Articles for category: Focus

Individuals and Judges in Defense of the Rule of Law

In many ways, this case illustrates EU constitutionalism at its best: despite not being obliged to do so, the Irish judge made a request under Article 267 TFEU, bringing together concerns raised by the pending Article 7 TEU procedure and the more technical and narrow issue of fair trial under Article 47 EU Charter. While the ECJ follows the path opened in Aranyosi for assessing the ‘real risk of breach’ under Article 47 EU Charter, in interpreting that provision it manages to weave in the wider Article 7 TEU contextual concerns as well, thereby considerably strengthening the constitutional status of the right to a fair trial.

28. Juli 2018

The Deficiencies Judgment: Postponing the Constitutional Moment

Much was at stake in the LM / Deficiencies decision. The Court of Justice was called to strike a complex balance between different interests, a balance that was bound to be controversial. While the ruling was not the defining ‘constitutional moment’, this moment might be only postponed. The Court made it clear that ‘red lines’ already exist in European constitutional law, and that it is willing to operationalize them. Nonetheless, it should not be forgotten that the Court should not replace the ‘political game’ – a game that is clearly on.

27. Juli 2018

We Still Haven’t Found What We’re Looking For

The diagnosis is grim. So, the CJEU should have done something! If the political class is reluctant, the law in the hands of the CJEU must be put to play. The conventional narrative has it that this has always been the case. This was the gist of the hope laid in the anticipated LM case. The CJEU has not lived up to those high expectations. This is not a landmark ruling and neither will its impact be of seismic constitutional proportions. The reason for that is, as we shall see, not the reluctance of the CJEU to address the problem seriously, but a plain fact that the expectations have been simply too high. While this is, most likely, as good as it can judicially get, the LM decision has still not brought us what we have been looking for. Nevertheless, we might be at least an inch closer toward that goal.

27. Juli 2018

A Clever Compromise or a Tectonic Shift? The LM Jugment of the CJEU

The LM judgment is certainly not the end, rather the beginning of a development. Its teaching is not that systemic deficiencies of the judiciary do not matter. Rather, such deficiencies shall be addressed systemically. Such systemic solutions may force the respective member state to adjust without making its participation in the EU abruptly impossible.

27. Juli 2018

Afraid of Their Own Courage? Some Preliminary Reflections on LM

The much-awaited judgment in the case LM (also known as Celmer) is a landmark decision. The European Court of Justice acknowledged for the very first time that the essence of the right to a fair trial prohibits, under certain circumstances, the surrender of individuals from one EU Member State to another. Against the backdrop of the rule of law crisis in Poland and elsewhere, this acknowledgment is certain to be seen as a big step towards strengthening the rule of law in Europe. At the same time, the decision falls short of the expectations of those who wanted the Court of Justice to assess the independence of the Polish judiciary in substance.

26. Juli 2018

„Passive Indoctrination“ as a Terrorist Offense in Spain – A Regression from Constitutional Rights?

Spanish counter-terrorist legislation was originally aimed at fighting local terrorism of a nationalist nature. In Spain, the phenomenon was so present during the constituent process that the Constitution itself included a provision that allows certain fundamental rights to be suspended for specific persons, “in relation to the investigations corresponding to the actions of armed bands or terrorist elements” (art. 55.2 EC –Spanish Constitution-).

11. Mai 2018

The Case Law of the Bundesverfassungsgericht on Counterterrorist Measures

Ever since 9/11, a multitude of laws against terrorism have been adopted, both on the federal level and on the level of the Länder (which in Germany are mainly responsible for the police). The 2002 “Law on suppression of international terrorism” was only the first of many to follow: immediately after 9/11, the Federal Ministry of the Interior seized the opportunity to introduce counterterrorist measures that had been on its agenda for quite some time.

11. Mai 2018

Excesses of Counter-Terrorism and Constitutional Review in France: The Example of the Criminalisation of the Consultation of Websites

In the span of three years, France has adopted no less than five new counter-terrorism laws in November 2014, November 2015, June 2016, February 2017, and October 2017. As in other countries, this surge in counter-terrorism legislation has been prompted by a rise and reconfiguration of the terrorist threat (notably with regards to Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs)), and in turn by the United Nations‹ call for the adoption by states of new measures, in particular broad criminal offences. In order to address the threat of FTFs, impede radicalisation and recruitment, and pre-empt the commission of terrorist acts, Security Council Resolution ... continue reading

10. Mai 2018

China’s Constitution and the People’s War on Terror

When HU Bo posted his tweet in July 2014, he must have immediately felt that he had made a big mistake. Just three hours after he wrote in his intra-workspace social media group about the ongoing riots in China’s far western region of Yarkand County, he took his post down and shortly after surrendered to the police in his hometown of Ürümqi. He was in trouble because he had not only repeated the official news, but he apparently had added some unconfirmed rumors about the intensity and extent of the riots. This had put him outside of the law. Fake ... continue reading

9. Mai 2018

The State of Emergency, Non-Refoulement and the Turkish Constitutional Court

There is almost not a day that passes without terrorism featuring in the Turkish media, with national terrorism and the fight against terrorism being the subject of controversy both nationally and internationally. The broad definition of terrorism under Turkey’s Anti-Terrorism Law of 1991, the measure of discretion of the competent authorities in the modality of the fight against terrorism and the impact this has (had) on democratic freedoms is presumably well-known to the readers of this blog. To name but one recent incident: the judgment of a lower Istanbul court sentencing journalists to prison for their involvement in terrorist organizations, ... continue reading

9. Mai 2018