May 06, 2018

Report: An African Judicial Network: Building Community, Delivering Justice

May 06, 2018/ Tom Daly

Tom Gerald Daly

In September 2017 I was engaged by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (‘African Court’) to propose a design for an African Judicial Network, to create a platform for formal collaboration between courts and other judicial bodies across the African Union (AU). The African Court has now permitted the final version of the report to be made public. Titled ‘An African Judicial Network: Building Community, Delivering Justice’ (December 2017), it can be accessed on the website of the Constitution Transformation Network (ConTransNet) at Melbourne Law School.

April 28, 2018

The Perils of Semi-Presidentialism? The Collapse of Cohabitation and the Design of Executive Power in Sri Lanka

April 28, 2018/ Tom Daly

Asanga Welikala

The government of national unity, formed in 2015 promising major reforms in a new constitution, has now all but ended. Only a fragment of the promised reforms was enacted, and there is now no hope for any further. With only stagnation between crises in prospect, the weaknesses of the compromise reforms made to the semi-presidential system in 2015 are increasingly exposed.

April 27, 2018

Five Strategies for Increasing Women’s Influence in Constitution Making

April 27, 2018/ Tom Daly

Nanako Tamaru

Women’s participation in peace and security processes is vital for lasting peace. This message has been echoed again and again by the international community and expressed through UN Security Council Resolutions, the Sustainable Development Goals, and countless other declarations and strategic plans. Yet, despite this global consensus, women have remained marginalized in most peace and transition processes to date and constitution-building processes are no exception.

April 20, 2018

A New Hope for South Africa? – The Fall of Zuma

April 20, 2018/ Tom Daly

Tshepang Edwin Makwati

On the 14th of February 2018 President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma resigned, having been recalled by his party, the African National Congress (ANC) and with an impeachment hanging over his head. He was caught in a political checkmate of his scandalous tenure. The episode demonstrated that the South African Constitution has proven to be a potent weapon in the hands of the courts against despotism, corruption, state capture and everything undesirable in a constitutional democracy.

April 18, 2018

Pakistan's Disqualification Doctrine and Nawaz Sharif

April 18, 2018/ Tom Daly

Sadaf Aziz

The July 2017 removal of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, continues to be at the center of debates concerning the strength of anti-democratic establishment forces (e.g. the military) and the future of democracy in Pakistan. With a recent review upholding Sharif’s lifetime disqualification just months before the end of this government’s tenure, concerns have arisen on what implications this has on a free and fair election scheduled for this summer.

March 29, 2018

Legislation as a Method of Constitutional Reform: An Alternative to Formal Amendment?

March 29, 2018/ Tom Daly

Lael K. Weis

A striking feature of current debates about constitutional reform in Australia is the evident interest in exploring legislative alternatives to formal amendment. Although this may be explained by the historically low success rate of referendums, the fact remains that ordinary legislation can’t change the text of the Constitution: only an amendment can do that. So in what sense is legislation an alternative to formal amendment?

March 28, 2018

Administrative Discretion: A Comparative Analysis

March 28, 2018/ Tom Daly

Marcelo Figuereido

Administrative discretion is critical in administrative process. Two foundational principles guiding a democratic government are transparency and accountability. The actions of public authorities therefore are viewed through the prism of rule of law in general and fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution in particular.

March 20, 2018

Symposium: New Belgian Gender Recognition Act: shouldn’t self-determination also include non-binary people?

March 20, 2018/ Tom Daly

Pieter Cannoot

The new Belgian Gender Recognition Act (GRA) entered into force on 1 January 2018. The Act was welcomed by many trans people, activists and other experts. It enabled trans people to apply for legal gender recognition on the basis of self-determination, not pathologizing conditions. The impact of the Act has been overwhelming: in many municipalities the number of applications in January 2018 was much higher than in the whole of 2017.

March 12, 2018

Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples: A Fundamental Right?

March 12, 2018/ Tom Daly

Konstantin Gerber

The objective of this blog post is to encompass some experiences from Latin America and Africa on free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).

February 13, 2018

Symposium: The Politics of Recognition and Emancipation Through Law

February 13, 2018/ Tom Daly

Grietje Baars

There is much to celebrate about the BVerfG decision. Intersex erasure is a serious issue, and 2017 could go down in history as the year intersex reached a tipping point of visibility: supermodel Hanne Gaby Odiele came out as intersex in the US Teen Vogue, generally intersex activism is being noticed by the media around the world, and now Vanja has won the Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG).

2018 Posts