In this article we examine the Dutch emergency legislation for local democracy. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands, the Temporary Act for digital meetings for local/regional government tiers was enacted. The legislature introduced a system of digital debate and decision-making for municipal and provincial councils, the democratically elected assemblies at the local and regional levels. At the same time the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations set up an evaluation committee to monitor and evaluate the working of the local and provincial governments with this temporary legislation. |
Search result: 231 articles
Human Rights Practice Review |
Poland |
Journal | East European Yearbook on Human Rights, Issue 1 2020 |
Authors | Vita Czepek and Jakub Czepek |
Author's information |
Article |
Digital Equals PublicAssembly Meetings Under a Lockdown Regime |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2020 |
Keywords | COVID-19 regulation, temporary legislation, sunset clauses, digitalization, digital democracy, local democracy, experimental legislation |
Authors | Lianne van Kalken and Evert Stamhuis |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Article |
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Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2020 |
Keywords | coronavirus, emergency law, emergency powers, autocratization, democratic deconsolidation, state of emergency, rule of law, transparency, accountability, legislative scrutiny |
Authors | Joelle Grogan |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The measures taken in response to the coronavirus pandemic have been among the most restrictive in contemporary history, and have raised concerns from the perspective of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Building on a study of the legal measures taken in response to pandemic in 74 countries, this article considers the central question of the use of power during an emergency: is it better or worse for democracy and the rule of law to declare an emergency or, instead, to rely on ordinary powers and legislative frameworks? The article then considers whether the use of powers (ordinary or emergency) in response to the pandemic emergency has ultimately been a cause, or catalyst of, further democratic deconsolidation. It concludes on a note of optimism: an emerging best practice of governmental response reliant on public trust bolstered by rationalized and transparent decision-making and the capacity to adapt, change and reform measures and policies. |
Article |
Emergency Measures in Response to the Coronavirus Crisis and Parliamentary Oversight in the EU Member States |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2020 |
Keywords | states of emergency, parliamentary oversight, health crisis, Covid-19, European Union Member States |
Authors | Maria Diaz Crego and Silvia Kotanidis |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The Covid-19 pandemic has become a true stress test for the legal systems of the worst hit countries. Faced with a health crisis situation, many national governments have become the protagonists in the adoption of difficult measures severely restricting their citizens fundamental rights to the detriment of the powers usually entrusted to the national parliaments. This article examines the normative response of the 27 European Union Member States during the “first wave” of the Covid-19 pandemic, a period that runs from the declaration of a pandemic (March 2020) to mid-June 2020. The intention of the authors was to describe the legal and constitutional mechanisms activated in order to contain the pandemic, focusing on the role of national parliaments in the management of the crisis. This article explores also the degree to which national parliaments have been involved and could exercise parliamentary oversight over the normative measures used by the executive to contain the pandemic in the EU-27. |
Article |
Governments as Covid-19 Lawmakers in France, Italy and SpainContinuity or Discontinuity |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2020 |
Keywords | Covid-19, emergency legislation, executive lawmaking, parliaments, decree-laws and ordinances |
Authors | Elena Griglio |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Executive dominance in Covid-19 lawmaking has been a major trend worldwide. Governments have leveraged emergency prerogatives to boost their legislative powers, often sidelining the role of parliaments. The impact of executive lawmaking on fundamental liberties has been unprecedented. However, government’s capacity to exercise full legislative powers is not absolutely new to many European countries. |
Article |
Legislative Scrutiny in Times of EmergencyA Case Study of Australian Parliaments |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2020 |
Keywords | legislative scrutiny, sunset clauses, emergency laws, virtual parliament, parliamentary committee, trust |
Authors | Hon Kate Doust MLC and Mr Sam Hastings |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Citizens’ trust in Australian governments and parliaments has fallen in recent years, yet trust is critical for governments to do their job effectively and attack challenging issues. The coronavirus pandemic provides an opportunity for governments and parliaments to bridge the gap between citizens’ expectations and parliamentary and government performance and therefore rebuild trust. In doing so, parliaments need to balance their desire for speedy action with proportionate measures and mechanisms for review. |
Article |
Does the Fight Against the Pandemic Risk Centralizing Power in Pakistan? |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2020 |
Keywords | PTI government, 18th amendment, 1973 Constitution, lockdown, economic impact |
Authors | David A. Thirlby |
