Constitutional Change Through Euro Crisis Law Project Team

Invites you to a Workshop on



Odyssey of a Eurozone country.

Adjudication of postnational law in national (constitutional) courts



by Samo Bardutzky

(University of Kent)



Wednesday 3 June 2015, h. 16.00-17.30, Villa Schifanoia, Sala Triara



Abstract



The paper looks at the decisions of the national (constitutional) courts (of Estonia, Ireland and Germany) that adjudicated on the constitutionality of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). It does so with the aim of critiquing the role of national courts in, speaking more broadly, mechanisms and institutions of postnational/global governance and more narrowly, the emerging governance structures of the Eurozone.

In spite of constitutional concerns over the design of the ESM that were expressed by scholars, the courts rejected the challenges of the ESM’s conformity with the respective national constitutions. The focus of the paper is on the courts measuring the ESM against sovereignty clauses and the clauses that safeguard representative democracy. To accommodate the ESM within the national constitution, the courts had to adopt a certain approach to sovereignty. The claim of the paper is that the courts’ decisions let us recognize the tenets of the ‘precommitment approach’ in their reading of the sovereignty clauses.

The paper uses the arguments from the precommitment debate related to the legitimacy of judicial review to analyze whether the precommitment approach can be validly used in the case of the ESM and national sovereignty and to identify the shortcomings of this approach in this concrete case. In presenting its normative claim built on the analysis of the shortcomings, an alternative reading of sovereignty clauses in similar cases is proposed.



http://www.eui.eu/SeminarsAndEvents/Events/2015/June/OdysseyofaEurozonecountryadjudicationofpostnationallawinnational(constitutional)courtsbySamoBar.aspx



Please register with Rossella Corridori by 29 May 2015

International scouting for tenured positions 2015: expressions of interest. Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa

15.05.2015

The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies is collecting expressions of interest to become part of its tenured faculty in the following Institutes and Areas.

BioRobotics Institute

Biomedical Engineering (level: Associate Professor) in the field of BioRobotics.

Institute of Communication, lnformation and Perception Technologies (TeCIP)

Computer Engineering (level: Associate Professor) in the field of real-time embedded systems, schedulability analysis, real-time applications. Candidates should have a strong expertise on one or more of the following research areas: operating systems, schedulability theory, distributed and multicore embedded.

Institute of Law, Politics and Development (DIRPOLIS)

Applied Legal Theory (level: Full Professor) with special reference to the Rule of Law in the State and Supranational Context.
European politics/comparative politics (level: Full Professor or Associate Professor) with a focus on new challenges to democratic political systems”

Institute of Management

Management (level: Full Professor or Associate Professor) with particular attention to one or more of the following areas: healthcare management, innovation management, sustainability management.
Knowledge of Italian language is not required, ability to teach in English is mandatory. The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies guarantees equal gender opportunities in the recruitment and career and welcomes applications from women.

Also guarantees that all applications will be processed confidentially.

Candidates are invited to express their interest by sending an email to rettore@sssup.it and are required to attach their curriculum vitae, a brief description of their teaching and research activity and to explain why they are interested in this call.

The deadline is: July 8, 2015
For further information about the positions, applicants can refer to the website www.sssup.it/internationalscouting, or write to infodocenti@sssup.it

Disclaimer
Please note that this is not yet a job vacancy advertisement. As a result of the received expressions of interest, Scuola will decide whether or not to offer positions, their number and level and the typology of the selection procedure (choice is between public competition pursuant art. 18 Italian Law 240/2010 and direct call pursuant Italian Law 230/2005).

STALS Newsletter May 2015

Dear friends and colleagues,



we are pleased to announce the contents of this STALS newsletter.

STALS Research Paper

G. Vosa, “Delegated or implementing acts? Formal and substantial criteria in the systematic understanding of EU legal acts”, STALS Research Paper 3/2015,

http://www.stals.sssup.it/files/Giuliano%20Vosa%20STALS.pdf

STALS events

4 June 2015

Tempering Power: Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law

http://stals.sssup.it/files/krygier%20seminar.pdf



3-4 June 2015

Prof. Martin Krygier (Visiting Professor at the DIRPOLIS Institute)

