-
Spain as a Democratic State Governed by the Rule of Law and the Catalan Secessionist Process Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2024-04-02 Juan María Bilbao Ubillos
This work begins by recalling the characteristic features of the political system and model of territorial division of power established in the 1978 Spanish Constitution after a complicated but successful process of transition to democracy. Spain was constituted as a politically decentralized, social and democratic state governed by the rule of law, a compromise solution between the centralist tradition
-
Public International Law and the Catalan Secession Process Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2024-03-21
Abstract This article briefly identifies the aspects of public international law related to the Catalan secession process, bearing in mind that Spain is a constitutional social and democratic state governed by the rule of law and a member of both the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE). Over 6 years ago, on 27 October 2017, the regional Catalan Parliament proclaimed the independence
-
Populist Jurisprudence? Examining Selected Case Law of the Polish Constitutional Court After 2016 Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 Michał Stambulski
Since the parliamentary elections in 2015 and the subsequent change in the personal composition of the Polish Constitutional Court, this institution is in crisis. The Court, once one of the main guardians of the rule of law and a model for the constitutional judiciary in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, is criticized. Judges are accused of lack of proper appointment and party subordination
-
Reclaiming Political Rights During a Rule of Law Crisis: The Role of the UN Human Rights Committee Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2024-03-06 Jessica Almqvist
How should democratic states approach and respond to secessionist movements using tactics contrary to the constitution to achieve their goals? What is the role of international human rights mechanisms in these processes? This article sheds light on these questions by examining how the UN Human Rights Committee approached and assessed two complaints that came before it in the wake of the Catalan Declaration
-
The European Union’s Response to the Catalan Secessionist Process Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2024-03-06
Abstract Article 4.2 TEU enshrines the EU’s respect for the exclusive right of each Member State to ensure its territorial integrity. No EU Member State allows referendums for part of the population to decide on the national territory. The Commission and European Council have recognized that the effect of a secession in a Member State is to leave the new state outside the EU. Whether or not European
-
Informal Concentration of Powers in Illiberal Constitutionalism: The Case of Hungary Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2024-03-06 Zoltán Pozsár-Szentmiklósy
Classic and new concepts of the separation of powers doctrine focus on the control of central political power. Institutional checks and balances are classic legal instruments of this control, especially the activity of independent state organs. In those countries where the political system is dominated by a populist government, the institutional checks and balances and independent institutions are
-
International and European Institutions and Catalan Nationalism Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2024-02-29 Rafael Arenas García
The exercise of public power by substate entities poses a challenge for international law. Although such entities lack international legal personality, their actions can have international significance and, because they are state organs, must always adhere to the international obligations assumed by the state. In Spain, the autonomous communities exercise broad powers, which, in the case of Catalonia
-
Private Power, the Rule of Law and the European Union Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-11-14 Jacquelyn Veraldi
Discussions related to the rule of law in the European Union have been dominated by a focus on rule of law infringements by public actors. However, in recent years scholars have begun exploring the relevance of the rule of law to private actors. That is the focus of this piece, which highlights that, because the core of the rule of law is about limiting the arbitrary exercise of power by those that
-
Amnesties, Transitional Justice and the Rule of Law Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-11-03 Patrick Lenta
The aim of this paper is to assess an objection to amnesties conferred in transitional justice contexts: that they violate the rule of law. The paper begins by setting out the objection and presenting three possible replies to it. Each is argued to be unsatisfactory. The central contention of the paper, namely that the success of the objection depends on amnesties’ terms and the reasons for which they
-
EU Responses to the Democratic Deficit and the Rule of Law Crisis: Is It Time for a (New) European Exceptionalism? Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-08-14 Roila Mavrouli, Arnaud Van Waeyenberge
