Articles for category: English Articles

A Constitutional Crisis? Maybe. A Constitutional Revolution? Likely.

Crisis rhetoric has become pervasive in the United States and Israel, although much of it is a hyperbolic response to the polarization currently dominating these nations’ politics. What seems clearer to us is that a process is underway in both countries that may very well culminate in a constitutional revolution. Such a development might or might not be deemed crisis-worthy, but it would mean that something profoundly significant had changed in the way the business of governing is conducted in each nation.

25. März 2025

Manufacturing Integration

Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta recently concluded that Denmark’s so-called Ghetto Law constitutes direct discrimination based on ethnic origin and hence a violation of the Race Equality Directive. This blog highlights the harmful role of the integration narrative underlying the law and other coercive measures addressed towards “non-Western” Danes and non-Danes and the broader implications of the present case for challenging stereotypes embedded in integration policies and practices.

25. März 2025

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The Death Knell for American Free Speech Tradition

In a case that has received global attention and reproach, Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident of the United States and recent graduate of Columbia University (another target of the Trump administration’s ire), was arrested on 8 March by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in front of his apartment in New York and subsequently transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana. In this blog post, my aim is to show that the case of Mr. Khalil implicates perhaps the most sacrosanct of American constitutional rights: free speech. 

25. März 2025

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The EU’s Enduring Ethical Deficit in the Aftermath of Huawei

It took over two decades and several high-profile ethical scandals for the main EU institutions to finally agree on the Interinstitutional Body for Ethical Standards. A year later, this ethics body is nowhere to be found, largely blocked by the EPP. While Belgian prosecutors accuse Huawei of lobbying practices involving free football tickets, lavish gifts, and even all-expenses-paid trips to China, the unfolding scandal provides tangible proof of the inadequacy of the ethical framework, notwithstanding the much-acclaimed post-Qatargate reforms.

25. März 2025

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Restoring Polish Judicial Independence

Restoring the Polish rule of law without doing more damage to it is a vexing challenge. Building Back Better becomes even more complex when the current president – part of the autocratic Law and Justice (PiS) party, which lost the previous elections – refuses to sign off on any law. Yet few would have expected the Venice Commission (VC), of all institutions, to make things even more complicated. This contribution first tracks the state of play in Poland following the VC Opinions of October 2024 and December 2024. Given the central role of the VC’s thinking in Polish efforts to find a way out, it then goes on to critique the Opinions on legal and strategic grounds before proposing an alternative route.  

24. März 2025

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Regulating Social Media for Teenagers

Calls for social media age restrictions are growing in several EU Member States, aligning with broader discussions in Brussels about protecting consumers against ‘addictive’ online services. Recently, Australia approved a social media ban for those under 16, adding momentum to these debates. However, while such restrictions aim to protect children, defining ‘social media’ presents significant challenges that could make a ban ineffective or even counterproductive.

24. März 2025

International Law Under Pressure

In this blog post, we document and analyse the numerous apparent breaches of international law that have occurred within the first six weeks of the 2025 Trump administration. What began as an informal discussion at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law has evolved into this analytical overview. We believe this documentation serves both academic purposes and potentially supports future legal proceedings. While defenders of these actions will undoubtedly offer justifications for what we identify as clear breaches of international law, our analysis aims to provide an assessment based on established international legal principles.

24. März 2025

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The Politics of Digital Erasure

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The removal of over 2,000 datasets from data.gov – specifically from government agencies in energy, environment, and NASA – reveals critical questions about the governance of digital information infrastructure and mechanisms of information control. This essay examines how these changes not only affect American governance but also global research networks that depend on U.S. federal data resources, and what these developments might mean for digital governance worldwide.

24. März 2025

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Efficiency, but at What Cost

The Commission’s proposal to reform the EU’s legal framework on return is presented as a necessary step to establish a “clear, modern, simplified [system of] […] common rules for managing returns effectively.” This blog post examines whether the proposal lives up to this objective. It assesses the extent to which the proposed changes address the deficits that currently hamper returns and illustrates how the reform would undermine the safeguards of the individuals concerned.

21. März 2025

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