04 December 2023
Perils and Pitfalls of Israel´s New ´War on Terror´
Over the last weeks, we were forced to realize that the way our – i.e. German – public opinion (and politicians) react to the ruthless assault of Hamas on 7 October differs markedly from the intuitions of the broad public in the Islamic world (and large parts of the ´Global South´ in general). Whereas our media (and speeches of politicians) are full of references to Israel´s right to self-defence, the sentiments voiced on the streets in the Middle East (and publicly stated by politicians such as Turkish President Erdogan) go in the opposite direction, stress the legitimate cause of the Palestinians and term the Hamas as a movement of national liberation. Clearly there is a legitimate cause in the fight of Palestinians against endless occupation. But do ends really justify means, at all price, as the praise for Hamas seems to suggest? A closer look to the normative underpinnings of current international law confirms the intuition that this is more than doubtful, as a thorough analysis of the (intensely debated) provisions on the status of movements of national liberation in IHL tells us. Continue reading >>
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20 October 2023
Moral Absolutism in the Wake of Terrorism
In the light of the terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas against innocent civilians in Israel on October 7th, some contend that “The imperative to protect human dignity only applies absolutely if it applies universally, and it only applies universally if it applies absolutely.” In the face of evil, there is no room for relativism. Hamas’s deliberate attack against innocent civilians is absolutely wrong. Therefore, it should be universally condemned. I agree with the above conclusion. However, I wonder how a universal recognition of an absolute duty of respect for human dignity can help solving the existential conflict confronting Israelis and Palestinians. Ideally, a two-state solution proposed by the international community can be seen as a reasonable and fair compromise. Nevertheless, the reality on the ground is different. This blog post explores the downstream consequences - and hurdles - of moral absolutism in times of war, terror, and existential crisis. Continue reading >>01 October 2023
False Hope for Democracy in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnia & Herzegovina (B&H) is notoriously hard to govern. Scarred from a bloody war in the 1990s after the collapse of Yugoslavia, the country’s constitutional order emerged in international peace talks in the United States. What later became famous as the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) might have stopped the war but, in our opinion, sowed the seeds for complex democratic problems today. As we will show in this text, the ECtHR’s judgments represent a false hope for democracy in B&H, because ethnopolitical parties in B&H will not agree on how to implement the ECtHR’s judgments and the Office of the High Representative will not take a more active role in this context. We therefore argue against an earlier contribution on this blog by Woelk (2023), who suggested that the solution for the implementation of the ECtHR’s judgments should come from within the country, as we will show, ethnopolitical actors do not have a real interest in implementing these judgments. To put it bluntly, change from within is, alas, pie in the sky. It is much more likely that nothing changes and the powers that are remain the powers that will be. Continue reading >>20 December 2022
Judicial scrutiny and EU Sanctions against individuals
On February 21, the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU adopted sanctions against five individuals linked to the “so-called elections” in Crimea. Two days later, following Russia’s deployment of troops to the Donbas region of Ukraine, the EU adopted a far-reaching sanctions package that, inter alia, expanded the list of sanctioned individuals to include all 351 members of the Russian Duma and 27 others. This post considers EU law on sanctions against individuals and how it has been applied in response to the war in Ukraine. Continue reading >>
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20 December 2022
Санкції ЄС-Україна: чи настав час поглибити співпрацю?
Європейський Союз намагається вирішити питання війни Росії з Україною різними шляхами. Всього декілька прикладів: ЄС виділяє додаткові кошти на підтримку України, країни-члени надсилають зброю та військове спорядження, Брюссель очолює міжнародну кампанію з притягнення до відповідальності російських воєнних злочинців, і останнє, але не менш важливе – ЄС запровадив найбільший в історії пакет санкцій, щоб зашкодити Росії вести агресивну війну. Continue reading >>
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19 December 2022
Чи вбʼє війна Росії верховенство права в Україні та Європі?
Життєздатність верховенства права в Україні, Європі, а також у Росії чи будь-де у світі, може витримати навіть насильницький натиск там, де люди готові боротися за інститути та практику верховенства права, іноді з великим ризиком для себе. Якщо всі волелюбні країни будуть підтримувати одна одну повним і глибоким співробітництвом для просування миру, демократії, прав людини та верховенства права на всіх рівнях, як це робить ЄС з Україною протягом десятиліть, верховенство права, демократія та права людини будуть постійно зміцнюватися і давати людям все більше можливостей процвітати в умовах миру, безпеки та людської гідності. Continue reading >>
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19 December 2022
Will Russia’s War Kill the Rule of Law in Ukraine and Europe?
The vibrancy of the rule of law in Ukraine, Europe, and for that matter in Russia or anywhere in the world, can survive even violent onslaught, wherever people are willing to fight for rule of law institutions and practices, sometimes at great risk to themselves. If all freedom loving countries support one another with full and deep cooperation to promote peace, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law at all levels, as the EU has done with Ukraine for decades, the rule of law, democracy and human rights will continuously strengthen and increasingly enable people to thrive in conditions of peace, security and human dignity. Continue reading >>13 June 2022
Serbia on Hold
Since 3 April 2022, when elections at all levels were held, Serbia has been on hold. Two months after the elections, only the President of Serbia has begun to serve his regular mandate, while the official results of the parliamentary elections are yet to be proclaimed, the new composition of the National Assembly is yet to be convened, and the new government is yet to be formed. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which occurred at the beginning of the election campaign, added to the already tense political situation. Continue reading >>
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05 May 2022
Democracy Under Total War
Ukraine is engaged in an existential war for survival. One need not accept the full role of the exception from Carl Schmitt to acknowledge that the struggle to withstand a brutal assault on civilians transcends all other issues. Ukrainian constitutional law recognizes the need for exceptional powers during a state of emergency, as does every other constitutional order whether expressly or tacitly. Necessarily, a war for survival shifts authority from parliament to the executive and many of the founding principles of democracy may be suspended during the emergency, even such defining features of democracy as popular selection of the government. Continue reading >>
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