The idea of a political European Commission may be the defining idea of the Juncker Presidency. It was the idea that gave Mr. Juncker the Presidency in the first place. As he stated in 2015, he wanted a 'very political Commission'. This ambition raises many questions, particularly: What does the political Commission mean? Did it work and should it be repeated?
The EU finds itself in the perverse situation of providing some of the largest transfers of funds precisely to those governments who most prominently thumb their nose at its democratic and rule-of-law norms. The legal debate about this misses the fact that the EU already has a sufficient legal basis to suspend the flow of funds to states in which rule-of-law norms are systematically violated. The real problem to date has not been the lack of adequate legal tools, but the lack of political will on the part of the European Commission to use the tools that already exist.
What worth is a Constitution if it does not seek out the emancipation of a society’s most marginalized and excluded? Indeed, what vision ought a Constitution espouse if it isn’t a commitment to basic fundamental rights and freedoms? Ultimately, what polity must a Constitution nurture if it isn’t towards imbibing the widest and most deepest sense of inclusion and pluralism in society? All these searching questions and much more came to form a distinct part of the decision of the Indian Supreme Court (Court) when it was called upon to rule on the constitutional validly of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
On abstention, abstaining and other ways of staying clear of constitutional and non-constitutional sin.
The Celmer case is back before the High Court of Ireland, which gave a further judgment on 01 August 2018. The decision provides a first insight into the practical application of the CJEU's ruling, most notably its encouragement of executing judicial authorities to enter into dialogue.
A proposed legislation against the “manipulation of information” is currently under consideration by the French parliament in order to tackle the problem of fake news. A sufficiently precise definition of fake news is a necessary preliminary condition to have a political or legal debate on the issue. The attempts of the French parliament have some significant shortcomings in this regard, but they can serve as a basis to elaborate a better definition.
DEM-DEC aims to provide useful information to academics and policymakers concerned with the creeping deterioration of democratic rule worldwide. Updates to the Bibliography will be issued on the first Monday of each month, based on new publications and suggestions from users of DEM-DEC.
Both Argentina and Ireland have tried to move forward in the fight for the decriminalization of abortion. In Argentina, even though the approval in the Chamber of Deputies represented a very important step, the Senate majority followed the religious standards and rejected the bill. In Ireland, the referendum resulted in a victory for women. The next step is to enact the new law and, of equal importance, to create all the practical conditions to implement the new rules.
Tomorrow, a new weird chapter opens up in the „affair Puigdemont“: The Spanish Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena, who unsuccessfully issued the European Arrest Warrant against former Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont, is cited before a Belgian court. He is object of a civil lawsuit filed by Puigdemont who accuses the magistrate of a lack of impartiality and violating the presumption of innocence as well as his right to reputation. What is the most astonishing about this lawsuit is the fact that it is a Belgian court which shall judge the professional actions of a Spanish judge.
On powerless judges, unforthcoming Poles and other constitutional matters of who gets to force his will on whom.
13. September 2025
Giovanni Capoccia
12. September 2025
Anne Peters
12. September 2025
Anne Peters