Colin HARVEY

The island of Ireland is likely to be heading towards concurrent referendums on its constitutional future in the next decade. Although the outcome of the recent Irish general election has attracted global attention (the electoral success of Sinn Féin in particular), it is Brexit that has prompted intensified interest in Irish reunification. One jurisdiction is now outside the EU, and the other is still a Member State…

Welcome to Our New Team Member, Thenu Herath

Today we say farewell to our outgoing Content and Comms Assistant, Steph Brenker, and welcome new team member, Thenu Herath.

David KENNY

Whereas support in Northern Ireland for a united Ireland is modest at present, support for the prospect of unification in the Republic of Ireland (southern Ireland) is relatively robust. A recent general election exit poll showed 57% of voters in favour of a border poll within the next five years.

Brice DICKSON

Assuming that a border poll occurs, and that the vote in both parts of Ireland is in favour of unification, what might unionists in Northern Ireland want to see happen in order to reduce the fears they might have of living in the new State?

Brendan O’LEARY

The specific future is never known, though possible futures can be mapped. In voting for Irish reunification in a future referendum, Northern Irish voters will expressly seek to terminate UK sovereignty in and over any part of Ireland and its territorial waters.

Aditendra SINGH

In 2019, two seminal cases dealing with the constitutionality of anti-sodomy laws were handed down by the High Courts in Kenya and Botswana. Respectively, these were EG vs. Attorney General (May 24th, 2019 – Kenya), and Letsweletse Motshidiemang vs. Attorney General (June 11th, 2019 – Botswana). While the Kenyan High Court upheld the anti-sodomy laws, the Botswanan High Court struck them down.

Hoitsimolimo MUTLOKWA

The issue of land ownership is of central concern to post-colonial African nations. South Africa is currently considering dramatic reforms to its laws on this issue, including a constitutional amendment. It is not yet clear whether the drafted amendments will pass…

Oran DOYLE

International law, UK law, and Irish law adopt the same substantive position on Irish unification: it requires the consent of a majority of people in both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland. However, they approach the question from different perspectives and with subtly different emphases. In this post, I explore the issue from the perspective of Irish law to identify what unification processes would be legally effective in Ireland.

Elisa ARCIONI & Rayner THWAITES

On Tuesday 11 February 2020, the Australian High Court delivered its much-anticipated decision in Love v Commonwealth of Australia; Thoms v Commonwealth of Australia [2020] HCA 3. At issue was whether Aboriginal Australians, born overseas, without the statutory status of Australian citizenship and owing foreign allegiance … were ‘aliens’ within the meaning of s 51(xix) of the Australian Constitution.

Colin MURRAY

The Northern Ireland Act 1998, a statute passed by the Westminster Parliament, implements the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA) within UK law. It declares that Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom and shall not cease to be so without the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland voting in a referendum…

Aoife O’DONOGHUE

As international law is the arbiter of statehood one would be forgiven for imagining that it delineates the pathways for new/(re)unified/breakaway states. The reality is different.

Tom Gerald DALY

Latest Global Research Update Just Issued

The first Global Research Update on the global platform Democratic Decay & Renewal (DEM-DEC) for 2020 is now available here, covering late December 2019 to early February 2020. In each Update I write an editorial on key themes to help users to navigate the Update, and to provide some limited commentary, especially on very recent research.

Oran DOYLE

The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA)—the agreement between the parties in Northern Ireland and the related international treaty between the British and Irish Governments that was central to the peace settlement in 1998—built a new model of power-sharing politics on the foundation of a territorial compromise.

Today we launch our first Blog Symposium of 2020, on the potential unification of the island of Ireland, which until recently seemed a distant prospect. Designed by Guest Editor Prof. Oran Doyle, the Symposium will aim to think through the constitutional implications of unification, with sections devoted to processes, substantive issues, and external perspectives ... The full publication schedule is provided at the end of this post.

Welcome to 2020: Already a Landmark Year

A meme doing the rounds right now says: “January was a long year, but we made it.” Certainly, with 2020 a mere 5 weeks old we have already witnessed two era-defining constitutional moments…