What’s New in Public Law

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Surbhi Karwa, PhD Candidate, UNSW – Sydney

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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 Courts

1. The Pre-trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court unanimously rejects the challenge to jurisdiction by the state of Israel under Articles 18 and 19 of the Rome statute. The court issues arrest warrants against the country’s prime minister, former defense minister, and the military commander of Hamas.
2. The African Court on Human and People’s Rights sets a deadline of three months for Kenya to file a report on measures taken to comply with the regional human rights court’s 2017 judgment on Ogiek peoples’ rights and their access to their ancestral land.
3. Supreme Court of India issues guidelines against indiscriminate demolition of houses, particularly targeting minority communities in India.
4. In an important case on the intersection of private and public law, the Competition Commission of India slaps a monetary penalty of INR 213 Crore on Meta for its 2021 update in the privacy policy of messaging app Whatsapp. The body also orders cease-and-desist directions.

In the News

1. Thousands protest in New Zealand against the proposed bill to reinterpret the Treaty of Waitangi. The treaty is the founding agreement between the British crown and the indigenous Maori groups. The protestors argue that the bill introduced in the parliament last week will harm the rights of the indigenous groups.
2. After a two-year investigation, the federal police in Brazil files a final report in the Supreme Court accusing former Presiden Jair Bolsonaro of plotting a coup to overturn the 2022 election results.
3. Senegal President’s party, Pastef Party, secures a majority in the Parliament elections. Wins 130 out of 165 seats. The president had come to power in April and had dissolved parliament for fresh elections.
4. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan granted bail by the Islamabad High Court in a case relating to alleged illegal gifts to the state during his tenure. While he will continue to be imprisoned under various other cases pending against him, his party has called for a protest march against his imprisonment on 24 November.
5. High Court in Hong Kong sentences 45 pro-democracy activists under national security laws. Prison terms include 2 years to 10 years.
6. The Sri Lankan president appoints a new cabinet after a massive win in the parliamentary elections last week.
7. Mexico’s lower house approves reform that will abolish various autonomous agencies.

New Scholarship

1. The third issue of the European Constitutional Law Review for the year 2024 is out now.
2. Dan Meagher et.al, ‘The Principle of Legality and Secondary Legislation: The Role of Proportionality’ (presenting an analytical framework to explain and justify the role of proportionality in determining the validity of secondary legislation)
3. Christina R. Bambrick, ‘Constitutionalizing the Private Sphere: A Comparative Inquiry’ (analyzing the horizontal application of rights through republican political theory)
4. Conor Gearty, ‘Homeland Insecurity: The Rise and Rise of Global Anti-Terrorism Law’ (presenting a history of global anti-terrorism laws and their origin)
5. Cora Chen, ‘Deference in Human Rights Adjudication’ (presenting six devices of deference, how courts should use them to maintain a principles approach to deference in human rights adjudication)
6. Richard Primus, ‘Sins and Omissions: Slavery and the Bill of Rights’ (challenging the convention story of why the Bill of Rights was not included in the American Constitution, arguing that it was to avoid bitter conflict amongst states on slavery)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. Call for papers is now open for the Yale Modern South Asia Workshop, 2025.
2. Call for submissions is now open for the NLSIR Journal.
3. Applications are now open for the 2025 Hurst Summer Institute in Legal History.
4. Call for papers is now open for the Second International Forum on Asian Laws: Innovation of Laws in Asia, University of Oxford.
5. Calls for applications are now open for visiting fellowships at the University of Cambridge for scholars from the Global South working on science, politics, and justice themes.
6. Call for abstracts is now open for a symposium and book project on equality jurisprudence in Africa. Email at africanequalityjur@gmail.com

Elsewhere Online

1. Tarunabh Khaitan, ‘Truth as Constitutional Value’ (14 November 2024)
2. Ben Schonthal, ‘The What, Where, and How of Comparative Constitutional Law After the Southern Turn’ (A revised version of ICON-S Australia-NZ Chapter Conference Plenary Remarks, 2024)
3. Gautam Bhatia, ‘All the World’s A Stage: On the Legacy of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud’ (8 November 2024)
4. Dinesha Samararatne, Tavini Nanayakkara, ‘The Diffusion of the Public Trust Doctrine in South Asia: Environmental Constitutionalism or Beyond?’ (15 November 2024)
5. M. Jashim Ali Chowdhury, ‘The Agenda and Dilemma of Constitutional Reform in Bangladesh’ (18 November 2024)
6. Duncan M Okubasu, ‘Gen Z Demonstration and Kenya’s Constitutionalism’ (11 November 2024)