What’s New in Public Law

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—Sonder Li, Legal Support Assistant at Matrix Chambers

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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. Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled that the Federal Intelligence Service’s surveillance powers were partially unconstitutional.
2. India’s Supreme Court overturned an order that banned Islamic schools in the country’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.
3. Indonesia’s Constitutional Court partially agreed with labour unions’ demands on the Job Creation Law, including sectoral minimum wages and protections against unfair dismissal.
4. Mexico’s Supreme Court was one vote short in passing a measure to roll-back judicial reforms requiring direct election of judges and magistrates.
5. Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled that the maternity leave in single parent families is the leave of a biological mother and other parent combined.

In the News

1. The US Supreme Court ordered a review of a case of a death row inmate with an intellectual disability in Alabama.
2. Moldova’s Constitutional Court recognised the results of the referendum to amend the constitution to reflect aspiration to join the European Union.
3. The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear a case on whether Ottawa has a legal duty to repatriate four Canadian men detained in Syria.
4. South Africa’s Constitutional Court hears arguments on a law stipulating automatic loss of citizenship for South Africans that acquire foreign citizenship.
5. The US Supreme Court agreed to hear a case concerning Louisiana’s electoral map that increased the number of Black-majority congressional districts.

New Scholarship

1. Nahuel Maisley, “Two axes to consider the tension between the Inter-American System of Human Rights and the Constitutional systems of the region” (Reconceptualised the authority to interpret the American Convention on Human Rights using geographical and institutional axes.)
2. Cristina Fasone and Nicola Lupo, “Learning from the euro crisis: A new method of government for the European Union’s economic policy coordination after the pandemic” (Evaluated the new method of government in the EU that addressed the economic consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak.)
3. Fernando Simón Yarza, “Constitutional justice and political polarization in Spain” (Analysed the external and internal causes that led to the polarisation of the Spanish Constitutional Court in the last fifteen years.)
4. Giuseppe Martinico and David Mier Galera, “The illiberal challenge to judicial independence: the contribution of international tribunals” (Explored how international courts can contribute to defending the independence of national judges against the onslaught of illiberal governments.)
5. Aida Torres Pérez. “The constitutional impact of rule-of-law spending conditionality” (Assessed the validity, effectiveness, and broader impact of rule-of-law conditionality upon the EU constitutional architecture.)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The International Society of Public Law Annual Conference 2025 at University of Brasilia are calling for submissions.
2. The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law is inviting submissions.
3. The American Society of Comparative Law is inviting submissions for their Work-in-Progress Annual Comparative Law Workshop.
4. The Milan, Boccini University is inviting submissions for their international conference: The Venice Commission 1990-2025 Taking stock of 35 years for democracy through law. 

Elsewhere Online

1. Stevie Martin, The Decriminalisation and Regulation of Assisted Suicide in England and Wales: Acknowledging and Addressing the Slippery Slope Argument (UK Constitutional Law Association, 5 November 2024)
2. M A Sayeed, Bangladesh in Stasis: No Way Out Without a New Constitution? (Blog of the International Journal of Constitutional Law, 7 November 2024)
3. Ignatius Yordan Nugraha and Abdurrachman Satrio, Is This a Constitutional Democracy: Familial Harmony, Pancasila, and Javanese Values in Indonesia’s New Government (Verfassungblog, 7 November 2024)