AbstractAuthor's information |
When the pandemic struck Pakistan, there was a high-profile divergence between how the federal government and the provincial government of Sindh responded. This points to a tension between the need for a national approach to tackle the pandemic and the prerogative of the provinces to deal with health issues under its devolved powers. These powers were the result of the 18th amendment, which restored a parliamentary federal democracy. Power has also been decentralized from executive presidents to parliamentary forms of government. However, parliamentary systems centralize power within the executive: a trend which the pandemic has reinforced. The article will explore the various interplays although it is the economic landscape which will prove most challenging. Although the emergence of a national centralized approach to combat the pandemic points to a weakening of the devolution process and therefore the reasoning behind the 18th amendment, the situation is more complex which this article seeks to explore. |
Article |
Patience, LadiesGender-Sensitive Parliamentary Responses in a Time of Crisis |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2020 |
Keywords | gender sensitivity, parliament, responsiveness, COVID-19, democracy, women |
Authors | Sonia Palmieri and Sarah Childs |
AbstractAuthor's information |
In early 2020, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, numerous parliaments played their rightful democratic role by following the advice of health and economic experts and swiftly passing emergency legislation and relief packages. This was, in many countries, an attempt to reach an equilibrium between saving lives and saving economic livelihoods, on the understanding that both were in serious jeopardy. In the face of public health measures many parliaments also found themselves having to reform their own rules, procedures and practices. In both cases – policy interventions and institutional redesign – it appears that parliamentary responses to the Covid-19 situation were less commonly based on the advice of gender experts or informed by considerations of gender inequalities. Few, if any, emergency packages were designed following a systematic consideration of existing, deeply entrenched gender inequalities, despite continuous public analysis and commentary about the disproportionate gender impacts of the pandemic and the resulting lockdowns; and no parliaments instituted (temporary) rule changes that prioritized the voices of women parliamentarians or constituents. In this article, which draws on our work drafting the UN Women Covid-19 Parliamentary Primer & Checklist, we revisit the democratic case for gender-sensitive parliaments, highlighting their particular relevance to the 2020 pandemic. We introduce our model for gender-sensitive crisis responses across four key stages of the parliamentary process presented in the Primer – representation, deliberation, legislation and scrutiny – and offer an initial assessment of what transpired in the world’s parliaments based on an IPU survey. We suggest that if parliaments are to be gender-sensitive institutions in times of crisis, they must not only change how they do politics but also develop and sustain a robust political culture that values gender equality and an ethic of caring that supports new rules, procedures and practices that better redress institutional gender deficiencies. |
Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 4 2020 |
Keywords | criminal proceedings, retrial in favour of the convicted, retrial to the disadvantage of the defendant, Germany, judicial errors |
Authors | Michael Lindemann and Fabienne Lienau |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The article presents the status quo of the law of retrial in Germany and gives an overview of the law and practice of the latter in favour of the convicted and to the disadvantage of the defendant. Particularly, the formal and material prerequisites for a successful petition to retry the criminal case are subject to a detailed presentation and evaluation. Because no official statistics are kept regarding successful retrial processes in Germany, the actual number of judicial errors is primarily the subject of more or less well-founded estimates by legal practitioners and journalists. However, there are a few newer empirical studies devoted to different facets of the subject. These studies will be discussed in this article in order to outline the state of empirical research on the legal reality of the retrial procedure. Against this background, the article will ultimately highlight currently discussed reforms and subject these to a critical evaluation as well. The aim of the recent reform efforts is to add a ground for retrial to the disadvantage of the defendant for cases in which new facts or evidence indicate that the acquitted person was guilty. After detailed discussion, the proposal in question is rejected, inter alia for constitutional reasons. |
Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 3 2020 |
Keywords | Roma, Travellers, positive obligations, segregation, culturally adequate accommodation |
