Articles for category: Focus

Pandemierecht 4.0

Die Bundesnotbremse ist aus heutiger Sicht jedoch nicht nur Ende sondern zugleich Beginn eines neuen Staatsversagens gewesen. Tatsächlich war es die Verlagerung der Handlungskompetenz auf die Gubernative, zumal in der föderalen Variante einer informellen ad-hoc-Bund-Länder-Gubernative, die sich als strukturell unpassend und fachlich unangemessen erwiesen hat. Aus diesen Vorüberlegungen lassen sich Eckpunkte für ein Pandemierecht 4.0 entwickeln, das als vorsorgendes und gefahrenabwehrendes Planungs- und Interventionsrecht in organisatorischer und verfahrensrechtlicher Hinsicht über die ersten drei Entwicklungsstufen (Generalklausel, unkoordinierter Maßnahmenkatalog, Bundesnotbremse) nicht nur hinausgeht, sondern zu einer grundlegenden Neuausrichtung führt.

Toward Restorative Constitutionalism?

How does one restore a democratic constitutional order that has been eroded through a process of “abusive” constitutional change? The same tools used to achieve abusive change can be used to reverse it. For example, just as formal constitutional amendment is one important way in which abusive constitutional projects are carried out, it is also an important pathway through which abusive change can be reversed.

»La légalité nous tue«

It is not out of question that the united Hungarian opposition will obtain Parliamentary majority in 2022, but a constituent supermajority of two thirds remains wishful thinking. Winning the election will not result in actual governmental power. The Fundamental Law was a nice opportunity to purge constitutional institutions. Is another round of purge inevitable with the restoration of the rule of law? The dictates of necessity offer an unappealing perspective and textbook constitutionalism is not prepared for dirty reality.

Beyond Impunity

When people talk about the connection between internal and external security, which was occasionally the case during the election campaign for the German Bundestag, they usually mean international terrorism, transnational drug trafficking and organized crime. Yet, various events in the recent months reminded us that rampant corruption in foreign states can also have consequences for our external security.

Legalising Anti-Corruption Efforts in China

In 2018, the Chinese central government professed its determination to combat ‘corruption’ at a new level by promulgating the Supervision Law (SL). Supervisory commissions (SCs) from the national level down to the county level were systematically set up and became the sole supervisory organ, which has largely modified the constitutional division of powers. I argue that the SC shares much in common with the hybrid type of ombudsman but lacks adequate external constraint mechanisms.

The Changing Culture and Perception of Corruption

In Nigeria, coups d’etat have often been a cause for celebration. Ironically, even as a series of juntas promised to reform corrupt practices Nigeria’s perceived problems grew worse, leading to ever-more stringent rhetoric against corruption and, as Ugochukwu Ezeh suggests in his contribution to this symposium, a near consensus that corruption represents a fundamental threat to Nigerians’ personal security and that of the nation itself. While it is challenging to measure the prevalence or magnitude of corruption objectively, the perception of corruption is that it gets worse and worse, despite the struggle against it.

Grenzenlose Vorverlagerung

Nach der Entscheidung des BVerfG zur "Bundesnotbremse" ist es verfassungsrechtlich zulässig, eine an sich ungefährliche Ausübung der körperlichen Bewegungsfreiheit zu verbieten, wenn dieses Verbot als Teil eines nicht offensichtlich wirkungslosen Gesamtkonzepts die Durchsetzung einer anderen Maßnahme des Gesundheitsschutzes erleichtert – und das unmittelbar per Gesetz, also ohne gerichtlichen Rechtsschutz. Kann das richtig sein – und wo führt das hin?