About

Constitutionalism is in crisis. Everybody, it seems, says so (even if for different reasons). And, of course, the current pandemic only makes things worse (everybody seems to say so too, even if for different reasons). Values once taken for granted seem to be cavalierly discarded. Pictures that remind us of a past many of us don’t even remember accompany our daily lives. And whatever is happening at the moment to affirm such a dim view is not just happing elsewhere. It’s happening right here or, in any event, somewhere close: in neighbouring countries, across an entire region, on a global scale, as some of us fear.

But how will events unfold? Where does the path thus set lead, globally and on a national level? What about the future of democracy, the rule of law or human rights? What part will established political parties, what part will government play in the years to come? What about global and regional ties? Will they, as a reaction to current events, be strengthened or rather weakened over they next couple of years?

We don’t know of course. But we can make an educated guess what to expect. 

Speakers

Stefanie Bock
Philipps University Marburg
Areas: Int. Criminal Law

Dr. Stefanie Bock, Dr. iur. (Hamburg), is Professor of Law at the Philipps-Universität Marburg for Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, International Criminal Law and Comparative Law. She also is Acting Director of the International Research and Documentation Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC). Her research focus lies on Criminal and Criminal Procedure Law in its international dimension. In the field of European criminal law, she deals in particular with the tension between legal harmonization and respect for the criminal law traditions of the Member States. She also conducts research on current and fundamental questions of International Criminal Law. In addition to dogmatic studies of the relevant legal norms, she analyses the particular challenges that arise in their enforcement. In this context, International Criminal Law is also considered in its socio-political function, which, as part of transitional processes, is designed to make a contribution to coming to terms with the past, reconciliation, and peace-building (Transitional Justice). Other particular points of interests are victim rights and the criminalisation of preparatory acts. The research is often based on a comparative law approach, which seeks to gain new knowledge by taking into account other national legal systems. As vice chair of the Criminal Law Commission of the German Women Lawyer's Association, Stefanie Bock also advocates for  gender equality in society, work, and family.

Tomas Dumbrovsky 
Charles University, Prague 
Actors: Popular Movements

Tomas is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Comparative Law at Charles University in Prague. Tomas studied law and political science, earned his LL.M. and J.S.D. from the Yale Law School and his J.D. and Ph.D. from Charles University. He held fellowship at the European University Institute, University of Amsterdam, Michigan Law School and the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg. Tomas has published in the fields of EU law, comparative constitutionalism and constitutional and democratic theory.

Stefanie Egidy
Max Planck Institute for Research of Collective Goods, Bonn
Actors: Institutions

Stefanie is a constitutional law scholar and Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, in Bonn (Germany). She graduated from the University of Wuerzburg (Dr. iur.) and Yale Law School (LL.M.) and is admitted to practice in Germany and New York. Her scholarship examines how constitutional democracies react to pressure and change with a particular focus on the behavior of institutions. She focuses on identifying mechanisms to further and safeguard their resilience. The two actors at the center of her research both share a unique degree of independence and therefore raise complex questions with regard to the separation of powers as well as the principle of democracy: central banks and courts. Her dissertation, which has been awarded several prizes, analyzes the constitutional challenges posed by the financial crisis of 2007–2009 in Germany and the United States. Her current Habilitation project researches how strategic litigation utilizes the judiciary in order to compensate for institutional failure of the legislative branch. Ultimately, the complex interactions between society and public actors are at the core of her work. She addresses these questions using interdisciplinary and comparative methods.

Matthias Klatt
University of Graz, Faculty of Law
Aspects: Democracy

Matthias has been Chair of Jurisprudence in Graz since 2015. Previous positions included the Juliana Cuyler Matthews Junior Research Fellowship in Law at New College, Oxford, and an Associate Professorship in Public Law, EU Law, Public International Law and Legal Philosophy at the University of Hamburg. He had also clerked at the German Federal Constitutional Court. He publishes widely in both legal philosophy and international constitutional law.

Antonios Kouroutakis
IE University Madrid, School of Law
Areas: Global Trade

Antonios is an Assistant Professor at IE University in Madrid, Spain and he teaches Constitutional Law and the Regulation of New Technologies. He has taught a variety of law courses and conducted research at the City University of Hong Kong, the Free University of Berlin, FVG Sao Paolo, and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Antonios received a DPhil in Law from University of Oxford and an LLM from UCLA School of Law. His research interests lie mainly in the field of constitutional engineering, public law and regulation. In particular, he is interested in the concept of separation of powers, rule of law, emergency legislation, and the regulation of new technologies; he has published widely on these topics in international and peer reviewed journals

Andreas T. Müller
University of Innsbruck, Faculty of Law
Areas: International Human Rights Law

Andreas was educated at University of Innsbruck and Yale Law School. He holds a Chair at the Department of European Law and Public International Law of the University of Innsbruck. A visiting professor and research fellow at various universities in Europe and the Americas, his research focuses on international and European human rights law, international humanitarian law, international criminal law and international and European migration and refugee law.

Bilyana Petkova
Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
Aspects: Federalism

Bilyana joined the faculty of the University of Graz School of Law in Austria as a full professor in December 2020. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor in Doha, Qatar as well as at the European and International Law Department of Maastricht University School of Law in the Netherlands. Bilyana has held positions as a Visiting Professor at the Georgetown Law Center and at the Melbourne Law School. She is an affiliate scholar at the Yale Information Society Project and a member of the advisory board of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Future of Privacy Forum, both based in Washington, DC. Bilyana’s research probes the intersection of comparative law, EU law and law & technology.​

Yaniv Roznai
Radzyner School of Law, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya
Aspects: Rule of Law

Yaniv is a Senior Lecturer at the Radzyner School of Law, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya. He holds a PhD and LL.M (Distinction) from The London School of Economics (LSE), and LLB and BA degrees (Magna cum Laude) in Law and Government from the IDC. In 2015-2016, Yaniv was a Post-Doc Fellow at the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law under Extreme Conditions, University of Haifa and at the Hauser Global Law School, New York University (NYU). In 2013, he was a visiting researcher at the Program in Law and Public Affair (LAPA), Princeton University. Yaniv is the Co-Founding Chair of the Israeli Association of Legislation, an elected member of the Council of The International Society of Public Law and an elected board member and former secretary general of the Israeli Association of Public Law. His scholarship focuses on comparative constitutional law, constitutional theory, legisprudence, and public international law.

Paulina Starski
Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
Actors: Political Parties

Paulina joined the faculty of the University of Graz School of Law in Austria as a full professor in December 2020. Previously, she was a Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg and Visiting Professor at the Humboldt-University Berlin and Hauser Global Fellow, NYU School of Law (2017). Paulina holds degrees from Bucerius - LL.B. as well as Ph.D. She was admitted to the bar in Hamburg in 2013. Paulina’s research focuses on public international law, in particular, the regime on the use of force, international legal theory, the notion of state sovereignty, international human rights law and European law. She has lectured on a wide range of subjects within her research fields in Germany and abroad.