To scholars and practitioners of international human rights law, the 1990s Asian Values Debate was irrefutably debunked by the Asian Financial Crisis and regional rights progress. Yet ASEAN states are stuck in a strange ‘time-warp‘ and invariably resurrect the Asian values defence to ward off ‘intrusive‘ human rights engagement, consequently preventing them attaining their ironically...
Tag: <span>MONDAY 25 June 2018 16:45-18:15</span>
Equality, Diversity and Pluralism: Examining Spaces for the Preservation of Minority Rights and Multiple Identities in the Struggle for National Identity and Security
National security policies in the post-9/11 world reveal a dangerous turn towards the politics of fear, especially in the wake of frequent attacks by ‘home-grown terrorists‘. Viewed from the prism of identity politics, particularly ethnonational pluralism, I take a three-pronged approach to examining the impact of national security policies on identity pluralism. I interrogate the...
EU Unilateralism and the Development of International Law
Much has been made of the US’ recent withdrawal from leadership in multilateral institutions. This is often contrasted with the approach of the European Union. The Treaties commit the EU to seek solutions to international problems through multilateral means, and the EU has sought to influence the development of international law via multilateral institutions. Yet...
Facing the Shadows of the Past During Transitions: The Role of the Constitution in the Case of Hungary
One of the greatest challenges facing Hungary is coping with the grievances left by the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes in the 20th century. The question of how to settle the pro-Nazi and communist pasts of the country was first raised during the democratic transition in 1989. This paper discusses how the democratic 1989 constitution of...
From protecting individual rights to protecting the public: the changing parameters of populist driven criminal law and penal policy
It had been the case that in advanced liberal democracies, criminal law and penal policy were bound by clearly defined parameters, that then helped to distinguish governance in the democracies from the non-democratic world. And one of the features of citizenship in the democracies was the importance that was given to protecting individual rights in...
Governmental xenophobia targeting the internal “Others“ in Europe
The instruments of enforcing the strategy of “governmental xenophobia“, even though being used mostly against foreigners – the migrants, ale also implemented towards another category of minorities, who have been part of European societies for many centuries, living here legally and peacefully: the Roma people. The type of hostility and demonization of that group is...
GPS investigation and right of the target. It intrudes the “privacy“?
Using the new technology such as Global Positioning System (GPS) in criminal investigation poses the problem relating to the target‘s right. This past March, the Japanese Supreme Court‘s grand bench ruled that the collection of GPS data by police threats target‘s “privacy“ and is the mandatory investigation required a warrant because of its unique features...
Homoglobalism: Global Gay Governance
In 2016, the UN appointed an Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), and the World Bank announced the appointment of an advisor on SOGI. Both nominations are part of a wider trend of global institutions beginning to engage with LGBT issues. My paper considers what...
Hyper-legislation and deference to the executive
Two particular features of hyper-legislation are the broad discretion that laws confer on government officials, and the extent to which they authorise officials to make decisions that restrict fundamental rights. These issues pose a challenge for courts, whose role it is to ensure that discretionary powers are exercised lawfully while respecting the mandate of democratically...
Impeachment Procedure in the Korean Constitutional Litigation
Impeachment is procedures of the Congress and Constitutional Court to prosecute, punish or dismiss a government official, such as a senior official in the executive branch or a judge, who is unable to be prosecuted or disciplined under general judicial procedures or disciplinary procedures. It is the system for the protection and maintenance of the...