The European 'messianic' project was not particularly concerned with democracy or human rights, but rather sought 'legitimacy' in the nobility of its cause. However, when failure struck during the Euro-crisis, many sources of legitimacy suddenly collapsed. Similarly, failure struck the rule of law principle, demonstrating its precariousness and weak source of legitimation. The strong waves of de-europeanisation
-
A Primacy of Privileges? Urban Constitutionalism, the Rule of Law and Late Medieval Bruges Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-08-03 Niels Fieremans
This article explores the possibilities and limits of urban constitutionalism and its relation to the rule of law for fifteenth century Bruges. Late medieval Bruges was a city of great prominence where several important trade flows came together. Providing adequate justice was a top priority for the aldermen. Scholars have traditionally stressed the importance of privileges in providing this security
-
The Scope of City Autonomy in the Constitutions of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom: Informality, Subsidiarity, Identity Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-07-31 Gert Jan A. Geertjes
One of the main issues in the debate on urban constitutionalism is how constitutions can recognize the increasingly important role of cities in relation to the nation-state. This paper examines what we talk about when we talk about city autonomy. This is a pressing question, particularly in the context of European unitary states. This paper pays special attention to the context of two of such states
-
Rule of Law Through the ‘Urban Turn’ in South African Constitutionalism Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-07-31 Marius Pieterse
The 1996 South African Constitution transformed municipalities from creatures of statute into an interdependent sphere of government, thereby enabling South African cities to carve out a space for autonomous urban governance, which is closely associated with the progressive realisation of socio-economic rights. This article considers how South African courts have deployed, reconfigured and channelled
-
The Rule of Law in Cities of the Medieval Low Countries: Community-Building in Context Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-07-25 D. De ruysscher
Urban communities were established in the twelfth and thirteenth century with the aid of legal concepts that comprised early notions of the rule of law. Cities were envisaged as “communes”, which referred to popular sovereignty. In a first period, urban citizenship was flexible and closely related to place of residence. From around 1220 this model came under increasing pressure. In order to safeguard
-
Urban Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Challenges Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-07-25 M. Adams, D. De Ruysscher, M. L. P. Groenleer, G. Leenknegt, G. van der Schyff
The 21st century may safely be called the ‘urban era’. The year 2007 marked the moment when for the first time in modern history, over 50% of the world’s population lived in urban areas. By the year 2050 almost 70% of humanity is projected to be urban, i.e., a human settlement with usually a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. While the role of large cities, metropolitan
-
Was There a Rule of Law in Early Modern Amsterdam? Mercantile Customary Law as a Test Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-07-24 Marco in ‘t Veld
This contribution intends to shed light on the development of the rule of law, particularly by questioning the existence of such rule of law in early modern Amsterdam. In literature, thinner and thicker definitions are given, mostly presented as a continuum. This contribution will focus on mercantile customary law as it is a legal source that hardly fits in the literature-based categories. The importance
-
Fixing the Problem of Unlawfully Appointed Judges in Poland in the Light of the ECHR Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-07-05 Marcin Szwed
This article seeks to answer the question of how to deal with the problem of unlawful judicial appointments in Poland in a way consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). According to the Polish Constitution, appointments of judges are made upon the request of the National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ). After controversial reforms in 2017, this body lost its independence from politicians
-
Market-Engaging Institutions: The Rule of Law, Resilience and Responsiveness in an Era of Institutional Flux Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-04-24 Nandini Ramanujam, Francesca Farrington
-
Maritime Rule of Law: Some Preliminaries Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-03-15 Michael Sevel
Can there be rule of law at sea? In extending the traditionally terrene ideal seaward, there are a range of conceptual difficulties. These difficulties are outlined, and a recurring thought pattern is set out that is found in the traditions of thought about the rule of law as protecting members of a community from the abuse of power. Drawing on Jeremy Bentham’s scattered remarks about maritime governance
-
Academic Freedom as a Defensive Right Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2023-01-09 Monika Stachowiak-Kudła, Sina Westa, Catarina Santos Botelho, Ildikó Bartha
