A Dialogic Approach to the Place of Judges in Democracy
El siguiente trabajo se propone contrastar ciertas visiones que sostienen que los jueces deben mantener una posición aislada frente a la sociedad y las restantes ramas de gobierno, con una propuesta dialógica según la cual la interacción deliberativa es deseable, en la medida que contribuye a dotar de imparcialidad las decisiones públicas. A fin de...
Corporations are people too? – on the status of non-human legal persons in public law
This paper asks whether non-human persons, especially corporations, can be the subject of human rights, whether they can possess such rights.The paper attempts to offer a general, conceptual analysis of this question, irrespective of the particular legal system. A danger exists, that corporate resources, which individuals seldom have, will mean that the most prevalent use...
Gremlins in the Electronic Voting Machine: For a Right to Vote Analogously
Voting machines offer convenience. They economise infrastructure and potentially increase voter turnout. Yet, we are trading in information security, a bad deal for democracy indeed. I propose a right a vote analogously, using pen and paper. The machines may suffer technical failure, changing data. Implanting malware or hacking the network can compromise the vote tally....
Shades of Intimacy: Exploring Lobby Regulation in Developing Countries
Public participation is a prerequisite for a prospering democracy. This is, at least, what the current crisis of representation around the western world indicates. It is essential for a large number of reasons; the most evident, making sure individuals‘ grievances actually reach those in power. However, the shade of intimacy between private interests and public...
The concept of democracy in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
This research examines the concept of democracy in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Reasoning from the case law related to national security – one of those exceptions – we highlighted three main ideas developed by the Court. Those are the concepts of rule of law, lawfulness, pluralism and broadmindedness. We...
The lack of political will to institute post-TRC prosecutions in South Africa: A threat to democracy and challenge for public law?
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, South Africa started a journey towards a negotiated settlement of its political crisis, and it was against the historical background of the crimes committed by both sides of the struggle in the apartheid-era that the National Party and the African National Congress reached an agreement on how to...