Satya Prasoon

Editors' Note: This post does not formally form part of the recent Blog Symposium on 'Crisis at the Supreme Court of India?'. However, it may be read as a companion piece to the posts in that Symposium. 

On 7 May 2018, the Supreme Court of India transferred a trial for the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl from Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankot in Punjab.

Simon Otjes & Tom Louwerse

This article was originaly posted on the London School of Economics and Political Science EUROPP Blog on Monday 9 July. You can view the original here.

Do populist parties behave differently from other parties when they enter parliament? Presenting evidence from a study of parties in the Netherlands, Simon Otjes and Tom Louwerse illustrate that both left-wing and right-wing populist parties tend to primarily voice opposition rather than offer policy alternatives.

Cheryl Saunders

In 2017, I participated in discussions about the implications of choosing between major and apparently lesser forms of constitutional change. The occasion was the Melbourne Forum 2017: a joint venture between the intergovernmental democracy assistance organisation International IDEA and the Constitution Transformation Network at Melbourne Law School. The Forum brought together more than 20 constitution building practitioners and scholars from across Asia and the Pacific.

Giuseppe Martinico

If in 2017 the academic community celebrated the Sesquicentennial of the Canadian Confederation, 2018 marks another important anniversary: the twenty years of the seminal reference of the Canadian Supreme Court on secession. On that occasion the Canadian Supreme Court broke a “constitutional taboo”, by treating secession in legal terms.

Michael Riegner

The Inter-American and the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee, the European Union, Germany, India, South Africa, and Brazil all share one common legal feature: They have recognized “access to information” as an individual right since the turn of the millennium.

Andrew Harding

On 10 May 2018 six decades of Malaysia’s dominant-coalition rule since independence in 1957 came to an end in yet another of the unexpected election results that we now have to expect.

Shireen Morris

Indigenous constitutional recognition is not just a symbolic endeavour. It has a practical purpose. Constitutional recognition aims to reform the constitutional relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Australian state, to ensure it is fairer than in the past. 

Michael Henry Yusingco

The Philippines has had three constitutions. The first one was in 1935 which was part of the preparatory process before the granting of independence by the United States in July 1946. The second one was in 1973 which provided the colour of legitimacy to President Ferdinand Marcos’ 14-year dictatorial regime. The third one took effect in 1987 restoring a republican democratic system in the country.

Chaihark Hahm

The current constitution of the Republic of Korea, a product of the historic democratic transition in 1987, has been in force for over three decades. By Korean standards, this is no small feat given that the average lifespan of the nine previous constitutions, counting from the Founding Constitution of 1948, has been a little over four years. The longest was eight years. Perhaps more important than the longevity of the constitutional text may be the fact the constitution is no longer a nominal or decorative document but a normative one that is enforced and “lived” by both the political rulers and citizens.  

Roman Friedrich

The U.S. Supreme Court’s blockbuster case Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U.S. __ (2018) has been decided – unusually early (June 4) given the case’s supposed or initial importance. The two questions before the Court were the following: