The major challenge that the theory of constitutional change in contemporary United States faces is social movement, and its core concern is to balance and maintain legal and political authorities of the Constitution through interpretation. At the descriptive level, the thoughts of liberal scholars who criticized the theory of originalism restored the true colors of...
Social rights in times of economic crisis: the role of the courts
Crisis is the word to sum up the present situation in Western constitutional discourse. The co-causality is unconcealed: economic problems are products and producers, at the same time, of constitutional problems experienced. The project of constituent social democracy became the focus of reforms; the prediction of social rights and guarantees came under heavy attack. Other...
Social Rights of Non-Nationals and Constitutional Values in a Diverse Society
In 2017, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recalled that all people, including asylum-seekers and refugees, as well as other migrants, under the jurisdiction of the State concerned should enjoy the Covenant rights. This statement was adopted against the backdrop of large movements of refugees and migrants and many barriers for them to...
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in 193 Constitutions: Progress and Retrenchment on Equal Rights
Recent years have witnessed a wave of progress on equal rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in the courts and legislatures. Twenty-two countries now permit same-sex marriage, while 72 prohibit discrimination against gay and lesbian employees. At the same time, 71 countries still criminalize same-sex relationships , including some countries...
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...
Shadow Legislative Processes: Is Detention of Stateless Persons an Arbitrary Law-making Practice?
ECtHR case law clarified that Article 5(1)(f) authorises lawful detention, contingent on the possibility of effectively removing the alien within a reasonable amount of time. Stateless migrants are not considered as nationals by any state: there is no prospect of removing them. They often have no way of officially being recognised as such, and are...
Security-based migration laws in Europe. Crimmigration against “the Others“
Since 1990. European societies have become more and more distant towards migrants who started to be perceived as the “Others“. This fueled the expansion of anti-immigration discourse, followed by increasing fear of migrants and its presence. It reflected on the decisions taken by the member states‘ governments and strongly influenced the process of creation of...
Secession in the EU Constitutional Order
The aim of this paper is to trace the position of the EU constitutional order of States with regard to the right of secession of sub-state entities. The thesis of the paper is that although the EU legal order does not recognise a universal and unilateral right of secession to them, its position is more...
Secret Service Access to Metadata in Portugal: The Making of a Constitutional Trilogy?
Last August, the Portuguese Legislative Assembly approved a law that regulates secret service access to telecommunications and internet data (i.e., the identification, localization, and traffic of users of electronic communications services in the following situations: national defense; prevention of sabotage; espionage; terrorism; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; highly organized crime). Consequently, access is restricted...
Securing the European Space through Technocratic Borders: What Role for International Responsibility?
Border controls have been described as the last bastion of sovereignty. The emerging European integrated border management (IBM) challenges this assumption. The hallmark of the IBM is its technocratic and depoliticised logic. Various state and non-state actors cooperate in a complex dynamic of securization. In addition, technological advancements are contributing to change the traditional practices...