What’s New in Public Law

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—Erick Guapizaca Jiménez, SJD Candidate, University of Michigan Law School.

—Rajesh Ranjan, Lawyer, Researcher & former Samta (Equity) fellow based in India.

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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 condemned the misogynistic language in legal judgments.  Referring to a woman as an “illegitimate wife” or a “faithful mistress” infringes upon her rights. The Court held, under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, that every person has a fundamental right to lead a dignified life.
2. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that French courts violated a woman’s rights by blaming her for her divorce due to lack of sexual relations, marking a major step in rejecting outdated marital obligations and strengthening women’s rights in France.
3. The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in a majority of the three-judge bench ruled that certain clauses in the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill are in conflict with the Constitution and therefore require a special majority for approval.
4. A federal court in New Hampshire blocked Trump’s executive order attempting to strip U.S. citizenship, reaffirming birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
5. South Korea’s Constitutional Court is deliberating on a decision on whether to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from office following his impeachment over a brief martial law declaration last year. The court’s ruling, expected by March, requires the approval of six out of eight justices and could lead to a presidential by-election if Yoon is dismissed.

In the News

1. Ecuador held presidential elections on February 8, 2025, with no candidate securing an outright victory, leading to a runoff between the leftist candidate and incumbent President Daniel Noboa.
2. Germany criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for making “regrettable” concessions to Russia after he announced an immediate start to direct peace talks with Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
3. The UK government has introduced new rules denying citizenship to refugees who enter illegally, including via small boats, a move criticized as violating international refugee protections.
4. Brazilian President Lula is pushing for oil exploration near the Amazon, arguing that revenues could fund green energy projects, despite environmental concerns.
5. India and France have signed an agreement to collaborate on developing small modular nuclear reactors, marking a shift in India’s nuclear policy toward greater international cooperation and private-sector involvement.

New Scholarship

1. Oona Hathaway, Maggie Mills & Heather Zimmerman, Crisis and Change at the United Nations: Non-Amendment, Reform, and Institutional Evolution,  Michigan Journal of International Law  (2025) (Analyzing the United Nations’ capacity for institutional evolution in the absence of formal amendments).
2. Julian Arato & Fernando Lusa Bordin, Determining the Juridical Status of Companies under International Law, ICSID Review  Foreign Investment Law Journal (2025) (Examining the legal personality of companies in international law and their role in investment disputes).
3. Michele Krech, Gender Equality in World Athletics: Transnational Norm Development by Private International Organizations, American Journal of International Law.  (2025) (Analyzing the role of private international organizations in shaping transnational gender norms in athletics).
4. Lorianne Updike Toler, Constitution-Writing Rules, International Journal of International Law, (2025) (Formulating a theory on how rules foster consensus and identify specific rules that enhance corporate trust, which is essential for constitutional consensus).
5. Seth Barrett & Daniel Epstein-O’ Dowd, The Irish Election 2024- Lessons Learned, Irish Law Times, (2025) (Discussing the latest Irish Elections).

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The American Society of International Law’s International Criminal Law Interest Group will hold its annual Works-in-Progress Conference in person on May 30, 2025, at Boston University School of Law. Deadline: March 15th, 2025. Submission details are here.
2. Harvard, Stanford, and Yale Law Schools are soliciting submissions for the 2025 Harvard/Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum, to be held at Harvard Law School on June 2-3, 2025. Deadline: February 28th, 2025. Submission details are here.
3. Southern African Law Teachers Conference is inviting legal scholars to submit abstracts of no more than 300 words for its 2025 edition, taking place from July 13-18, 2025. The Conference will be held in Pretoria, and selected full papers will be considered for publication in a special issue of De Jure Law Journal.  Deadline: March 14th, 2025. Submission details are here.
4. Athena – Critical Inquiries in Law, Philosophy, and Globalization is soliciting submissions for vol. 5 (2025), no. 1, focusing on “lawfare” and its implications in international law, international relations, and military theory. Deadline: February 28th, 2025.  Submission details are here.

Elsewhere Online

1. Taha Yasseri, The Memory Machine: How Large Language Models Shape Our Collective Past (11 February 2025) Verfassungsblog.
2. Mira Hamad, Lebensraum and Großraum: Nazi Spatial Theories Beyond Nazism (11 February 2025) EJIL: Talk!
3. Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida, Valentine Tissot Pinheiro, and Vitor Furtado de Melo, Foreign Legal Policy in Practice: Assessing Global South Narratives in ITLOS Advisory Proceedings on Climate Change (12 February 2025) Opinio Juris.
4. Francesca Tassinari, The Processing of Health-Related Data in the Incoming European Travel Information and Authorisation System (11 February 2025) Völkerrechtsblog.
5. Ep 31: Gradually, then Suddenly – Climate, Trade, and the Charter Order in Precarious Times (10 February 2025) EJIL: The Podcast!.