but that the Parliament should pass a new and more detailed abortion legislation within two years.
3. The Supreme Court of Nigeria declared free and compulsory basic education up to Junior Secondary School as an enforceable right for every child.
4. The UK Supreme Court upheld the Government’s £18,600 income threshold that bars British workers’ foreign spouses entry into the UK, but judges also admitted it will continue to cause “significant hardship” for thousands of couples.
5. The Supreme Court of India refused to allow abortion of a 23-week-old foetus although the foetus was diagnosed to suffer from Down syndrome.
6. The High Court of Zimbabwe banned corporal punishment for children both at home and at school.
7. The Constitutional Court of Uganda nullified all its prior interim orders not issued by a panel of five justices. Interim orders have been conventionally issued by a single justice.

In the News

1. Catalonia prepares to vote in a referendum on independence from Spain this September.
2. The Texas Supreme Court hears a challenge on same-sex marriage rights.
3. The US Supreme Court declined hearing a direct challenge to the constitutionality of the death penalty as cruel and unusual punishment.
4. The EU Parliament adopted a resolution on measures to temporarily introduce visas for American citizen.
5. The US President Trump signed a bill to reauthorize the use of guns for mentally ill persons.
6. Mexico amended articles 107 and 123 of the Constitution of the United Mexican States that deal with labor proceedings and collective bargaining.
7. The Gambian Parliament removed the constitutional age limit on presidential elections candidates.
8. The Constitution of Moldova was for the first time translated in the eight languages of ethnic minority groups, as well as in Braille alphabet.

New Scholarship

1. Farrah Ahmed, The Autonomy Rationale for Religious Freedom, 80 The Modern Law (2017) (focusing on two tensions which have unappreciated implications for religious freedom jurisprudence, particularly that of the ECHR)
2. Mohamed Arafa, The Prohibition of Wearing Veil in Public Schools in Egypt: An Analysis of the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court jurisprudence, Revista De Investigacoes Constitutionais, 4 Journal of Constitutional Research (2017) (examining the decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt that upheld the prohibition on wearing veil in public schools)
3. Eoin Carolan, Leaving Behind the Commonwealth Model of Rights Review: Ireland as an Example of Collaborative Constitutionalism (2017) (developing a model of collaborative constitutionalism as an alternative to conventional models of constitutional review)
4. Lorne Neudorf, Taking Comparative Law Seriously: Rethinking the Supreme Court of Canada’s Modern Approach to Statutory Interpretation, Statute Law Review (2017) (proposing a principled approach to enhance the value and legitimacy of the use of foreign law by the Supreme Court of Canada)
5. Lorne Neudorf, The Dynamics of Judicial Independence: A Comparative Study of Courts in Malaysia and Pakistan (2017) (examining the principle of judicial independence in a comparative perspective)
6. Neil C Weare, Equally American: Amending the Constitution to Provide Voting Rights in U.S. Territories and the District of Columbia, 46 Stetson Law Review (2017) (proposing a voting rights amendment to the US Constitution that would provide full political participation and representation to citizens living in the Territories and the District of Columbia)
7. David Stratas, The Canadian Law of Judicial Review: Some Doctrine and Cases (2017) (providing an up-to-date summary of the Canadian law of judicial review)
8. Jaakko Husa, Hindu Law – Stateless Law?, 62 Scandinavian Studies in Law (2017) (discussing Hindu Law as a form of global law or law without the State)
9. Tobias Lock, The Influence of EU law on Strasbourg Doctrines, European Law Review (2107 forthcoming) (identifying the distinct areas of influence of the EU law on doctrines of the European Court of Human Rights)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The European Commission Erasmus Program on “Parliamentary Procedures and Legislative Drafting” (EUROPADRA) invites applications for its joint Masters are open. Application deadline is 13 March 2017.
2. Graz Jurisprudence at the Faculty of Law, University of Graz invites applications for two university Assistants without doctorate. German language skills are not required. Application deadline 22 March 2017.
3. The European Law Institute invites submissions for its inaugural ELI European Young Lawyers Award. The deadline for submissions is 30 April 2017.
4. The Center for Ethics and Law of the Life Science, the Human Rights Center, and Law and Global Justice of Durham Law School invite submission for a two-day conference on the topic “Defending Individual Rights,” to be held in Durham on 8-9 Mar 2017.
5. The University of Otago invites submission and panel proposals for its conference to be held on 6-9 December 2017 in New Zealand.
6. Curtin Law School invites submissions for its XIV Annual Australian Property Law  Teachers Conference on “Beyond Sole Ownership,” to be held on September 27-28, 2017.
7. The University of Richmond School of Law invites proposal for its inaugural Mid-Atlantic Junior Faculty Forum in Richmond, VA, on May 10-11, 2017.
8. The Italian Society of International Law and European Law invites submissions for its XXII Annual Conference on “Migration and International Law: Beyond the Emergency?” to be held on June 8-9, 2017.
9. The Institutions and International Law in Eastern Europe, Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe invites submissions for a workshop to be held on 28-29 September, 2017.
10. Nova Law School invites submissions for its conference on “The Federal Experience of the European Union,” to be held on May 22-23, 2017. The deadline for submission of abstracts is April 1, 2017.

Elsewhere Online

1. Adam Liptak, A Constitutional Right to Facebook and Twitter? Supreme Court Weighs In, The New York Times
2. Nikos Skoutaris, Limiting the Constitutional Space of Scotland and Northern Ireland, Verfassungsblog
3. Ruthann Robson, Florida State Judge Grants Writ of Habeas Corpus to Immigration Detainee on Tenth Amendments Grounds, Constitutional Law Prof Blog
4. Thomas Verellen, Opinion 3/15 on the Marrakehs Treaty: ECJ Reaffirms Narrow ‘Minimum Harmonisation’ exception to ERTA principle, European Law Blog
5. Linda Greenhouse, Outsourcing the Constitution, The New York Times
6. Catherine Bond, Constitutional and community aspects of flag burning in Australia, AUSPUBLAW
7. Laura Cahillane, The Resurrection of Tribunals in Ireland? Some Preliminary Thoughts on the Disclosures Tribunal, Constitution Project