La République gegen Rasse
Frankreich will das Wort "Rasse" aus seiner Gesetzgebung tilgen. Das klingt löblich - tatsächlich ist diese Art des billigen Symbolismus geeignet, den Kampf gegen Rassismus schwerer zu machen statt ihn zu erleichtern.
Articles for category: Allgemein
Italian institutions between crisis and reform
The political turmoil in Italy during the last months hasn’t left its constitutional order unaffected, one would think – or has it? In order to understand what happened it is essential to start from November 2011. Berlusconi’s Cabinet was falling apart, while the Italian economic and financial situation was becoming increasingly dramatic. The President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano appointed Professor Mario Monti, an eminent economist and previously European Commissioner, to form a new government. The main oddity of the Monti government was its technical nature. The Ministers were not members of political parties, but rather university professors, professionals and ... continue reading
„Wir haben viele Fehler gemacht. Sie passieren. Und dann korrigiert man sie.“
Menschenrechte hatten es schwer in Europa in letzter Zeit. In einigen Ländern – vor allem im Vereinigten Königreich, wo Sie lange gelebt und gelehrt haben – trifft das Konzept transnationaler Menschenrechte regelrecht auf Feindseligkeit in Teilen der Öffentlichkeit. Warum ist das so? Weshalb hat sich das Verhältnis zwischen Menschenrechten und einigen Staaten so verschlechtert? Die Verschlechterung in Großbritannien ist eigentlich eine ganz alte Geschichte. Es handelt sich um den tief verwurzelten Widerstand parlamentarischer Demokratien gegen konstitutionalisierte Rechte. Die Common-Law-Tradition steht dem, was kontinentale Systeme für selbstverständlich halten, feindlich gegenüber, nämlich dass man seine Rechte auf einem Stück Papier in einer ... continue reading
Constitutional Renewal in Turkey: Some Questions Concerning Constitutional Theory
Turkey is currently undergoing a process of drafting a new constitution. The lack of legitimacy of the present, 1982, constitution, which was originated from the 1980 military coup d’état, renders adoption of a new contitution necessary in the public opinion. There are high public expectations for the new constitution in terms of assuring democratic standards. The process for the new constitution officially started on 19th October, 2011. In order to carry out the task of drafting, a parliamentary committee of constitutional reconciliation was established. The committee is composed of an equal number (three) members from each of the four political ... continue reading
The Crisis of Democracy in Hungary and Romania – Learning from Weimar?
Hungary’s political development under the Orbán government is by now a familiar topic. In April Barroso confirmed the European Commission’s concern that Hungary’s new constitution infringe EU legislation and the rule of law. Indeed, some commentators speak of ‚the corrosion of constitutional democracy‘ or even a possible dictatorship in the EU. Romania is another problematic case. Its slide towards authoritarianism has not been (yet) enshrined in a new constitution. But its 2012 political crisis has seen by some as a coup d’état, during which Ponta’s government aimed at removing all checks and balances on its power to impeach President Băsescu. ... continue reading
The Hungarian Dilemma from a Pluralist Perspective
The constitutional and political developments in Hungary in the last few years have stirred a lot of controversies and also raised significant academic attention. This blog has provided not only a wonderful forum for an exchange of different views, but it has also produced original and thought-provoking proposals for tackling the Hungarian problem. However, the „reverse Solange“ idea, the call for the establishment of a special Copenhagen Commission, for a straightforward supremacy of the Charter and other insightful proposals, all appear to be addressing the Hungarian dilemma from within the constitutional register. This is, of course, a legitimate choice, but ... continue reading
The Politics of Space: Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum
Law is a ‚politics of space.‘ The last week’s Supreme Court decision in ‚Kiobel‘ significantly cuts the possibilities to sue human rights violators before courts in the United States, particularly when the relevant conduct occurred on the territory of a foreign sovereign. The decision builds upon a highly territorialized notion of law and points to what may be called a ’nationalization‘ of international law—with repercussions for the transnational law of public and private global governance. In the Kiobel case transnational oil corporations (Royal Dutch Petroleum/Shell) were accused of having aided and abetted in massive violations of human rights in Nigeria, ... continue reading
Making Finance Sustainable: Ten Years Equator Principles – Success or Letdown?
In 2003, a number of banks adopted the Equator Principles (EPs), a voluntary Code of Conduct based on the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) performance standards, to ensure the ecological and social sustainability of project finance. These so called Equator Principles Financial Institutions (EPFI) commit to requiring their borrowers to adopt sustainable management plans of environmental and social risks associated with their projects. The Principles apply to the project finance business segment of the banks and cover projects with a total cost of US $10 million or more. While for long developing countries relied on World Bank and other public assistance ... continue reading
Putsch: Iceland’s crowd-sourced constitution killed by parliament
Following its spectacular plunge from grace in 2008 when its banking system crashed, inflicting huge damage on foreign creditors as well as on local residents, Iceland caught attention for trying to come to grips with what happened by bringing court cases against bankers and others allegedly responsible for the crash as well as for inviting the people of Iceland and its directly elected representatives to draft a new post-crash constitution designed inter alia to reduce the likelihood of another crash. Up against the wall, with throngs of protesters boisterously banging their pots and pans in parliament square in Reykjavík, the ... continue reading
Supremacy of the EU Charter in National Courts in Purely Domestic Cases
The European Union is not just a community based on common interests but is also a community of values. These values are peace, democracy, the rule of law and human rights. If the EU does not want to lose its credibility, it has a duty to defend all of these values to the greatest extent possible, at least within Europe, and especially within the European Union. The different options of how to enforce these values do not exclude, but rather reinforce each other. Most of them depend on political discretion (isolation of the political party concerned within its European party ... continue reading
