20 July 2021
Does Where You (Legally) Stand Depend On Where You Sit?
On July 8, 2021, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the petitions challenging Basic Law: Israel as the Nation of the Jewish People, enacted almost three years earlier. The so-called Hasson decision not only raises important questions about the relationship between legal and political struggles, it also calls into question the constitutional foundations of equality and democracy. Continue reading >>
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26 October 2020
Women, Rape Law and the Illusory Sex Equality Clause in the Bangladeshi Constitution
Earlier in October, a video of a group of men attacking, stripping, and sexually assaulting a woman went viral in Bangladesh. Incidents of rape and sexual assaults like this are a window into understanding the state of sex-based inequality in a given society. The laws, however, must be taken into account as well, particularly if they reflect an essential male perspective and are written in gender-insensitive terms. I will explain below that in case of Bangladesh, sex-based inequality gets revealed when an illusory sex-equality clause of Bangladesh Constitution intersects with the country’s crippled commitment to the Women Convention, and sex-based inequality gets manifested through the retention of colonial-era substantive and procedural legal framework. Continue reading >>19 July 2020
Undercutting Internet Governance in Brazil
On June 30, 2020, the Brazilian Senate approved Draft Bill No. 2.630 of 2020, also known as “The Fake News Bill”. This bill applies to internet platforms with over 2 million users and seeks to address the warranted concerns presented by the recent spread of online disinformation and defamatory content. As it currently stands, the bill does little to address the individuals and organizations who finance the spread of fake news across social media platforms in Brazil. It also poses threats to user privacy, access to the internet, and freedom of association. Continue reading >>
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29 April 2020
With Exclusive Competence Comes Great Responsibility
The European Commission supports the Covid-19 crisis-fighting measures through generous exemptions to its EU state aid rules. Although in principle justified, this policy also gives companies in rich member states an immense advantage over their competitors in poorer member states. Until more effective burden-sharing on the EU level is forthcoming, the onus is on European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager to ensure a fair distribution of state aid between the member states. Continue reading >>24 April 2020
It’s not about Bathroom Policies, it’s about Constitutional Principles
The United States Supreme Court is expected to soon deliver its judgment in the first transgender rights case before it. In the absence of federal laws protecting transgender persons from discrimination, the case revolves around the question whether the prohibition of discrimination ‘because of … sex’ transgender discrimination. The US Supreme Court appears to turn this into a question of political deliberation, bathroom policies and dress codes. The ECJ, on the other hand, instead of getting lost in policy discussions, has already in 1996 recognized the protection of transgender persons against discrimination based on the core constitutional principle of equality. The ECJ’s approach does in fact have a foothold under US case law and the US Supreme Court could seize the opportunity to bring transgender persons closer to enjoying the same rights as the general population. Continue reading >>
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15 April 2020
How to protect the Vulnerable?
In the Corona crisis, balancing between containment measures and the protection of fundamental rights becomes even more pressing with respect to vulnerable groups, especially in view of proposals aiming at restricting curfews to high-risk populations. Over-emphasizing their need for protection bears the risk of disregarding their rights and autonomy and one-sidedly imposing paternalistic measures in order to urge a solution and alleviate economic consequences. Continue reading >>
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20 December 2019
Citizenship by Religion
India is presently witnessing a country-wide mass uprising against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which purposefully aims to grant migrants belonging to six enlisted communities an easy path to Indian citizenship, while denying the same to others – notably Muslims. This Act is unconstitutional as it exploits deliberate omissions on citizenship rules in the constitution while it ignores the constitutional design which is fundamentally based on equality and secularism. Continue reading >>
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03 October 2019
A Judicial Path to Nowhere?
On 25 September 2019, the Constitutional Court of Latvia opened a case on the constitutionality of several provisions regarding pre-school education for minorities. The complainants are not likely to succeed with their appeal, though, as the Constitutional Court has so far used the country’s Soviet history as well as Latvia’s cultural identity as arguments to uphold the restriction of minority rights. Continue reading >>
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07 July 2019
FIFA for Women or Women for FIFA? The Inherent Tensions of FIFA’s Women’s Football Strategy
How does FIFA purport to address and overcome its historical and ongoing record of institutional disregard for, and discrimination against, women? Its primary weapon appears to be the recently adopted Women’s Football Strategy, designed to “empower the organisation to take further concrete steps to address the historic shortfalls in resources and representation, while advocating for a global stand against gender discrimination through playing football”. This may seem an ambitious compound goal, seeking to advance gender equality within FIFA, football and beyond. But what promise does the Women’s Football Strategy actually hold in this regard? Continue reading >>
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09 November 2018
Israel’s Nation-State Law – What Now for Equality, Self-Determination, and Social Solidarity?
The enactment of Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People on July 19th, 2018, triggered an intense public debate, not only in Israel. But what are the implications of this law? In particular, how is it likely to affect minorities, the right of Israel’s Arab-Palestinian minority to internal self-determination, and the possible development of all-encompassing social solidarity in Israel? Continue reading >>
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