On the 8th of October, Turkey marked a grim milestone: 200 days of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul and the opposition’s most promising challenger to President Erdoğan, behind bars – without an indictment. His absence from the campaign trail is no accident. Four days after his detention, on 23 March, İmamoğlu swept the Republican People’s Party’s presidential primaries, securing a record of 15 million votes and cementing his role as the central figure of... Mehr

The Hungarian play script of infringements on academic freedom under the Orbán-regime provides useful junctures on how academic freedom can be both captured and conceptualized. I speak from first-hand experience. As I have chronicled before, I was fired from one university for political reasons; laid off from another after it was forced into exile; and have been working at an institution that has been renamed five times, reorganized, and put under continuous existential pressure since... Mehr

Exxon, as well as many other fossil fuel producers, knew about the dangers of human-caused global warming and that their products were responsible since at least the 1970s. Instead of working to prevent harm, the fossil fuel industry worked alongside trade associations, public relations firms, and “merchants of doubt” to deny the very existence of global warming, which may be the greatest achievement in the history of the creation of ignorance. This damage and deception... Mehr

6 October 2020 marked an important milestone for academic freedom protection in the EU. On this day, the European Court of Justice delivered its judgment in the so-called Lex CEU case (C‑66/18), the only case to date to discuss academic freedom. Arising from infringement proceedings against Hungary over its new higher education law, the judgment clarified that Article 13 CFR protects both the individual and institutional dimensions of academic freedom – and confirmed that EU... Mehr

The old adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is prevailing in 2025 Berlin foreign policy circles, where an antagonistic history with leading Republicans is making way for a shared disdain of the Trump administration. The US architects of the 2003 Iraq War and “war on terror” under President George W. Bush were once synonymous with the breakdown of the Transatlantic Alliance and post-War international order. No longer, with Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Ambassador... Mehr

The revelation that Hungarian intelligence officers allegedly operated within EU institutional premises under the watch of the current EU Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi, who at the time served as Hungary’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, poses an unprecedented challenge to the Union’s constitutional framework. According to investigations published in January 2025 by the Hungarian journalistic collective Direkt36, in collaboration with the German Der Spiegel, the Austrian Der Standard, and the Belgian De Tijd, approximately six officers from Hungary’s... Mehr

Die Existenzsicherung nicht nur geflüchteter Menschen sorgt immer wieder für politische Kontroversen. Jüngstes Beispiel sind vorgesehene Kürzungen im SGB II. Auch die Gesundheitsversorgung von Leistungsberechtigten nach AsylbLG ist politisch umstritten. Dies liegt nicht nur am Gesetz, sondern auch an der Gesetzesausführung. Bei der Ausführung des Asylbewerberleistungsgesetzes (AsylbLG) erteilen Leistungsbehörden häufig sogenannte „Behandlungsscheine“ und machen von diesen teilweise einzelne Besuche bei Ärzt*innen abhängig. Dabei hat das Bundessozialgericht klargestellt, dass die Inanspruchnahme von Gesundheitsleistungen nicht von einer... Mehr

Jonathan F. Harris noted that labour law is a field that encompasses a wide range of the laws of work. Indeed, the laws of work – and the broad category of “labour rights” – rest on several legal foundations. These include those established in human rights instruments, those arising from contracts of employment, those set in collective agreements, and those embedded in labour-protective legislation, among others. While these foundations may overlap and meet each other,... Mehr

In the name of academic freedom, copyright in scientific works is entrusted to their researcher-authors. However, academics are strongly incentivized to publish their works in proprietary subscription journals, access to which universities and other research institutions are obliged to pay. Where research and access are publicly funded, the result is a controversial transfer of public funds to private publishers. The Open Access movement attempts to push back by encouraging or requiring researchers to release copyright... Mehr

In light of prevalent nationalist populism, what type of strategic litigation against the meat and dairy industry is likely to be most transformative? Activists formulating their strategy need to consider the interrelated questions of what interests to highlight, whom to sue, and what legal norms to invoke, whilst being aware that nationalist populists will try to use any judgement to their advantage. This contribution demonstrates that a multitude of options exist, and posits that, to... Mehr

Academic freedom and freedom of scientific research are enshrined in Article 13 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. For the longest time, however, this Charter article received practically no or very little attention in both scholarship and EU institutional and jurisprudential practice. Inattentiveness on academic freedom was also prevalent in the European Higher Education Area for a long time, but this changed since the mid 2010s, and in 2021 a Working Group on Fundamental... Mehr