Authors | Lilla Farkas and Theodoros Alexandridis |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The article analyses the jurisprudence of international tribunals on the education and housing of Roma and Travellers to understand whether positive obligations can change the hearts and minds of the majority and promote minority identities. Case law on education deals with integration rather than cultural specificities, while in the context of housing it accommodates minority needs. Positive obligations have achieved a higher level of compliance in the latter context by requiring majorities to tolerate the minority way of life in overwhelmingly segregated settings. Conversely, little seems to have changed in education, where legal and institutional reform, as well as a shift in both majority and minority attitudes, would be necessary to dismantle social distance and generate mutual trust. The interlocking factors of accessibility, judicial activism, European politics, expectations of political allegiance and community resources explain jurisprudential developments. The weak justiciability of minority rights, the lack of resources internal to the community and dual identities among the Eastern Roma impede legal claims for culture-specific accommodation in education. Conversely, the protection of minority identity and community ties is of paramount importance in the housing context, subsumed under the right to private and family life. |
Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 3 2020 |
Keywords | Human rights, positive state obligations, islamophobia, international supervisory mechanisms |
Authors | Kristin Henrard |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Islamophobia, like xenophobia, points to deep-seated, ingrained discrimination against a particular group, whose effective enjoyment of fundamental rights is impaired. This in turn triggers the human rights obligations of liberal democratic states, more particularly states’ positive obligations (informed by reasonability considerations) to ensure that fundamental rights are effectively enjoyed, and thus also respected in interpersonal relationships. This article identifies and compares the fault lines in the practice of three international human rights supervisory mechanisms in relation to Islamophobia, namely the Human Rights Committee (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), the European Court of Human Rights (European Convention on Human Rights) and the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The supervisory practice is analysed in two steps: The analysis of each international supervisory mechanism’s jurisprudence, in itself, is followed by the comparison of the fault lines. The latter comparison is structured around the two main strands of strategies that states could adopt in order to counter intolerance: On the one hand, the active promotion of tolerance, inter alia through education, awareness-raising campaigns and the stimulation of intercultural dialogue; on the other, countering acts informed by intolerance, in terms of the prohibition of discrimination (and/or the effective enjoyment of substantive fundamental rights). Having regard to the respective strengths and weaknesses of the supervisory practice of these three international supervisory mechanisms, the article concludes with some overarching recommendations. |
Article |
The Windrush ScandalA Review of Citizenship, Belonging and Justice in the United Kingdom |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 3 2020 |
Keywords | Windrush generation, statelessness, right to nationality, genocide, apologetic UK Human Rights Act Preamble |
Authors | Namitasha Goring, Beverley Beckford and Simone Bowman |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article points out that the UK Human Rights Act, 1998 does not have a clear provision guaranteeing a person’s right to a nationality. Instead, this right is buried in the European Court of Human Rights decisions of Smirnova v Russia, 2003 and Alpeyeva and Dzhalagoniya v. Russia, 2018. In these cases, the Court stretched the scope of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, 1953 on non-interference with private life by public authorities to extend to nationality. The humanitarian crisis arising from the Windrush Scandal was caused by the UK Government’s decision to destroy the Windrush Generation’s landing cards in the full knowledge that for many these slips of paper were the only evidence of their legitimate arrival in Britain between 1948 and 1971. |
Notes from the field |
Developments in the use of restorative justice for hate crime |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 3 2020 |
Authors | Mark Walters |
Author's information |
Article |
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Journal | Netherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy, Issue 2 2020 |
Keywords | Freedom of speech, Separation of powers, Criminal law, Hate speech, Legal certainty |
Authors | Jip Stam |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article contains a critical review of the provisions in the Dutch penal code regarding group defamation and hate speech. It is argued that not only these provisions themselves but also their application by the Dutch supreme court, constitutes a problem for the legitimacy and functioning of representative democracy. This is due to the tendency of the supreme court to employ special constraints for offensive, hateful or discriminatory speech by politicians. Because such a special constraint is not provided or even implied by the legislator, the jurisprudence of the supreme court is likely to end up in judicial overreach and therefore constitutes a potential – if not actual – breach in the separation of powers. In order to forestall these consequences, the protection of particularly political speech should be improved, primarily by a revision of the articles 137c and 137d of the Dutch penal code or the extension of parliamentary immunity. |
Article |
The Development of Human Rights Diplomacy Since the Establishment of the UNMore Actors, More Efficiency? |
Journal | Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, Issue 1 2020 |
Keywords | human rights, diplomacy, international organizations, NGOs, corporate social responsibility |
