Articles for category: AAA General

The Legacy of Kinsa

The CJEU’s judgment in Kinsa marks a rare rights-based correction to the EU’s punitive approach to migration. Prompted by a case from Italy, the Court confronts the criminalisation of those who cross borders caring for children. Rather than deferring to enforcement rationales, it centres fundamental rights and draws clear constitutional limits. The ruling opens a path to challenge overbroad criminalisation not just retrospectively, but at the level of legal design. In the shadow of ongoing EU reform efforts, Kinsa signals a shift: from border control to proportionality scrutiny.

26. Juni 2025

Nur gelbes Licht? 

Das Bundesverwaltungsgericht hat das Verbot von „Compact“ nun auch im Hauptsacheverfahren aufgehoben. Auch wenn sich die Compact GmbH mit dem „Remigrationskonzept“ identifiziere, das gegen die Menschenwürde und das Demokratieprinzip verstoße, sei die Vereinigung nicht ausreichend von verfassungswidrigen Äußerungen und Aktivitäten geprägt. Für den zukünftigen Umgang mit Medienverboten ist vor allem interessant: Das Gericht bleibt zwar im Grundsatz bei seiner Position, dass das Vereinsrecht auch auf faktische Medienverbote anwendbar ist. Doch es deutet eine bedeutsame Grenze dieses Grundsatzes an.

25. Juni 2025

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Energy Sanctions Reloaded

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The European Commission proposed a ban on Russian gas imports based on Article 207 TFEU – a legal basis related to the EU’s Common Commercial Policy, rather than the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Although the policy domains of trade and sanctions often overlap in practice, the new proposal seems to overlook that the EU maintains a distinct legal framework for imposing sanctions. If the ban is ultimately enacted under Article 207 TFEU, there is a risk that one or more Member States opposing these new sanctions against Russia will challenge it on the grounds that this EU Regulation is based on the wrong legal basis.

25. Juni 2025

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The Future of International Criminal Law is Domestic

Domestic courts are increasingly stepping in where international institutions falter, becoming key enforcers of international criminal law. The conviction of Syrian doctor Alaa M. in Germany exemplifies the potential of universal jurisdiction to deliver justice beyond borders. While the ICC remains blocked in the Syria situation, national trials offer credible, survivor-driven accountability. Rather than being a fallback, domestic prosecutions are emerging as a central pillar of international criminal justice.

24. Juni 2025

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From Erosion to Evisceration

Last week, the Supreme Court decided the case United States v. Skrmetti. As Ryan Thoreson has argued on this blog, the Court’s opinion rolls back existing understandings of sex discrimination in ways that will likely play out in future cases. Building on that insight, I examine how the Court narrows what counts as sex discrimination and strips the concept of stereotypes of its constitutional force. The most troubling aspects of the decision, however, appear in concurrences written by the ultraconservative members of the Court, which confine the reach of equal protection to formal legal classifications alone.

24. Juni 2025

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The Erosion of Equal Protection

In United States v. Skrmetti, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 along ideological lines to uphold a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors, reaching that conclusion by construing equal protection jurisprudence in regressive ways. The majority reasoned that the law not only did not discriminate on the basis of sex, but did not discriminate on the basis of transgender status either. This post explains how the Skrmetti decision threatens to narrow the scope of constitutional equality protections in the United States, why it is dangerous for the equality claims of women and lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, and why it is likely to be so damaging for transgender people targeted by state and federal lawmakers in recent years.

23. Juni 2025

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Haunted by Text

Slovak PM Fico renewed his attempts to amend Slovakia’s Constitution. The most controversial provisions are a “national identity safeguard” limiting the effect of international and supranational law, and a definition of sex as strictly binary. After securing backing from some opposition members, his cabinet has submitted the amendment to parliament for debate and a vote. While public mobilisation against the proposed amendment proposal is important, legal scholars and NGOs should avoid using language that might reinforce the perception that the formally powerful Constitutional Court lacks the authority to strike down or reinterpret such changes in line with constitutional values.

23. Juni 2025

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Neither Soil, Nor Blood, Nor Money

Russian oligarchs in Malta, descendants of Italians in South America, and Mexicans crossing into the US make unlikely characters for a common story. Yet over the first half of 2025, the ability of each of these groups to acquire or transmit citizenship status has been under scrutiny, signalling a shared preoccupation with ensuring that citizenship reflects “authentic” bonds and is not acquired instrumentally. In the struggle to define these “authentic” bonds each intervention strikes at the heart of some well-known citizenship tenet – the link to soil, blood, or money – without offering a clear alternative. The resulting void calls for a reflection on the principles that ought to inform rules on citizenship attribution.

20. Juni 2025

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