Giacomo DELLEDONNE

Many see the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law of 1 October 1920 (Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz, B-VG) as the starting point in the emergence of what Victor Ferreres Comella has labelled the ‘European model’ of constitutional adjudication…

Peter BUSSJÄGER

Art. 104 par. 1 of the Constitution of the Principality of Liechtenstein provides, inter alia, that a State Court shall be established to protect the constitutional rights of citizens. According to paragraph 2, the State Court shall also have jurisdiction to determine whether laws are in accordance with the Constitution…

Anna GAMPER

Long before the “invention” of specialized constitutional courts, Alexander Hamilton wrote one of the best-known passages of the Federalist Papers: “[T]he judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution…

Francesco SAITTO

Over the years, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has acquired a pivotal role in Germany and then in the European political order. The final judgement by the FCC in the “Quantitative Easing saga” confirmed the political relevance of the FCC’s role…

Francesco PALERMO

In the course of its century-long life, the Austrian constitution has undergone several transformations, in form and substance. The federal system, however, has been far less dynamic than other areas. The numerous constitutional amendments in this field, and the even more frequent provisions with constitutional rank adopted over time, have constantly adjusted and adapted to specific rules…

Berihun Adugna GEBEYE

Federalism requires at least two tiers of government endowed with a sovereign power on certain matters, a non-unilaterally amendable written constitution with a horizontal and vertical division of power, a representation mechanism of self-rule and shared rule, and an umpire to settle conflicts between the various tiers of government.

Elisabeth ALBER

On Sunday 04 October 2020, in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, out of 180,799 registered voters in the special electoral roll (la liste électorale spéciale pour la consultation sur l’accession de la Nouvelle-Calédonie à la pleine souveraineté), 81,503 said ‘No’ to getting full independence from France…

Harald EBERHARD

The 100th birthday of the Austrian Constitutional Court presents the opportunity to reflect on the creative force of its jurisdiction. Many features of the Court were already part of its predecessor, the “Reichsgericht”, established under the Constitution of December 1867, but have evolved and grown ever since…

Anna GAMPER

One hundred years ago, on 1 October 1920, the constituent National Assembly of Austria passed the Austrian Federal Constitutional Act (Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz, B-VG) which, with some important exceptions, entered into force on 10 November 1920. This was almost two years after the new republic had been founded…

Satang NABANEH

The Gambia’s constitution-drafting process, aimed at ushering in a third Republic, has reached an unfortunate dead-end. More than two years after the constitutional review process began, and after a highly acrimonious and polarised debate in the National Assembly, Parliament, one week ago (on 22 September 2020), rejected the proposed Constitution Promulgation Bill, 2020…

Mirko ĐUKOVIĆ

In this post, Mirko Đuković provides a comparative perspective on threats to free speech, particularly the criminalization of defamation of the state and state symbols.

Vandita KHANNA

A recent Indian High Court judgment holds significant potential to change how anti-discrimination law captures the complexity of discrimination in Indian society. Government policy was to provide financial support to families of deceased employees but expressly excluded married daughters from the list of beneficiaries.

The year 2020 will probably be long remembered as the year that brought some rather dramatic transformations to life as we knew it. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected (and still is affecting) all of us in so many ways…

Marek DOMIN

One of the most serious issues currently confronting Slovakia, except for the global COVID-19 pandemic, is the crisis in the judiciary. In Slovakia, courts have enjoyed extremely low public confidence for a long time. The problem deepened further earlier this year…

Antonios KOUROUTAKIS

The pandemic has disrupted ordinary politics and policies. States, one after another, have relied on emergency frameworks to manage the health exigency. Much ink has been spilled over the risks and the dangers of such emergency provisions.

Stefanía RAINALDI

In 2009, with judgement N° 365/2009 (“the Sabalsagaray judgement”), the Supreme Court of Justice of Uruguay (“the Court”) declared unconstitutional articles 1, 3 and 4 of Law No. 15.848 on the Expiry of Punitive Claims of the State ("the Expiry Law"). The Court held that these provisions violated both the Constitution and international human rights law.

Raghav MENDIRATTA & Shreya TEWARI

The ongoing health pandemic has taken thousands of lives and also weakened freedom of speech, which is the immune system of democracy. COVID-19 has led to the consolidation of authoritarian crackdowns on freedom speech across the world….

Maartje De VISSER

At the same time she announced her withdrawal from public life in 2018, former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor made a passionate plea for “all citizens to understand our Constitution and unique system of government, and participate actively in their communities.” The timing coincided with the halfway mark of Donald Trump’s term in presidency…

Sara Larios HERNÁNDEZ

The Constitution of Guatemala of 1965 was the first in the history of the country and of Latin America to formally introduce a constitutional tribunal as part of its design. However, this was a non-permanent tribunal that would only convene whenever a case within its jurisdiction arose.

Lutfi Chakim

Ten years ago, with the signing of the Jakarta Declaration on 12 July 2010, the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (the AACC) was established. The AACC is an autonomous, independent, and non-political international organization that aims to promote constitutionalism in Asia.