-
The Rule of Law as a Constitutional Mandate for the EU Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-12-08 Werner Schroeder
The rule of law and the other values contained in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (Art 2 TEU) comprise the constitutional identity of the European Union (Union). These values form part of the Union’s very foundation. Art 3(1) and (6) TEU, in conjunction with Art 2 TEU, declare the Union’s aim to promote and pursue the rule of law as one of its core values. These provisions indicate that the
-
The Court of Justice of the European Union in the Case Law of the Polish Constitutional Court: The Current Breakdown in View of Polish Constitutional Jurisprudence Pre-2016 Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-12-05 Agnieszka Sołtys
The current crisis in the relationship between the Polish Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) is of crucial significance for the process of regional integration based on the values of liberal democracy taking place in the EU. The constitutional crisis in Poland that began in the end of 2015 has challenged the systemic position of the Polish Constitutional Court
-
Playbook of Subnational Illiberalism: Autocrats Face the Opposition-led Local Governments Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-11-21 Mariam Begadze
Recognizing the growing tensions between autocrats in the center and opposition-led local governments in Hungary, Poland and Turkey since 2018–2019 local elections, the article contributes to existing literature on illiberal democracies with a subnational portion of illiberal playbook. Tactics identified through the detailed study of the European context and brief review of Latin American experience
-
Enforcement of a Formal Conception of the Rule of Law as a Potential Way Forward to Address Backsliding: Hungary as a Case Study Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-11-09 Petra Bárd, Viktor Zoltán Kazai
The rule of law as a foundational value of European integration has been taken for granted in the Member States, along the presumption that “once a democracy, always a democracy”. This optimistic presumption proved to be wrong, when in the 2010s a top-down and systemic decline in the rule of law started, first in Hungary, then in Poland. Even though EU action against rule of law backsliding in the
-
The Systemic Implications of the Supranational Legal Order for the Practice of the Rule of Law Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-11-09 Barbara Grabowska-Moroz
-
Triangulation of Theoretical and Empirical Conceptualizations Related to the Rule of Law Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-11-03 Filip Horák, David Lacko
-
The Rule of Law in a State of Disaster: Evaluating Standards for the Promulgation, Administration and Enforcement of Emergency Regulations in South Africa Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-09-26 Felix Dube
This paper applies the rule of law test to emergency regulations adopted to combat a national disaster in South Africa. A declaration of a national state of disaster, such as a pandemic, triggers emergency powers which enable the executive to mitigate the disaster, assist and protect the public, provide relief, and protect property. However, emergency powers provide a pretext for the executive to limit
-
Form and Flexibility: The Normalisation of ‘Magnitsky Sanctions’ in the Face of the Rule of Law Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-07-25 Lorenzo Pasculli, Ben Stanford
So-called ‘Magnitsky laws’ in various jurisdictions are turning unilateral sanctions into normalised instruments for the international promotion of the rule of law. However, the considerable regulatory and executive flexibility introduced by these laws is at strain with the fundamental requirements of the rule of law, both domestically and internationally. Despite a growing literature on sanctions
-
The Challenge of Catalan Secessionism to the European Model of the Rule of Law Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-07-12 Gisela Hernández, Carlos Closa
Far from being an abstract concept, international, European, and Spanish legal orders clearly conceptualize “rule of law”. Catalan secessionism, appealing to the democratic principle, challenged the common understanding of rule of law in the period between 2012 and 2017. This article offers a detailed explanation on how secessionism fundamentally disregarded the common understandings of the rule of
-
Gender Inequality and the Rule of Law Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-07-11 Eduardo Barajas-Sandoval, Helena Botero-Pinzón, Juan Carlos Botero, Angela Maria Pinzón-Rondón, Angela Maria Ruiz-Sternberg
-
The Rule of Law as a Well-Established and Well-Defined Principle of EU Law Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-06-28 Laurent Pech
-
Re-Imagining Customary Justice Systems: Interrogating Past Assumptions and Entertaining New Ones Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-06-20 Erica Harper, Yann Colliou
