Collective memory matters politically. It is closely related to national identity and statehood; it can be used to legitimate a political power by creating a desired image of the past. This explains why states are preoccupied with legal regulation of collective memory prescribing by law what should be remembered and be forgotten. The paper is...
Tag: <span>WEDNESDAY JUNE 27 2018 10:45 AM – 12:15 PM</span>
Reconstitutionalizing Politics in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
The Basic Law of Hong Kong proposes the eventual election of the legislature and chief executive by some form of universal suffrage. Achieving this requires consensus between the political branches in Hong Kong and the legislative body of the People‘s Republic of China. Although not a formal requirement, any democratisation efforts will also need buy-in...
Reconstructing Constitutional theory of Right to life with special reference to Constitution of India
Article 21 of Constitution of India provides, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.“ Obviously, its mandate is both vertical and horizontal. However, it is not clear from its text whether the power of the State to enact the law and lay down procedure...
Reflecting Modern Realities: From Implied Powers to Implied Obligations
The General rules of interpretation contained in Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties do not only apply to treaties; they also apply to the constitutions of International Organizations. This paper argues that a textual application of the VCLT that interprets an IO‘s constitution “in good faith in accordance with the...
Public Law in the Time of Oxymora
“Private identity“, “flexicurity“, “representative democracy“, are but three concept that have recently been qualified as oxymora or paradoxes, ie “figures of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction“. The occurrence of legal oxymora is not new as there are hundreds of mentions by judges in case law across the United States alone. In...
Saved by the Court?
Most of the discourse regarding courts focuses on the debate between traditional and popular constitutionalism. Yet both approaches have faith in a strong political theory. In contrast with the trust in theory, I believe that our knowledge is largely determined by the present reality. That explains why there have been decades of research on high...
Rule of Law and Democratic Legitimacy: Legislative Engagement in National Security
There is a common refrain, in US and UK legal writing, that an assertive exercise of judicial power particularly in matters of national security jeopardizes established institutional arrangements, most especially democratic accountability. When courts take the reins, the legislature loses the incentive to act and provide political/democratic checks on executive power. As the division between...
Religious Identities and the Right to Religious Profession in Indian, Malaysian, and Singaporean Law
India, Malaysia and Singapore recognise constitutional rights to profess, practise and propagate religion. Little attention has been paid so far to the first of these compared to the other two. I explore the concept of profession and argue that the right to profession is logically prior to the other two, because the act of profession...
Social Impact Discrimination: the religious response to the liberal challenge
Religious communities in contemporary liberal democracies experience fundamental norm conflicts, but little is known on how they tackle them. How do religious decision- makers apply religious norms regarding gender and sexual orientation in an age of egalitarianism and liberalism? Bringing qualitative and experimental evidence from Israel and the U.S., this paper identifies a practice of...