Lea Raible and Leah Trueblood: The Swiss System of Referendums and the Impossibility of Direct Democracy
The referendums in the United Kingdom of 2011, 2014, and 2016 have sparked a debate about the merits of direct democracy. In this debate references to the system of referendums … Continue reading
Weekly round-up
This week’s announcements include: Study of Parliament Group circular: Committee of Privileges Inquiry Launched Call for applications, Junior Research Fellowship in Constitutional Law or Constitutional Theory, Trinity College, Oxford University … Continue reading
Thomas Poole: Losing our Religion? Public Law and Brexit
Prerogative is the enemy of the people. This has been settled as matter of law for a very long time. The constitutional settlement of 1688 made a decision for responsible … Continue reading
Ron Levy and Graeme Orr: To Save Democracy, Reform the Law
The US election just passed has made many people wonder about the merits of democracy. If an election can still be won using the dark rhetorics of earlier, troubled times … Continue reading
Stefan Theil: Polycentricity – A Fatal Objection to the Adjudication of Environmental Rights?
In an unprecedented ruling, the Hague District Court has recently compelled the Dutch State to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the Netherlands by 25% by 2020 based on the … Continue reading
Stefan Theil: Constitutions as culture: Two insights from Peter Häberle’s “The rationale of constitutions from a cultural science viewpoint”
Constitutions are the cultural achievement of centuries of historical legal development, an expression of the cultural self-presentation of a people. For all their variety, constitutions seek to set the rules … Continue reading
Stefan Theil: Three insights from Peter Häberle’s “Preambles in the text and context of constitutions”
Preambles are a hallmark of constitutions, and questions regarding their inclusion and content are an important part of the drafting process: a clear majority of the 194 constitutions analysed by … Continue reading