In the early 2000s, the justice community of practice began to examine the role of customary justice systems in advancing development. This triggered a wave of research by policy and programming agencies, aimed at crafting a narrative for engagement and identifying entry points. The decades of programming that followed closely reflected these research outcomes. This paper revisits this research by
-
It Never Rains but it Pours. The Polish Constitutional Tribunal Declares the European Convention on Human Rights Unconstitutional Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-06-04 Adam Ploszka
This article deals with a new development in the jurisprudence of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal: the Tribunal’s finding that art. 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is incompatible to some extent with the Polish Constitution. The Tribunal ruled thus for the first time in its judgment of 24 November 2021 in case ref. K 6/21 in a reaction to the European Court of Human Rights judgment in
-
Reconciling the Theory and the Practice of the Rule of Law in the European Union Measuring the Rule of Law Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-04-13 Julinda Beqiraj, Lucy Moxham
-
EU Enlargement in Disregard of the Rule of Law: A Way Forward Following the Unsuccessful Dispute Settlement Between Croatia and Slovenia and the Name Change of Macedonia Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-03-28 Elena Basheska
EU enlargement has always been a political process. That said, the rule of law is an important aspect and principle of the EU enlargement policy. Implementation of EU driven reforms in candidate countries largely depends on the rule of law-based enlargement as well as on a clear EU perspective. Overpoliticisation of the enlargement process renders the EU’s enlargement law futile and undermines both
-
COVID-19, The Rule of Law and Democracy. Analysis of Legal Responses to a Global Health Crisis Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-03-15 Joelle Grogan
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a severe strain on health systems globally, while simultaneously presenting a social, economic, legal, political, and regulatory challenge. Where the efficacy of pandemic laws adopted by governments are a matter of life and death, the urgency with which action needs to be taken during a pandemic creates a law-making environment which incentivises rapid action without scrutiny
-
Informal Exercise of Power: Undermining Democracy Under the EU’s Radar in Hungary and Poland Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-03-02 Edit Zgut
Hungary and Poland have seen the most widespread erosion of democracy in the European Union since Fidesz and Law and Justice started their authoritarian remaking in 2010 and 2015, respectively. Despite the EU’s introduction of various doctrinal innovations, it could not force these regimes to comply with the core values of the EU. While the literature has focused on the formal violation of the rule
-
Abortion Law and Human Rights in Poland: The Closing of the Jurisprudential Horizon Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-02-16 Marta Bucholc
On 22 October 2020, the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland ruled that an abortion due to foetal impairment was unconstitutional. This article discusses the context of this controversial ruling as well as its main tenets, focusing on the interpretation of the human rights proffered by the Tribunal and on the rule of law concerns raised by the Tribunal’s decision. Against the backdrop of a brief history
-
To Live and to Learn: The EU Commission’s Failure to Recognise Rule of Law Deficiencies in Lithuania Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-01-12 Beatrice Monciunskaite
During the last decade, it has become apparent that the European Union (EU) Commission is failing to halt rule of law decline in Poland and Hungary. However, has the Commission learnt from its experience in handling rule of law decline in these countries? This article suggests that not only has the EU Commission failed to learn the importance of swift action in the face of burgeoning rule of law crises
-
The Bidirectional Relationship Between Academic Freedom and Rule of Law: Hungary, Poland and Russia Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2022-01-09 Nandini Ramanujam, Vishakha Wijenayake
This paper analyses the mutually reinforcing relationship between upholding the Rule of Law and protecting university autonomy. Academic freedom as recognised in international human rights law can be deconstructed into two inter-connected dimensions: an individual right and institutional autonomy. The paper argues that the relationship between institutional autonomy of universities and the Rule of
-
Winds of Change: Comparing the Early Phases of Constitutional Redrafting in Chile and Venezuela Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-11-18 Carlos García Soto, Miguel Ángel Martínez Meucci, Raúl Sánchez Urribarrí
This article compares the early phases of the constitutional redrafting processes in Venezuela (1999) and currently in Chile (2021), seeking to identify key factors that help explain the radical constitutional-redrafting path that was followed in Venezuela, versus the more moderate, consensual and rule-bounded transformation underway in Chile. We pay particular attention to the presence of Hugo Chávez
-