Authors | István Lakatos |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This study gives a comprehensive picture of the development of human rights diplomacy since the establishment of the UN, focusing on the dilemmas governments are facing regarding their human-rights-related decisions and demonstrating the changes that occurred during the post-Cold War period, both in respect of the tools and participants in this field. Special attention is given to the role of international organizations, and in particular to the UN in this process, and the new human rights challenges the international community must address in order to maintain the relevance of human rights diplomacy. |
Article |
European Citizens’ Initiatives for the Protection and Promotion of Rights and Interests of National MinoritiesLatest Developments |
Journal | Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, Issue 1 2020 |
Keywords | European Citizens’ Initiative, national minorities, Minority SafePack, cohesion policy, participatory democracy |
Authors | Balázs Tárnok |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This paper examines the latest developments in the two minority-related European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECI), the Minority SafePack Initiative and the Cohesion Policy Initiative (ECI on National Minority Regions). A key theoretical question of this paper is whether the ECI can be seen as an effective tool for the protection and promotion of the rights and interests of national minorities in the EU. The paper presents the most recent judgments of the General Court and the CJEU related to these ECIs. The Courts made important statements in terms of the admissibility criteria of ECIs, as well the possibility to propose EU legislation aiming to increase the protection of persons belonging to national and linguistic minorities. The paper also investigates the experiences of the signature collection campaign of the Cohesion Policy Initiative and the current status of the Minority SafePack Initiative in the examination phase. Finally, the paper aims to set up a prognosis on the future of these ECIs, taking into consideration the Commission’s latest proposal on the extension of the ECI deadlines. |
Editorial |
Parliamentary Scrutiny of Law Reform in Recently Established Constitutional Democracies and in the Commonwealth Sphere |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 2 2020 |
Authors | Enrico Albanesi and Jonathan Teasdale |
AbstractAuthor's information |
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Article |
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Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 2 2020 |
Keywords | Parliament of Albania, law reform, Standing Committees, European Integration, Council on the Legislation, National Council for European Integration, Committee on European Integration |
Authors | Dr. Oriola Sallavaci |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article throws light on the parliamentary scrutiny of law reform in Albania, which so far has not received sufficient attention in academic literature. The article provides a review of the bodies, procedures and mechanisms for the scrutiny of legal reform, as specified in the Constitution of Albania, Parliament’s Rules of Procedure and other specific statutes. Research on the activities of these bodies during the past three years, as reported by the official sources, throws light on the problematic aspects of their work and enables recommendations to be made which will lead to a more effective role of Parliament in legal reform. This is paramount considering the past few years of political instability in the country, at a time when Albanian’s European Integration is at stake |
Research Note |
Caretaker Cabinets in Belgium: A New Measurement and Typology |
Journal | Politics of the Low Countries, Issue Online First 2020 |
Keywords | caretaker government, Belgium, cabinets, political crisis |
Authors | Régis Dandoy and Lorenzo Terrière |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Belgium is probably the world’s best known case of where caretaker governments reside. Yet a clear scholarly definition and measurement of this concept is missing. Based on a detailed analysis of the Belgian federal cabinets, this research note explores the main characteristics and measures the length of the various caretaker periods. We find that Belgium was governed for no less than 1,485 days by a caretaker government between 2007 and 2020, which equals more than four full calendar years. This research note also presents a novel typology of caretaker periods based on the institutional and political practice within the Belgian legislative and executive branches. This typology can be used to assess caretaker periods at other levels of government as well as in other countries in order to improve our understanding of the many ‘faces’ that a caretaker government can take on. |
Article |
Getting Party Activists on Local ListsHow Dutch Local Party Branches Perform Their Recruitment Function |
Journal | Politics of the Low Countries, Issue 2 2020 |
Keywords | municipal politics, political parties, candidate lists, local party branches, recruitment |
Authors | Simon Otjes, Marcel Boogers and Gerrit Voerman |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article examines what explains the performance of Dutch local party branches in the recruitment of candidates for municipal councils. Fielding a list of candidates is the most basic function of political parties. In the Netherlands, party branches are under pressure from the low number of party members. To analyse how branches fulfil their role in recruitment, we employ our own survey of the secretaries of party branches held in the run-up to the 2018 municipal election. We find that party membership drives the successful fulfilment of the recruitment function but that, more than the absolute number of members, the crucial factors are how these party members cooperate, the number of active members and the development of this number. |