Andreas Fischer-Lescano

Warum der Rechtsextremist Jens Maier nicht wieder Richter werden darf

Unvorstellbar. Jens Maier – von 2017-2021 Bundestagsabgeordneter der AfD, selbsternannter „kleiner Höcke“, Breivik-Versteher und nach der Einschätzung des sächsischen Verfassungsschutzes Rechtsextremist – will zurück ins Richteramt in Sachsen. Continue reading >>

Bianca Selejan-Gutan

Who’s Afraid of the „Big Bad Court”?

The end of 2021 brought a new chapter in the saga of how should the primacy of the EU law be applied by Romanian courts. A press release of the Romanian Constitutional Court, issued on 23 December 2021, raised concerns about the conformity with the principles set forth in the case law of the CJEU regarding the primacy. The press release, albeit a non-legal document, might have a dissuasive effect upon the judges who would be, otherwise, willing to disapply some norms of internal law, according to the latest judgment of the CJEU on the matter. In Romania, the disregard of the decisions of the Constitutional Court can be a ground for disciplinary action against judges. Continue reading >>

Iris Goldner Lang

Pushbacks against the Child’s Best Interests

The lack of a functional EU-level legal framework, designed for high immigration numbers, contributed to increasing recourse to practices of dissuading migrants away from the EU territory. This did not leave the European Court of Human Rights indifferent and it decided to give a legal green light to pushbacks under certain conditions. The Court applies its jurisprudence equally to all individuals and in all situations. In doing so, however, it violates the principle of the child’s best interests. A more nuanced approach should be taken, guaranteeing special protection to children, in accordance with the principle of the child’s best interests. Continue reading >>

Mathias Hong

Die Corona-Triage und das Verbot der Diskriminierung wegen der Behinderung als Schutzpflicht

Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hat entschieden, dass Art. 3 III 2 GG gesetzliche Vorkehrungen zum Schutz behinderter Menschen vor Diskriminierung bei einer Corona-Triage verlangt. Vor allem stellt die Entscheidung klar, dass Art. 3 III 2 GG, wie alle Grundrechte, auch objektive Wertentscheidung und Schutzauftrag ist – ein Schutzauftrag, der sich zu einer gesetzgeberischen Schutzpflicht verdichten kann. Continue reading >>

Roman Lehner

Problem erkannt, Problem gebannt?

Der Gesetzgeber soll das Unregelbare regeln. Jedenfalls partiell. Mit seiner Triage-Entscheidung hat der Erste Senat des Bundesverfassungsgerichts der Legislative aufgegeben, Vorkehrungen zum Schutz vor Benachteiligungen Behinderter im Rahmen überlastungsbedingter intensivmedizinischer Behandlungstriagierungen zu treffen. Continue reading >>

Richard Martin

Illiberal Britain

The right to peaceful protest in England and Wales is under graver threat than first feared. On 24 November 2021, new amendments were introduced to the already highly controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (PCSC) in the House of Lords. These are jaw-dropping measures that will expand police stop and search powers, increase restrictions on peaceful protests, create new criminal offences and banning orders, and expand delegated powers. What follows is a brief attempt to make sense of these illiberal proposals. If enacted, they will have severe implications for how the law strikes the balance between rights of protestors and the wider community. But even if not, their very proposal, and the means of legislating for them, are further evidence of a government with distaste, if not hostility, for constitutional norms of debate, scrutiny, and accountability inside and outside of Parliament. Continue reading >>

Lola Avril, Emilia Korkea-aho

The EU and its ‘Exes’

In September 2021, MEPs voted in favour of a new EU Ethics body to oversee movements of personnel between the public and the private sector and proposed an interinstitutional agreement to this end. Replacing the current Independent Ethical Committee, the new body would be responsible for proposing and advising Commissioners, MEPs and staff of the institutions on ethics rules. The new Ethics Body, however, is not the regulatory unicorn many are hoping for. The gaps and ineffectiveness of EU policies to address revolving door moves stem from a limited understanding of the issue, which in turn is a result of lack of research and interest. The EU cannot devise better policies unless more is known about the phenomenon. Continue reading >>

Paolo Sandro

Constitutional Democracy and The Sound of (Academic) Silence

Many constitutions, and the liberal values that permeate them, constitute the reaction to the mass atrocities, often in the face of academic silence (if not full-blown endorsement). Therefore, a constitutional law scholar that does not denounce attempts to subvert the constitutional order as such is actually sacrificing the pursuit of legal knowledge at the altar of a misguided – and historically damned – attempt at ‘neutrality’. The sound of academic silence, in the face of constitutional regression, is deafening. Continue reading >>

Vladimir Bogoeski

Essential, and yet on the Margins

On 7 December 2021, the coalition parties of the recently inaugurated German government signed the Coalition Agreement. While the Agreement’s proposals regarding work and industrial relations have already been praised and criticised by unions and researchers, this post will address the Government’s plans with respect to seasonal (migrant) workers in agriculture, a topic that experienced increased public exposure since the onset of the pandemic. I argue that if the new Government intends to take the ‘essential worker’ label of seasonal migrant farmworkers seriously, it needs to go beyond the relatively modest ambitions expressed in the Agreement. Continue reading >>