Prorogation: Constitutional Principle and Law, Fact and Causation
The Prime Minister’s recent announcement that Parliament would be prorogued, thereby severely curtailing the opportunity for parliamentary debate, raises important issues of constitutional principle and law, and also issues concerning...
Playing Hardball with the Queen
The idea of constitutional hardball was introduced to the world by Mark Tushnet. The sport is played when political actors decide the stakes are so high that any lawful action...
Constitutionality of India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019: India’s McCarthyism Moment
In a chilling throwback McCarthyism in the United States, India’s Parliament has passed the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 which will allow the Central government to designate individuals as...
South African Supreme Court of Appeal Confirms Remedy of ‘Constitutional Remedy’ for Homeless People Whose Property is Destroyed by State
On 3 April 2019, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) handed down judgment in the matter of Ngomane & others v City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality & Another...
A Human Rights Act for Queensland
Queensland is soon to be the third Australian jurisdiction with a statutory bill of rights. Earlier this month, the Queensland Labor Government introduced the Human Rights Bill 2018 (Qld) to...
Human Rights, Criminal Law, and Rural and Native Communities in Peru
Recently, the Constitutional Court of Peru issued a judgment in the case 7009-2013-PHC/TC, concerning a writ of habeas corpus in favor of two members of the Tres Islas Native Community,...
Coup, Constitution and the Court: Zimbabwean Constitutional Court whitewashes flawed rigged elections
Today, the Constitutional Court dismissed a legal challenge to Zimbabwe’s presidential elections. In my previous post, I reported on the conduct of the elections and the ensuing military crackdown. Information...
Promoting ‘Gender Ideology’: Constitutional Court of Bulgaria Declares Istanbul Convention Unconstitutional
On July 27 Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court ruled that the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (often called the “Istanbul Convention”) contravenes the...
State Policy or Individual Right: The Recent Development of Environmental Protection in China
In late June 2018, the Chinese State Council released the three-year action plan to ‘win the battle for blue skies‘, which, among other recent legislative and judicial development in environmental...
Coup, Constitution and the Count: Zimbabwe’s Disputed Elections
In November 2017, Robert Mugabe’s 38-year rule ended. At the time, I called this what it was – a coup – though popular among many Zimbabweans who thronged the streets...
Is the restitution of land in the ‘public interest’?
In the wake of public hearings taking place around South Africa concerning the Parliamentary motion to review and amend the compensation provisions for the lawful expropriation of land contained in...
The Fate of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in UK Law After Brexit is Sealed
On Monday in the House of Lords, Lord Pannick withdrew his amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill retaining the EU Charter as part of the UK’s post-Brexit settlement. With this,...