The current policy of the German government toward Afghan human rights defenders, local staff, and other refugees who hold German admission commitments is – literally and legally – a crime. This is the conclusion of a legal opinion prepared in July by attorney (and former Verfassungsblog editor) Robert Brockhaus for Pro Asyl and the Patenschaftsnetzwerk Ortskräfte e.V. The legal opinion finds that politicians and officials actively or passively expose people who have waited months for... Mehr

Die aktuelle Politik der Bundesregierung gegenüber afghanischen Menschenrechtler*innen, Ortskräften und anderen Geflüchteten mit deutscher Aufnahmezusage ist – ganz buchstäblich und im juristischen Sinne – ein Verbrechen. Zu diesem Schluss kommt ein Rechtsgutachten, das der Rechtsanwalt (und frühere Verfassungsblog-Redakteur) Robert Brockhaus im Juli für Pro Asyl und das Patenschaftsnetzwerk Ortskräfte e.V. erstellt hat. Die verantwortlichen Politiker*innen und Beamt*innen liefern diese Menschen nach Monaten des Wartens auf ein Visum in der pakistanischen Hauptstadt Islamabad aktiv oder passiv der Verhaftung und... Mehr

Increasingly, the climate impact of our diet is being recognised. The uncomfortable knowledge that the contents of our dinners can affect planetary health makes the issue of mitigating these emissions contentious, particularly with regard to our consumption of animal products. The role law has historically played and is still playing in creating the current levels of livestock production is often displaced in this debate – instead, we often focus on individual consumer choice or the perceived responsibility... Mehr

Eine umstrittene Parteispende an die Berliner CDU war der Anstoß für ein wegweisendes Urteil des VG Berlin (Urteil der 2. Kammer vom 30. September 2025 – VG 2 K 78/24). Zwar ist die politische Partei „DIE PARTEI“ mit einer Klage gescheitert, mit der sie die Bundestagsverwaltung verpflichten wollte, die CDU wegen des Verstoßes gegen ein Spendenannahmeverbot zu sanktionieren. Das Berliner Verwaltungsgericht hat im Ergebnis entschieden, dass der Berliner Landesverband der CDU zwei umstrittene Spenden in... Mehr

Am 12. September hat das VG Stuttgart mit einer einstweiligen Anordnung sogar überregional für mediale Aufmerksamkeit gesorgt (siehe hier, hier und hier): Darin gab es dem Eilantrag eines Kreistagsmitglieds der Heilbronner AfD-Fraktion statt und erklärte den pauschalen Ausschluss von AfD-Vorschlägen für die Wahl ehrenamtlicher Richter gem. § 28 VwGO für unzulässig (VG Stuttgart, 5. Kammer, Beschluss vom 12.09.2025 – 5 K 8212/25). Teilweise wurde kritisiert, das Gericht habe der AfD damit den Weg zu ehrenamtlichen Richterstellen geebnet, und die AfD... Mehr

In 1933, H. G. Wells imagined a world of the future in his novel The Shape of Things to Come. Set in 2106, it foresaw a transformed global society shaped by technological progress and shifting ideologies. Nearly a century later, we find ourselves at another juncture – one marked not by speculative fiction, but by real and urgent questions about the shape of our food systems and their impact on the planet, animals, and ourselves. This... Mehr

von SVENJA BONNECKE Das Gutachten OC-32/25 des Interamerikanischen Gerichtshofs zeigt, dass auch unverbindliche Klimaentscheidungen auf internationaler Ebene etwas bewegen können. Sie führt das Recht auf ein sicheres Klima als Menschenrecht ein. Sie anerkennt die Natur als Rechtssubjekt und verpflichtet Staaten zum Umweltschutz. Trotz fehlender Bindungswirkung hat sie Potenzial, nationale Rechtsprechung zu prägen, insbesondere durch den...... Mehr

France often takes pride in calling itself a Republic. Invoking the Republic has even become a political mantra, repeated across the entire political spectrum, from the far left to the far right. Yet the sheer frequency of these references has emptied the term of much of its meaning. The reactions to Nicolas Sarkozy’s conviction suggest that many journalists, politicians, and citizens still struggle to grasp what it truly means to be “republican”1). Although the judgment... Mehr

The EU’s sanctions framework is meant to work in two steps: unanimity for decisions defining the Union’s approach to “a particular matter of a geographical or thematic nature” under Article 29 TEU, and qualified majority voting for the necessary measures implementing these decisions under Article 215 TFEU. In reality, the two steps are collapsed into one, which magnifies the leverage of a single veto. Hungary’s repeated use of that leverage has become emblematic of a seemingly dysfunctional... Mehr

