Articles for category: English Articles

A New Page in Protecting European Constitutional Values: How to best use the new EU Rule of Law Framework vis-a-vis Poland

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The application of the EU Commission's Rule of Law Framework in the current Polish case is a step in the right direction. It seems a good instance to develop the Framework as an EU mechanism to protect European constitutional values in a European legal space which is rife with constitutional crises, but short of instruments to address them. Its pertinence appears even more clearly in comparison to the Council's (in)activity under its own rule-of-law mechanism, hastily put forward after the Commission’s Framework. The activation of the Framework has shown its potential to mobilize European public opinion and orient public discourses to the current condition of EU values.

24. Januar 2016

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Polish Constitutional crisis goes to Europe – or does it?

The latest move by the Polish government in its attempt to disembowel the Constitutional Court looks, on first sight, like a conciliatory gesture: The Minister of Foreign Affairs has submitted two proposals amending the Act on the Constitutional Court to examination by the Venice Commission, the expert body on constitutional issues of the Council of Europe. Does this turn to Europe signal a change of heart in the revolutionary zeal on the part of the Polish government? Not so fast. On closer inspection, the request appears conspicuously ambiguous. The motion does not even specify in sufficient detail what text(s) the Venice Commission is to provide its opinion on.

1. Januar 2016

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Chess-boxing around the Rule of Law: Polish Constitutionalism at Trial

In the conflict between the Polish government and the constitutional court, we are watching a sort of chess-boxing, a hybrid game consisting of rounds in chess and boxing, where the parties attempt to outsmart the opponent and if this doesn’t help, they simply punch. Contravention of the division of powers and disregard for the idea of limited government has repeatedly been perpetrated by the ruling party Law & Justice and “their” President Duda. It remains to be seen if the attempts made are understood by the perpetrators as a tool to facilitate party’s short-term objectives or as an ultimate goal to redesign Poland’s institutional order.

23. Dezember 2015

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»Court-packing« in Warsaw: The Plot Thickens

The wheels of Polish constitutional upheaval keep rolling relentlessly and in one direction – to the full dismantling and paralyzing the Constitutional Court and all it stands for. However, it is not just the tempo itself of the legislative process that is out of ordinary, but the ruthlessness with which the new majority carries out its plan. A new chapter in obliterating the Court was added on 15th of December, 2015 when the majority came forward with a draft of the amendments to the Law on the Constitutional Court.

18. Dezember 2015

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L’état d’urgence in the wake of the Paris attacks and its judicial aftermath

With the shock of the Paris attacks still fresh, further images started to flood the media in their immediate aftermath: Soldiers were not only seen boarding Rafale fighter jets but also patrolling the streets in France and Belgium, police raids were and are still conducted day and night throughout France, numerous arrests were made and even more people set under house arrest. Those internal executive measures in France are based on the déclaration de l’état d’urgence (in parts already discussed here). Now that the situation slightly calmed down, but with the state of emergency still enacted, the first administrative court decisions on those measures are in, deeming the police behavior just on all points.

18. Dezember 2015

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»We are not in a Seminar«: Some Thoughts on the Legislative’s and Executive’s Prerogative in Determining International Law

"We are not in a seminar but in parliament": With these words the German Minister of Foreign Affairs has tried to brush aside international law arguments against the deployment of German soldiers within the fight against ISIS. To put these propositions in a nutshell: France feels that it has been attacked and this is sufficient for invoking self-defense. In any case it does not matter what international law precisely says. Both of these suggestions are more than dubious.

11. Dezember 2015

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Bruised, but not dead (yet): The Polish Constitutional Court has spoken

The current attack on the Polish Constitutional Court is unprecedented in scope, cold efficiency and intensity. It aims to paralyze and incapacitate the Court. Polish democracy is faced today with a crisis that has more to do with the lack of constitutional culture rather than deficiencies of the constitutional text. Europe will have its hands full with Poland in the days to come. Unfortunately, so far it has not shown much teeth in response to the constitutional shenanigans playing out in Poland. This must change or Warsaw will become another Budapest with Europe idly watching.

10. Dezember 2015

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A Facelift for Verfassungsblog

Today, we proudly present the newly designed Verfassungsblog. We made a big effort to make the blog easier to navigate, to improve readability and accessibility of postings, to offer some new functions such as an Events calender, and generally to provide a fresh, modern experience for users of the blog. A big, warm thank you goes out to the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, particularly its Center for Global Constitutionalism, which generously supported us to make this relaunch possible.

9. Dezember 2015

Why the British demands on national parliaments must be resisted

Six years ago today, the Treaty of Lisbon came into force, introducing an early warning system for national parliaments concerned with the principle of subsidiarity. UK Prime Minister David Cameron has called for more incisive rights of national parliaments to block EU legislation. The UK government, which normally preens itself on its flexibility and pragmatism, is trying to impose a one-size-fits-all approach on national parliaments, ignoring their very different mandates, powers, practices, timetables and levels of political interest and staff support. The fact is that waving subsidiarity cards is the least important EU function of national parliaments.

1. Dezember 2015

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