Das Drama der Demokratie
Theater in Berlin und Erfurt
Articles for category: AAA General
A Voice for Nature
The rights of nature movement is gaining momentum all around the world. With the decision of the Landgericht Erfurt on 2 August 2024 the movement seems to also have set foot in European courts. Realizing those rights will ultimately depend on nature being represented before a court. Environmental ombud agencies akin to the Austrian Umweltanwaltschaften may serve as an example. Despite some shortcomings in its Austrian form, this institutionalised representation has the potential to give a firm voice to nature.
The Inadvertent Protagonist
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), a UN body essentially responsible for resolving inter-state disputes, has been increasingly asked to consider matters with implications for individual criminal responsibility – a predominant concern of international criminal law. In some cases, the link is direct; for instance, in the last two years, the Genocide Convention has been invoked twice on behalf of Ukraine and Gaza. Although for the ICJ, its application is a question of State responsibility, it will give rise to questions of individual responsibility in other international and domestic fora.
A War for the Tech Economy
Today, various commentators are asking about the purpose behind the pager attack and the subsequent communication device attack yesterday. The New York Times’s detailed report of the incidents announces in its title that Israel has built a “Modern-Day Trojan Horse”. The idea comes from Greek history, but perhaps a better comparison might be found in Greek myth. Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Today, Israel is attempting to develop secularized but God-like technological capabilities, at least in terms of their ability to generate surprise and change reality overnight. Yet, by discarding moral or political considerations in favor of pyrotechnics, Israel risks Prometheus’s ultimate fate: punishment.
Rethinking EU Law Beyond the Liberal Feminist Paradigm
In K,L v Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid (‘K,L’), the CJEU decided that a belief in the value of gender equality associated with the lifestyle of the westernized woman be regarded as a reason for persecution. While the decision contributes to a gender-sensitive EU asylum law, I argue that the CJEU’s classification of the young women’s belief in the value of gender equality as ‘identificatory’ (as opposed to ‘religious’ or ‘political’) perpetuates a long-standing criticism of the liberal feminist paradigm.
The Patriots for Europe
Never in the history of the EU has a political party at Union level so ostentatiously misnamed itself as the Patriots for Europe. Their name suggests a passionate love for homeland Europe but their Manifesto reveals an unmistakable commitment to dismantle European democracy and to reduce the EU to an undemocratic organisation of illiberal states. Following the recent European Parliament elections, the Patriots for Europe has emerged as nothing less than the third largest political party. I explore the core elements of their illiberal political agenda as outlined in their Manifesto and discuss how their proposed sovereign policies, if implemented, could reverse the progressive trajectory of European (legal) integration.
Mexico’s Constitutional Democracy Under Threat
The final act of Mexican President López Obrador will be in collaboration with the president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum and the newly elected Congress. Among other things, in a move that goes beyond anything found in other prominent backsliding states such as Hungary or Poland, it introduces the popular election of all sitting judges across the Federal Judiciary, including Supreme Court Justices, every 9 and 12 years respectively. In an open letter, legal scholars, judges, policymakers and practitioners from various regions of the world have expressed deep concern over the potential consequences that the popular election of judges may have on judicial independence, the rule of law, and the safeguarding of rights and freedoms in Mexico.
Flying Blind
A quarter of a billion euros. That was the final price tag the last time German politicians and constitutional law professors assured us that a controversial German idea was compatible with EU law. Yet the Autobahn car toll for foreigners only pushed through by the Bavarian regional conservatives (CSU) and passed by the Federal government grand coalition of Conservatives and Social Democrats was – quite predictably from the outset – contrary to European law and cost German taxpayers many millions of euros in contractual penalties following clarification by the ECJ in 2019. The way the current refugee debate in Germany is handled could end up costing Germany, i.e. all of us, much more – not so much in euros, but in trust in the reliability of Germany in general, as an EU Member State, and more generally trust in the reliability of the law.
Soft Law’s Increasing Clout
The non-binding nature of soft law is rather self-evident, yet, its influence is growing, as reflected in the recent Jemerak case, decided on 5 September 2024. While the judges in Luxembourg explicitly stated that the Commission’s guidance document had no effect on their interpretation of Union law whatsoever, their decision de facto indirectly reviewed that document. I argue that the Jemerak case exemplifies the growing significance of soft law.
»This case has the potential to set precedent for all of the internet.«
Five Questions to Kate Klonick.
