I argue that the Philippine Constitution‘s main strategy for pursuing and preserving fundamental values is the fostering of integrated diversity, which seeks to empower various, diverse groups and channel their political energies into the democratic processes whereby the coöperation, compromise, and coalition-building needed to succeed would lead to the pursuit of collective norms and win-win...
Is There a Right to Secession?
A right to secede would entail that secession has a protected status. That is, if there is a right to secede, then it is permissible to secede even if secession is unjustified—in the same way that the right to free speech protects speech that is false, harmful, or otherwise unjustified. It is commonly believed that...
Liberal Constitutionalism and the New Global Populism: A Legal-Philosophical Investigation
In recent years, many legal scholars and political scientists explicitly or implicitly agree that populism is a threat to liberal democratic constitutionalism. Nevertheless, much less clear is the assessment of the source of decay within liberal democratic constitutionalism. This paper will focus on two issues that become the root of crisis within liberal democratic constitutionalism....
Limited “Spheres“ vs. Limited “Capacities“: Judicial Institutional Identity in Emergency and Security Cases
What is the institutional role of judges in deciding emergency and security cases? In this paper I distinguish between two types of claims made by judges about their limited role on such matters. One is a classic separation of powers account that justifies deference to government by demarcating “spheres“ for judicial, executive and legislative supremacy....
Legitimacy of identity claims in ‘free and democratic elections‘: A rule of law perspective.
Parliaments composition expresses the national identity. The establishment of grounds for access to Parliament is a considerable mechanism for shaping this identity. Traditionally, States enjoyed great latitude in establishing these grounds. Nowadays, while some grounds amount to blatant discriminations and are no longer tolerated in our societies (race, sex and religion), others are considered not...
Judicial Challenges against the Original Constitution
Scholars are fascinated by courts that challenge constitutional amendments. However, scholars have given little attention to judges questioning the product of the original constituent power. Some argue that constitutions can be unconstitutional, but more work needs to be done to understand the role of judges. I develop a theoretical framework and explore examples from Latin...
Overlapping Oversight and Arrested Accountability: Coordination among Adversaries through Judicial Reviews of Administrative Police Oversight
The simultaneous existence of judicial and non-judicial, internal and external, as well as preventative and reactive mechanisms is a common reality in today‘s police oversight. Conducting a sociolegal analysis of judicial reviews of the Ontario police complaints system, I explain why the staggering degree of public dissatisfaction and perception of police impunity persist despite constant...
Populisms, Elitism and the Threat to Liberal Constitutional Democracy in Brazil
Brazil is a useful case-study in the use, and limits, of the term ‘populism’, and the different ways in which the ‘p’ word is said to influence or threaten liberal democratic constitutionalism. Over a decade of what was often termed left-wing populist governance, under Presidents Lula and Dilma, is viewed in some quarters as having...
Possible Public Law Framework on AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Security －AI Network and the Risk－
Artificial Intelligence (AI) may change our lives dramatically. At the same time, risks are pointed out in the incoming networked society supported by such artificial intelligence (hereafter AI). In this paper, I will discuss the possibility of a legal framework to prevent such risks. In particular, I would like to discuss the possibility of setting...
Regional Human Rights Mechanisms as Enforcement Gap-Filling Institutions
This paper offers an account of how we should understand the nature and role of regional human rights mechanisms in Asia. The core thought is that such mechanisms need to be conceived of and operate as enforcement gap-filling institutions, i.e., help fill enforcement gaps in human rights law within the region. At the level of...