How Political Narratives Affect the Self-Enforcing Nature of Interim Constitutions Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-11-02 Prieto, Marcela, Verdugo, Sergio
This essay seeks to contribute to the literature that asks how interim constitutions can become self-enforcing norms capable of producing a successful constitution-making process. It uses the Chilean constitution-making process as an example to theorize on how the political narratives associated with the November 2019 Agreement, which sets the framework for constitutional change, can influence its
-
Chile’s ‘Procedurally Regulated’ Constitution-Making Process Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-11-02 Couso, Javier
After tracing the social, intellectual, and political origins of Chile’s demand for a new Constitution (which started in circumscribed circles as early as the late 1990s, but got momentum towards the end of the 2000s), this article describes the semi-sovereign democracy established by the Constitution of 1980, a feature designed by its framers to prevent the dismantling of the particularly radical
-
Chile’s New Constitution: What Right to Health? Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-11-02 Arenas Catalán, Eduardo
Chile is a country crossed by economic inequalities. The constitutional process has opened a space to problematize the institutions that reproduce these inequalities. This paper joins into this discussion arguing that a nuanced focus on the right of access to healthcare under international law would fit the future Constitution better. I label this focus ‘nuanced’, in reaction to international law’s
-
Rule of Law and Political Representation Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-11-02 Bello Hutt, Donald
How do the rule of law and political representation relate to each other? I answer this question, hitherto neglected by rule-of-law scholars, taking my cue from Joseph Raz’s revision of his conception of the rule of law and by relying on a distinction between preferences and interests, which pervades discussions of political representation. I argue that political representatives’ attention to their
-
Constitutional Rewrite in Chile: Moving toward a Social and Democratic Rule of Law? Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-11-02 Lisa Hilbink
-
Deepening Democracy? Promises and challenges of Chile’s Road to a New Constitution Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-10-25 Negretto, Gabriel L.
As a response to mass mobilizations against the political and social status quo, a multiparty agreement activated a process to replace the constitution in Chile, three decades after the country’s transition to democracy. I argue that this process has three features that are not only desirable on normative grounds but also shared by successful episodes of constitutional replacement in democratic regimes:
-
Reconstructing Legitimacy After Crisis: The Chilean Path to a New Constitution Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-10-25 Suarez-Cao, Julieta
Social movements have contested the elitist character of Chilean political institutions in the streets for the past two decades. Citizens have distanced themselves from conventional participation, and turnout rates dropped dramatically. Protesting against unequal treatment and demanding “dignity,” the social uprising in 2019 in Chile consisted of massive protests marked by large-scale demonstrations
-
Administrative Law as a Dual State. Authoritarian Elements of Administrative Law Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-05-10 Bas Schotel
Scholars have recently shown how in Europe regimes in democratic decay (e.g. Poland, Hungary) take all sorts of measures targeting and marginalizing political opponents. Although they are authoritarian by nature, the measures are cast in a legal form. According to some scholars this kind of authoritarian rule of law can be best understood as a dual state, namely a combination of the normative state
-
European Judicial Supervision of the Rule of Law: The Protection of the Independence of National Judges by the CJEU and the ECtHR Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-05-03 Ivana Jelić, Dimitrios Kapetanakis
While an independent judiciary is considered an indispensable component of the rule of law, attacks of the domestic political power on the independence of the judicial branch are observed today in several European States. The European judges (CJUE, ECtHR) appear to be the “last soldier standing” in the defense of judicial independence and they have in no case remained indifferent. This contribution
-
The Rule of Law Conditionality Under Regulation No 2092/2020—Is it all About the Money? Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-04-13 Justyna Łacny
Some say that the Union is built by moving from crisis to crisis. Crises in the last decade which affected the Union and its citizens concerned, inter alia, public finance (the financial crisis, 2008), migration (2014), public health (the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020) and the rule of law crisis (2018). This paper focus on the latter. It has been noted that some Member States have been happy to receive the
-
