Weakened by the social and economic restructuring from the 1980s in Anglo-American societies, the state‘s authority in these jurisdictions and numerous others are now being strengthened by utilising criminal justice regimes to provide security against future risk, rather than merely punish past wrongdoings and in so doing undermining many of the foundation stones on which...
PROTECTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY
This panel seeks to explore the notion of the protection of constitutional identity through the following perspectives: The tools of constitutional guardianship, the constitutionalization of transitional justice, and the institutionalization of transnational networks of constitutional courts. More specifically, are tools of protection applicable across a variety of constitutional systems? If so, are there variations within...
DEMOCRACY IN AN AGE OF HYPER-LEGISLATION
In recent decades, successive Parliaments in Australia and elsewhere have proliferated an extraordinary amount of legislation. Notable features of this phenomenon are the complexity of these statutes and the breadth of discretionary powers bestowed on the executive government with a concomitant deleterious impact on fundamental rights. This panel explores various problems that arise from this...
DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING AND CONSTITUTIONAL CAPTURE – A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
In recent years the democratization process, which was characterized by the expansion of principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in many countries in the world, and by a significant shift of power to constitutional courts, has been replaced with the worldwide rise of populism and democratic backsliding. Democratic backsliding is an...
CHINA‘S NATIONAL SECURITY: ENDANGERING HONG KONG‘S RULE OF LAW?
Now governed by China under the rubric “one country, two systems“, Hong Kong has a strong tradition of the rule of law – a key feature that distinguishes it from China. However, concerns over whether Hong Kong can maintain this distinctiveness in light of apparently-increasing Chinese security advances are intensifying, partly due to renewed calls...
CONSTITUTIONAL AND REGULATORY ISSUES ON SHARING ECONOMY
Sharing-economy platforms such as Airbnb and Uber have gained growing importance throughout the world. However, there are many discussions on how to regulate it and construct an adequate legal system for it. The regulation concerns directly public law as sharing-economy platforms have been accused of facilitating activities that cause nuisance to the general public. At...
CONSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY AS A LIMIT FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM AND SUPRANATIONAL INTEGRATION
The term “constitutional identity“ has emerged in jurisprudence and academic debate as a limit of constitutional reform and supranational integration. However, the basis of this concept is rather unclear and must be closely examined from a theoretical and comparative perspective.Therefore, the panel intends to clarify whether constitutions have implicit limits to their reform even if...
QUESTIONING BOUNDARIES: THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY IN CONTEMPORARY DEMOCRACIES
Judges are faced with a wide and growing variety of issues, the contentiousness of which exceeds the borders of the legal domain. As a result of changes occurring in decision-making processes at the national, regional and global level, matters invoking political controversy, technical complexity and external relations are increasingly brought to court and framed in...
REFUGEE PROTECTION AT THE BORDERS OF INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE LAW: LEGAL RESPONSES, EXCEPTIONS, AND POSSIBILITIES
Discourse surrounding refugee protection in the Asian context often presumes the absence of relevant legal norms since most states in the region have not acceded to the 1951 Convention related to the status of refugees. Given continuing resistance to accession, some claim that Asia has essentially “rejected“ refugee law. Others suggest that states have nevertheless...
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COURTS: PROTECTORS OF HUMAN RIGHTS, OR OF NATIONAL AND REGIONAL IDENTITIES – OR BOTH?
Regional human rights systems are between Scylla and Charybdis: On the one hand they should uphold the states‘ human rights treaty obligations. On the other hand, they should arguably show appropriate respect for value pluralism, for various expressions of the majority‘s conception of national identity, and regionally shared modes of ‘balancing‘ rights and other important...