It is widely observed that over the past six years under the current government there has been a re-focusing on and re-strengthening of the Chinese Communist Party in the social, economic and political lives of contemporary China. To many commentators, this noticeable return of the Party is much alarming given the authoritarian nature of the...
Response to The Alchemists book
This response will be based on Dr Sanchez‐Urribarri’s extensive research on comparative constitutional law and politics, and on the conditions that explain judicial empowerment, the politicization of courts and sound judicial reform practices across different political contexts, in Latin American states in particular (including Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Costa Rica), as well as European states...
Social Rights Adjudication in Time of Economic Crisis and Institutional Interdependence
We are witnessing a deep transformation of our constitutional systems: the uncontestable crisis of the social democratic states goes hand in hand with the affirmation of a new global, supranational, transnational, multilevel constitutional order characterized, on one side, by a growing interdependence among national states and on the other side by the shift of authoritative...
Separation of Powers: The Minimal View
In his recent book Political Political Theory, Jeremy Waldron observes that despite the fact that the principle of the separation of powers is widely invoked in political and constitutional debates, it is still unclear what sort of requirements it imposes, and what are the reasons that ground this principle. In my paper I will offer...
Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roe: Reverend Ammi Rogers and the Pre-history of Roe v. Wade
This paper addresses the 1818 criminal case of a Connecticut minister named Ammi Rogers who was accused of impregnating Asenath Smith, a young woman to whom he was not married, and then giving her an abortion-inducing substance. Procedural and substantive difficulties in prosecuting Rogers were said to be the impetus behind an 1821 Connecticut statute...
Security challenges and public law – lessons learned from Hungary
This paper collects lessons learned from Hungary concerning security challenges. The populist rhetoric, the non-transparent functioning of the state can legally and politically legitimize governmental actions that are detrimental to democracy (referenda, billboard campaigns, popular consultations) and the rule of law (unconstitutional emergency situation), and are also potentially restrictive to fundamental rights. Rules on emergencies...
The Analysis on the Innate Popular Tendency of Democracy
Populism is a buzzword in recent western politics, throughout history, populism has exerted many influences on the course of democracy, it thrived and prospered through all the endeavors at expanding the concept of citizenship. Equality and freedom are the most fundamental meanings for democracy, with the development of democracy, the expansion in the implications of...
The Application of Rule-of-Law Ideology in Chinese Judicial Practice
Although the Chinese constitution includes the notion of socialist rule of law, it is generally assumed that this is not a justiciable principle that courts can apply in practice. The meaning of the principle is determined in authoritative documents of the Chinese Communist Party. Based on newly available court decisions, the paper explores in what...
Subsidiarity and Interpretive Pluralism in International Human Rights Law
The salience of principles & practices of subsidiarity in IHRL is linked to value pluralism & communal self-determination. I argue that an analysis of the variations in the practice of subsidiarity by different IHRL mechanisms is a useful proxy to elucidate the idea of legitimate interpretive pluralism in IHRL, defined as a plurality of incompatible,...
The Absence of Janus: Procedural and Substantive Limits To the Amending Power in Brazil
Contemporary constitutional democracies assume a dualistic political conception to distinguish the creation of the constitutional law from the ordinary legislation. Both procedural limits to the amending power and unamendable clauses aim to protect the constitution against its substitution or ordinary modification. However, the amending power does not fall into the same category as the original...