Red Card for the Red Card
On referees, judges and other partial and impartial matters constitutional
Articles for category: English Articles
Abusive comparativism: »Pseudo-comparativist« political discourse as a means to legitimizing constitutional change in Turkey
The constitutional amendment process has arguably weakened Turkey’s already-fragile constitutionalist system. This is well known. What is less known and pretty much overlooked is that comparativism and specifically comparative constitutionalism has suffered at the hands of Turkish political elites during the legal and political discussions that preceded the referendum.
Judicial Trust as a Zero-Sum Game in Turbulent Times
The current European Rule of Law crisis has resulted in a situation of distrust between national and European institutions, which has led to the necessity to reflect about the relevance of trust and its implications for the creation and sustainability of a European legal area. In this regard, Prof. von Bogdandy has recently stressed in this blog the importance of trust as a crucial element for promoting cooperation in multi-level systems, like the EU, where non-strict hierarchical relationships between national and EU institutions are articulated. In this post, I argue about the importance of trust among judges in the European legal system based on recent empirical findings.
The Singapore Opinion or the End of Mixity as We Know It
Last week on Tuesday, with its decision in Opinion 2/15, on the Union’s competence to conclude ‘new generation’ EU trade and investment agreements, the Court dropped a bombshell. The Court’s ruling is set to significantly simplify the EU’s international economic relations with third countries. If the Commission, the Council and the member states had demanded clarity as to which institutions may legitimately pursue the Union’s external action objectives in its commercial relations: clarity is what they earned. The decision indeed has the potential to greatly facilitate an ‘EU-only’ signing and conclusion of future EU trade agreements. At the same time, as we argue below, the Court’s reasoning entails a number of contradicting elements that may add confusion over the legal parameters of post-Lisbon EU external relations conduct.
Afghanistan’s Constitution between Sharia Law and International Human Rights
Afghanistan’s 2004 constitution is a compromise between liberal internationalists, local clerics and warlords. Apostasy cases are the constitution’s litmus test.
To Make a Commitment
On same-sex marriage, legislative dawdling and other matters of constitutional joy and dismay.
No Consensus – but Hope at Villa Vigoni
The Colloquium on the judgment of the Italian Constitutional Court (ICC) No. 238 of 22 October 2014 could hardly have been held at a more fitting venue. It brought together German and Italian lawyers from 11 to 13 May 2017 at the Villa Vigoni Conference Centre on the shores of Lago di Como, property of Germany devoted to cultural exchange between Germany and Italy. Recently, Villa Vigoni was seriously threatened by a legal mortgage obtained by one of the applicants who had been successful in suing Germany before Italian courts on account of damage suffered during World War II at ... continue reading
The Singapore Silver Bullet
Is the CJEU's Opinion on the Singapore free trade agreement a boost for Brexit? After reading the Opinion my feeling is exactly the opposite. The Court has made a clever juggling exercise with Christmas presents for everybody. But in fact, the Court has saved the best Christmas present for itself. And there are hardly any gifts for Britain. In fact, the Opinion contains a paragraph that could blow up the entire Brexit process.
A Principle of Direct Effect: The Eurasian Economic Union’s Court pushes for more Integration
In a reply to a Belarusian request, the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union decided in one of the most important cases of its history. It formulated the ‘direct effect’ principle in order to coordinate between EAEU law and the domestic legal orders of the EAEU Member States.
Suggesting Solutions: Do the Right Thing
This short presentation distils the conclusions of the panel regarding the international law angle of the post-Sentenza scenario. They reflect some degree of consensus which was reached on certain crucial points, including the steps ahead. Keep calm… The applicable rules of international law are clear. A State’s immunity in the civil courts of another State is granted also in the case of serious human rights violations, and irrespective of whether the victims could bring their cases to other courts or resort to an alternative remedy. This is what the law is. What the law should be is another story, one ... continue reading
