What’s New in Public Law

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—Yassin Abdalla Abdelkarim, Judge at Luxor Elementary Court, Egypt. LLM Leeds Beckett University, UK.

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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 Constitutional Court of India dismissed an appeal in challenging the Order passed by the High Court of Karnataka allowing the writ petition and set aside another order in the favour of the appellant. The Court decided the insufficiency of the appellant’s argument based on Insolvency Code.
2. In the case of Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, the US Supreme Court addressed an interstate dispute concerning New Mexico’s compliance with the Rio Grande Compact of 1938. This compact established a plan for the equitable apportionment of water in the Rio Grande Basin among the states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Texas alleged that New Mexico’s actions, including surface water diversion and groundwater pumping, depleted Texas’s equitable share of water under the Compact. The Court allowed the United States to intervene in the dispute, emphasizing its role in defending “distinctively federal interests.” The decision highlighted the interconnectedness of the Compact with other contracts and the potential impact on treaty obligations with Mexico
3. In the case of The King v. Hatahet ([2024] HCA 23), the High Court of Australia addressed sentencing in the context of terrorism offenses. The central issue was whether the sentencing judge erred by not considering the likelihood of parole, specifically due to section 19ALB of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth). This provision restricts parole availability unless exceptional circumstances exist. The Court allowed an appeal against the original sentence, emphasizing the need to account for the impact of section 19ALB when determining the appropriate sentence for engaging in hostile activity in a foreign country. The judgment underscores the delicate balance between national security concerns and individual rights in terrorism-related cases
4. The US Supreme Court denied the certiorari in PROSECUTING ATT’Y EX REL. MARCELLUS WILLIAMS V. MISSOURI deciding that the application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice Kavanaugh and by him referred to the Court is denied.
5. In the Case of special appeal to the Supreme Court of Japan against the order to dismiss the appeal against the ruling to dismiss a petition for a change in recognition of gender status, 2020 (Ku) 993, the Court quashed the order in prior instance and remanded the case to the Hiroshima High Court.

In the News

1. The UAE Minister of Justice Abdallah bin Awwad held a meeting with his Uzbakistanian counterpart on enhancing judicial cooperation.
2. The Supreme Court in Japan published its national judicial statics.
3. Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is quietly considering a significant change to the country’s electoral system in an attempt to undermine the growing influence of the Move Forward Party.
4. Arizona Supreme Court clears way for voters to decide on constitutional right to abortion.
5. In a recent case, the California Supreme Court considered whether the trial judge should retain sole authority over juror misconduct issues. The court ruled that the decision should not be left solely to the judge. Instead, it emphasized the importance of involving both parties—the prosecution and the defense—in this determination. This ruling aims to enhance transparency and fairness by allowing all parties to weigh in on whether juror misconduct warrants a new trial.

New Scholarship

1. A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Impose Universal Jurisdiction in International Legal Practice, Yassin Abdalla Abdelkarim, Journal of Law in Changing World, vol. 3(1).
2. Constitutional Referrals by Ordinary Courts: A Platform for Judicial Dialogue and Another Toolkit for Judicial Resistance?, by Michal Kovalčík, European Constitutional Law Review, vol. 20(1).
3. Religious Liberty and the Constitution: Of Rules and Principles, Fixity and Change, by Mitchell N. Berman, University of Pennsylvania Constitutional Law Review, vol. 26(4).
4. The Constitution of Hierarchy. By Adrian Vermeule, Fudan J. Hum. Soc. Sci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40647-024-00401-8.
5. Rhetoric and Constitution. By Adolfo Jorge Sánchez-Hidalgo, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Constitutionalism (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31739-7_220-1

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. Collaborative Artificial Intelligence – Discover Artificial Intelligence. Open for submission from 01 June 2023 and Submission deadline 29 June 2024.
2. On Ricoeur: Justice, Hermeneutics, Responsibility, and Personal Identity- International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique. Open for submission from 20 June 2023 and Submission deadline 01 January 2025.
3. Journal of Constitutional law and jurisprudence Volume 4, Issue 2 invites submissions of an unpublished original research article, review articles or case law, project reports, the synopsis for publication.
4. Call for chapters for the book entitled “An In-Depth Exploration of Technology Business Management: Applications, Challenges and Solutions”. Ritha House Publishing.
5. The 3rd Volume of the Journal of Research, Innovation and Technologies. Journal focuses on the theoretical and empirical research to advance theory and practice in a contemporary context, whether world is changing and new perspectives arise. 

Elsewhere Online

1. Developing a Home-Grown Independence Constitution in Bougainville, by Anthony J. Regan and Katy LeRoy.
2. Unconstitutional Moments: The 2024 Attempts to Change the Philippine Constitution, by Paolo Tamase.
3. Draft constitutional amendment in Georgia to protect family values approved by committee, by Marika Kartozia.