What We Lost in the Skies Above Tehran

The damage that Merz and Steinmeier have inflicted on both Germany’s international credibility and the order put in place with the founding of the United Nations will likewise be felt for decades to come. As things stand right now, as far as the jus contra bellum is concerned, there might not be much left to reconstruct when the community of international law scholars meets up in Berlin in September. In that, the realists may find reason to rejoice. They, too, will come to miss it once it’s gone.

24. Juli 2025

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Corporations, Climate, and the Court

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Corporations, especially those engaged in fossil fuel production, agriculture, construction, and transportation, play a significant role in the climate crisis and in its human rights impacts. It is thus of critical importance that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR)’s Advisory Opinion 32/25 (AO-32/25) not only directly addresses corporate climate and human rights impacts, but also provides some pathways forward on these persistent barriers to accountability. This blog discusses AO-32/25’s holdings and innovations as related to business and human rights and reflects on their broader legal implications.

24. Juli 2025

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The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change

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“An existential threat” – this is how the International Court of Justice (ICJ) characterized climate change in its long-awaited advisory opinion on the obligations of States with respect to climate change. In the most significant development in international climate law since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the ICJ outlined numerous obligations that could significantly shape the contours of international environmental law and global climate governance.

24. Juli 2025

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Sterbehilfe endlich regeln

Am Dienstag hat das Bundesverfassungsgericht die Verfassungsbeschwerde eines Arztes verworfen: Der Arzt hatte einem psychisch kranken Mann auf dessen Wunsch eine Infusion mit einer tödlich wirkenden Substanz gelegt. Obwohl der Patient den Zugang selbst öffnete, nahm der BGH einen Totschlag in mittelbarer Täterschaft an. Der Fall zeigt einmal mehr, dass der Fragenkreis von Sterbehilfe und Unterstützung beim Suizid dringend einer durchdachten gesetzlichen Regelung bedarf. Anregungen dazu können neue Normierungen der Materie in Frankreich und England geben.

24. Juli 2025

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An Elusive Touchdown with a Political Football

On July 19, Congress voted to revoke funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – something it has not done in the 60 years since its creation. In countries with strong public media traditions, this may seem astonishing: Why would Congress defund NPR and PBS after already having appropriated the money? And what does this mean for the First Amendment? To answer these questions, we must consider the peculiar history of public broadcasting in the United States.

24. Juli 2025

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The Great Recall Movement

Confronted with lawmakers they themselves elected just eighteen months ago, Taiwanese citizens have creatively repurposed the antiquated mechanism of "recall" as a last-resort check on a runaway legislature. Sparked by a year of legislative overreach and erosion of constitutional checks, this unprecedented campaign reflects Taiwan's spirit of civic constitutionalism, and its determination to defend its democratic institutions.

24. Juli 2025

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Eine Republik wird »neutralisiert«

Julia Klöckner ist seit der Bundestagswahl 2025 Präsidentin des Deutschen Bundestages. Ihrem Schutz anvertraut sind die Einhaltung der Geschäftsordnung, die Fairness der Debatten und die Ordnung des Hohen Hauses schlechthin. Außerdem hat sie „die Würde und die Rechte des Bundestages“ zu wahren. Der Präsidentin Klöckner reichten diese Schutzgüter nicht aus. Sie nahm ein weiteres in Anspruch – die politische Neutralität, die sie etwa durch bestimmte Kleidung oder das Hissen der Regenbogenflagge sieht. Doch Neutralität hat freilich einen politisch vergifteten Kontext.

23. Juli 2025

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Respect for International Law in Gaza

Since October 2023, a group of eminent Israeli international law scholars has written numerous letters and memos expressing concerns over many aspects of the Gaza war. Given the importance of these documents both in doctrinal terms and in highlighting the work of these colleagues, we have asked to publish them. So far, only one of the letters has been officially published. Readers interested in more detail can access the full text of the respective documents, which are hyperlinked and archived on Verfassungsblog.

23. Juli 2025

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Another Step in the Anti-Abortion Agenda

Trump’s recently passed “One Big, Beautiful Bill” bars Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood for one year. The provision is now temporarily blocked after Planned Parenthood filed suit. But it builds on, and must be read against, the backdrop of Medina v. Planned Parenthood, a recent and disastrous Supreme Court ruling initiated by South Carolina. The case starkly illustrates the Court’s continued alignment with an anti-abortion agenda advanced through state governments and forms part of a broader assault on civil rights. Not least, its entanglement with Medicaid signals a deeper campaign against the poor and access to healthcare.

23. Juli 2025

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The Demise of Congress

Last week, Congress passed a bill permitting deep cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting programs – just days after enacting what Donald Trump hailed as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” widely seen as a legislative disaster. Congress is increasingly surrendering its constitutional power of the purse and, with it, its institutional identity in relation to the presidency. Its collapse in favor of pure partisanship signals the breakdown of the system of checks and balances at the heart of the U.S. Constitution.

22. Juli 2025

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