Local governments in China are resisting and distorting the rights revolution in national law, at the core of which lies the imposition of constraints on those governments‘ eminent domain power. Meanwhile, facing national legislative gridlock, local governments experiment with such initiatives as granting farmers land development rights. Why are Chinese local governments simultaneously endangering the...
Tag: <span>TUESDAY JUNE 26 2018 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM</span>
Free Speech, Free Finance, and the Anti-Entrenchment Principle
I examine how governments use their “power of the purse“ to limit speech critical of their policies. An increasingly popular justification is that since government represents the people, and its policies are chosen by “the people,“ it is under no obligation to finance such views. Current free speech doctrine does not address such arguments successfully,...
Freedom of Expression in Taiwan
The Constitutional Court‘s reliance on American theories does not necessarily guarantee free speech at a higher protection level since the Court often appears insensitive to not only a future of innovative communication technology but also the country‘s authoritarian past. With regard to the freedom of the media, the majority failed to pay particular attention to...
From Institutional Interaction to Institutional Integration: The National Supervisory Commission and China‘s New Anti-corruption Model
How does the establishment of the National Supervisory Commission affect China‘s capacity to curb corruption? Using published materials and fieldwork data, this article addresses this question by comparing the newly established single anti-corruption agency with the previous dual-track anti-corruption system. It firstly examines the previous system by focusing on four dimensions of the interaction between...
From Political Constitution to Staatscrecht
Since 2008, China‘s constitutional scholarship has brought the controversy between political constitutionalism and normative constitutionalism. China‘s political constitutionalism has its unique social background, which is influenced by Britain‘s political constitution. However, there is not a lot of consensus within Chinese political constitutional scholarship;and, there is a different theoretical background from UK. Although China also adopts...
Gender Segregation in Public Places: Religious Accommodation or Sex Discrimination?
The Ultra-orthodox (UO) Jewish community in Israel is a highly religious group that comprises 8% of the population and abides by strict modesty standards that call for the separation between men and women in many settings. In order to facilitate the integration of the community in the public sphere Israeli authorities have in the last...
Governance of Data and Data Flows in Trade Agreements
The US has developed an evolutionary regulatory design for digital trade via its free trade agreements, with the (later abandoned) Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement as the most advanced model. This approach contrasts with the digital trade strategies of the EU and China which remain outside the remit of the TPP. What are the prospects for...
Impunity and public law in India: Lessons for challenging constitutional retrogression in liberal democracies
Focusing on India, I analyse long-running friction between the national and state governments over their constitutional powers to investigate abuses by the military. The national government argues that states cannot inquire into unlawful violence by soldiers. The Manipur government demurs, citing its duty to manage public protest against the military‘s misdeeds. I also look at...
Inaccessible Rights: The Unrealised Potential of the Bulgarian Constitutional Court
The current Bulgarian Constitution, adopted after the fall of communism, introduced a Constitutional Court entitled to centralised judicial review. This unprecedented institution was declared guardian of the fundamental rights entrenched in the new constitution. However, individual citizens were not granted direct access to this court. Moreover, its review powers were subjected to considerable procedural and...