In the course of his ongoing trade war against the rest of the world, US President Trump announced the imposition a base tariff of 35 or even 39 % on all Swiss products imported into the USA. In order to persuade the US to lower this tariff, Swiss politicians and diplomats briefly contemplated liberalising the importation of US beef (which is currently levied with a Swiss tariff of 22 Swiss Francs per kilo and which is... Mehr

In a wearyingly familiar recurrence, parts of the U.S. government shut down last week after Congress failed to approve funding for the new fiscal year. Though bewildering to foreign observers (and many Americans), these government closures reflect important features of the U.S. system of checks and balances. In that sense, they are a sign of constitutional strength rather than weakness, yet this shutdown, like other recent funding lapses, also shows that acute partisan divisions are... Mehr

At the heart of recent American upheavals lies a question the resonance of which extends far beyond the United States: What becomes of a constitutional democracy when faith in civic order gives way to a violence that mimics sacrificial politics? The killing of Charlie Kirk, the surge of Christian nationalist movements, and the willingness of power to mobilize state violence against “enemies within” mark a critical turning point – one that forces jurists and political... Mehr

For decades, the global community has grappled with the increasingly urgent need for an equitable transition away from fossil fuels – achieving some, but inadequate, progress. Today, there is growing recognition that meat and other animal products, particularly from the industrial systems that enable high levels of meat consumption, also have far-reaching environmental, public health, and social impacts. This industry will need to transform on a similar time frame in order to achieve climate and... Mehr

The European Parliament and the Commission are revising a Framework Agreement governing their mutual relationship. First introduced in 2005, the Agreement sets out how the two institutions intend to manage affairs within the context of their EU treaty-based interdependence. The revised Framework Agreement was agreed on 9 September and has since been formally accepted by the Commission. It now meanders through Parliament for final endorsement. Here I look at the background to the new accord, summarise... Mehr

von Leon Röser An increasing number of competition authorities are investigating sustainability agreements between businesses. While the EU Commission has been open to these kind of agreements in recent years, questions arise as to whether this trend will continue and whether the private sector’s sustainability ambitions will remain privileged. Another concern is whether these investigations will...... Mehr

On 5 August 2025, the Cameroonian Constitutional Council upheld a Resolution made by Cameroon’s elections management body to exclude opposition leader Maurice Kamto from the presidential election scheduled for 12 October 2025. The decision effectively eliminates the strongest opposition contender from the race. This places further strains on the future of the democratic experiment in Cameroon, where the second longest serving African leader, President Paul Biya, is set to run for an eighth presidential term... Mehr

Teil 5 unseres Schulungsvideos für Polizist*innen: Das wichtigste nochmal zusammengefasst Was ist Whistleblowing und was bedeutet es für die Polizei? Welche rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen gibt es? Und wie sind Hinweisgeber*innen rechtlich geschützt? In diesem fünfteiligen Schulungsvideo erklärt Laura Kuttler, Juristin und Projektkoordinatorin von "Mach Meldung! Starke Stimmen für die Polizei", alles, was Polizist*innen wissen müssen, wenn sie Missstände melden wollen. Teil 1: Whistleblowing in der Polizei, ein Überblick Teil 2: Das neue Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz Teil 3: Fallbeispiele... Mehr

Teil 4 unseres Schulungsvideos für Polizist*innen: Was passiert nach der Meldung? Was ist Whistleblowing und was bedeutet es für die Polizei? Welche rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen gibt es? Und wie sind Hinweisgeber*innen rechtlich geschützt? In diesem fünfteiligen Schulungsvideo erklärt Laura Kuttler, Juristin und Projektkoordinatorin von "Mach Meldung! Starke Stimmen für die Polizei", alles, was Polizist*innen wissen müssen, wenn sie Missstände melden wollen. Teil 1: Whistleblowing in der Polizei, ein Überblick Teil 2: Das neue Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz Teil 3:... Mehr

Teil 3 unseres Schulungsvideos für Polizist*innen: Fallbeispiele aus der Praxis Was ist Whistleblowing und was bedeutet es für die Polizei? Welche rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen gibt es? Und wie sind Hinweisgeber*innen rechtlich geschützt? In diesem fünfteiligen Schulungsvideo erklärt Laura Kuttler, Juristin und Projektkoordinatorin von "Mach Meldung! Starke Stimmen für die Polizei", alles, was Polizist*innen wissen müssen, wenn sie Missstände melden wollen. Teil 1: Whistleblowing in der Polizei, ein Überblick Teil 2: Das neue Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz Teil 3: Fallbeispiele... Mehr