Achmea versus the Rule of Law: CJEU’s Dogmatic Dismissal of Investors’ Rights in Backsliding Member States of the European Union Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-03-29 Dimitry Vladimirovich Kochenov, Nikos Lavranos
We demonstrate that the CJEU’s Achmea judgment has resulted in significantly more damage beyond the termination of intra-EU BITs. It made the application of EU law difficult, if not impossible. Indeed, it has opened the floodgate to deficient judicial protection in the face of structural backsliding of the rule of law in some EU Member States. While the motives of the CJEU and by extension the European
-
Poland’s Rule of Law Breakdown: A Five-Year Assessment of EU’s (In)Action Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-03-24 Laurent Pech, Patryk Wachowiec, Dariusz Mazur
To reinstate what amounts to a “Soviet-style justice system”, Polish authorities have repeatedly and deliberately violated the Polish Constitution and EU law. Rather than comprehensively detailing these repeated violations, this article focuses on the EU dimension of Poland’s rule of law breakdown. Using the activation of the Rule of Law Framework by the European Commission on 13 January 2016 as a
-
The Rule of Law and the Rule of Men: History, Legacy, Obscurity Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2021-01-07 Julian Sempill
The distinction between “the rule of law” and “the rule of men” is still in use, after more than two and a half thousand years. It is well known that Aristotle’s aphorism extols government according to institutionalized impersonal rules and condemns government by personal fiat. However, the formulation has another dimension that, during the course of the modern era, has gradually been obscured: Aristotle
-
The EU Rule of Law Initiative Towards the Western Balkans Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2020-11-18 Andi Hoxhaj
The EU adopted a new enlargement strategy for the Western Balkans countries in 2018, provided a time frame for Serbia and Montenegro potentially to join the Union by 2025, and outlined the next steps for accession for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and North Macedonia. In March 2020, the EU gave the green light to the opening of accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania, and also introduced
-
Evaluating ‘Life Steeped in Power’: Non-Domination, the Rule of Law and Spatial Restrictions for Irregular Migrants Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2020-10-12 Lieneke Slingenberg
Irregular migrants in Europe are increasingly subjected to state coercion, surveillance and spatial restrictions, such as containment, dispersal and forced transfers. Lawyers usually evaluate such practices in the light of human rights law, which only provides limited protection. For this reason, I propose an alternative normative framework to evaluate and assess coercive state practices towards irregular
-
Disciplinary Proceedings as an Instrument for Breaking the Rule of Law in Poland Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2020-10-07 Katarzyna Gajda-Roszczynialska, Krystian Markiewicz
This article advances the thesis that disciplinary proceedings may constitute a tool for breaking the rule of law in Poland. In 2017, as part of a package of legal changes to the judiciary, a disciplinary system was created in Poland to ensure that judges were subservient to the political will of the authorities. From the beginning, new disciplinary officers appointed by the Minister of Justice (the
-
The Clash of Powers in Poland’s Rule of Law Crisis: Tools of Attack and Self-Defense Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2020-08-19 Marcin Matczak
Many people must be wondering how it is possible that Poland, not so long ago hailed for its exemplary transition from a communist dictatorship to a liberal democracy, could have so swiftly descended into authoritarianism via a crisis in the rule of law. The majority of commentators point to the size and ferocity of the attack on those mechanisms meant to safeguard the rule of law, whereas few focus
-
The Best of Both Worlds or the Worst of Both Worlds? Multilateral Development Banks, Immunities and Accountability to Rights-Holders Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2020-04-06 Gamze Erdem Türkelli
Multilateral development banks (MDBs) are accorded immunities and privileges as agents of their member states as justified by functionalist arguments. They are also operationally hybrid: they are actors in their own right in addition to being functional agents. Navigating the functionalist imagery and relying on the argument that they are delegated purely economic pursuits (i.e. financing economic
-
‘Striking Back’ and ‘Clamping Down’ in South Africa: Responding to Adverse Judicial Decisions Under Systems of Parliamentary Sovereignty and Constitutional Supremacy Hague J. Rule Law (IF 1.682) Pub Date : 2020-03-25 Isabeau Steytler
In their article ‘Striking Back’ and ‘Clamping down’: An Alternative Perspective on Judicial Review, Carol Harlow and Richard Rawlings consider the ways in which an executive may respond to judicial decisions which find against it. They organize such responses or ‘tactics’ into ‘striking back’ according to which the executive attempts to nullify the effect of the judgment, and ‘clamping down’ in terms