In the United Kingdom, fundamental rights and fundamental principles reasoning creates tensions on the frontier between law and politics, particularly between parliamentary legislation and judicial interpretation of statutes. As Lord Hoffman said in Simms ‘[f]undamental rights cannot be overridden by general or ambiguous words’ of a statute’. The problem is that aiming to interpret ‘general...
Tag: <span>WEDNESDAY JUNE 27 2018 10:45 AM – 12:15 PM</span>
Canon construction as an interpretive exercise: A critical perspective
This paper argues that we should look at the project of canon construction as not merely a descriptive, but an interpretive exercise (channeling Dworkin) — and we should think carefully about how matters of experience and perspective (i.e. who is at the table) will shape what counts as canonical, and what cases are part of...
Canon construction and global constitutionalism: The normative challenge
This presentation explores the normative challenges of constructing a canon of comparative constitutional and human rights law and the relationship of that project to the broader theme of global constitutionalism.
CEDAW incorporation and federalism: the role of subnational conflict for the strengthening of women’s rights through an abortion case in Argentina
The paper examines a conflict-centered subnational incorporation model of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), through the lens of an abortion case in Argentina: “Case of L.M.R.“ from the Province of Buenos Aires. This case was brought by feminist organizations to the Human Rights Committee after a 19...
Conscientious Objection in the Context of Compulsory Vaccination (and Beyond)
Conscientious objection and civil disobedience are important concepts that raise fundamental questions about the relationship between individuals and political authority. One of them is the problem of the legal status of (religious or secular) conscientious objection – in legal theory, international law and in national constitutional law. A good opportunity to analyse the concept of...
Constitutional Amendment Versus Constitutional Change: An Empirical Comparison
The burgeoning empirical literature on constitutional drafting draws a distinction between constitutional amendment and constitutional replacement and, on the assumption that replacement is of greater magnitude and importance than amendment, treats the two as distinct phenomena. However, as an empirical matter, it is unclear whether this distinction is warranted, or whether replacements are in fact...
Constitutional contestation of religion in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka‘s constitutional policy regarding religion affords a ‘foremost place‘ to Buddhism obligating the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, whilst assuring the rights and freedoms of the other religions. By explicitly creating a special status for Buddhism, it has produced the category of “The Other“. This distinction is discriminatory in a pluralistic...
Constitutional Culture and Democracy in Mexico: A Critical View of the 100-Year-Old Mexican Constitution
This year the Mexican Constitution turns 100 years old. The centenary could make us think that in Mexico we have a strong constitutional culture. However, this assumption is wrong, since the strength of a constitutional culture does not depends on the longevity of the Constitution. Constitutional culture is an open and incomplete project of learning,...
Constitutional Inertia and Regime Pluralism in Asia
This paper discusses the fate of constitutional democracy and constitutional authoritarianism in several East Asian regimes.