"Promoting the Rule of Law after Conflicts and Dictatorship: issues of law, philosophy, politics, and society"

http://stals.sssup.it/files/krygier2.pdf



25 June 2015

"Respect for National Identities in the EU"

http://stals.sssup.it/files/guastaferro.pdf



SSSUP Events



Doctoral Program in Individual Person and Legal Protections

Call for Applications:

http://www.sssup.it/ist_context.jsp?ID_LINK=368&area=199&lang=UK

All the best from Pisa,



the Editors

http://www.stals.sssup.it/editors

May 19th, 2015 Scuola superiore "Sant'Anna", Pisa Esportare la libertà religiosa. Il modello americano nell'arena globale

May 19th, 2015

Scuola superiore "Sant'Anna", Pisa

Esportare la libertà religiosa. Il modello americano nell'arena globale

http://stals.sssup.it/files/annicchino.pdf

MWP Multidisciplinary Research Workshop Series

Lunch Workshop

Seminar Room 2 – Badia Fiesolana

Via dei Roccettini, 9 – San Domenico di Fiesole

Friday 8 May 2015, h. 14.00-16.00

Organiser: Cristina Fasone (EUI, Max Weber Programme)

“Constitutions: How They Change and Evolve Through Institutional Practice”

What role do Constitutions play in national and supranational polities? How do they evolve over time? This workshop aims to discuss, in a comparative and EU perspective, issues like the legitimacy of constitutional amendments and their limits, the actors who drive constitutional change, the constitutional nature of conventions, the relationship between politics and Constitutions and the actual functioning of institutions despite formal rules.

PROGRAMME

(14.00-14.40) Speakers:

Richard Albert (Boston College Law School; Yale University,2015-16) – How Unwritten Constitutional Norms Change Written Constitutions

Thomas Beukers (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; EUI, Law Department) – The Desirability of Constitutional Conventions in the EU: the Case of the Commission Investiture

(14.40-15.10) Discussants:

Tania Groppi (University of Siena, Department of Business and Law)

Paolo Ponzano (EUI, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies)

Giovanni Piccirilli (LUISS Guido Carli, Centre for Parliamentary Studies)

(15.10-16.00) Q&A and debate

Moderator: 

Cristina Fasone

Info: http://www.eui.eu/SeminarsAndEvents/Events/2015/May/MultidisciplinaryResearchWorkshopConstitutionsHowTheyChangeandEvolvethroughInstitutionalPractic.aspx

                                                                                                                             

Brands, Morality and Public Policy: Some Reflections on the Ban on Registration of Controversial Trademarks

Enrico Bonadio 

City University London - The City Law School
March 1, 2015

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review, Vol 19, No 1, 2015 
Abstract:      

Commercial enterprises in several industries are increasingly using aggressive marketing strategies to attract and keep customers. Amongst these strategies, the choice of the “right” brand is obviously key — and trademarks are sometimes chosen that aim at shocking existing and potential customers, especially youngsters.

Yet, attempts to register controversial trademarks are likely to encounter legislative obstacles. Indeed, several international, regional, and national legislations prohibit the registration of scandalous trademarks and, in general, signs that are against morality and public policy.

The paper delves into thorny issues surrounding the registration of these trademarks in several jurisdictions including the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Australia. It argues, in particular, that the bans on registration of such signs are necessary to push brands out of the market that offend the most basic values of our society and the rights of vulnerable groups. This is true even if the prohibition in question does not actually prevent traders from using the unregistered, immoral, or scandalous sign: the ban at issue is indeed still capable of discouraging its use.

The article also highlights the relationship between the ban in question and legislation that protects commercial free speech.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 24

Keywords: Trademarks, morality, order public, commercial free speech

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2587791

The Egyptian Second Republic: The Future of Litigating Islam Before the Supreme Constitutional Court

Adham A. Hashish 

Alexandria University Faculty of Law
June 9, 2013

Berkeley Journal of Middle Eastern & Islamic Law, Volume 5, Issue 1, 4 (2013) 
Abstract:      

This article explores the future of litigating Islam in the Egyptian Second Republic. In particular it discusses the role that the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt can play in paving the way for a pluralistic understanding of Islam after the Arab Spring. While reviewing the constitutionality of the legislation, the Court’s interpretation of the Shari’a Clause and how it will affect the legal system will be vital in defining the relationship between Islam and the state and what role Islam will play in the public sphere. This article explores how litigating Islam before the SCC will reveal a form of governance that is neither secular (as in Turkey) nor theocratic (as in Iran). Rather, it will reveal a civic state with an Islamic identity that is based in Intell-political Islam rather than theo-political Islam.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 47

Keywords: Sharia, Islamic Law, Constitution, Egypt, Arab Spring, Comparative and Foreign Law, Law and Society, Religion Law, Supreme Court, Political Islam

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2587410