I am always in search of new resources to help me stay updated on constitutional developments in the world. I rely on blogs for a lot of my information. Here are five of the most useful:

(1) ConstitutionNet, published by International IDEA;

(2) IACL-AIDC Blog, published by the International Association of Constitutional Law; 

(3) I•CONnect, the blog of the International Journal of Constitutional Law, affiliated with the International Society of Public Law;

(4) Jurist, headquartered at the University of Pittsburgh; and

(5) Verfassungsblog, published in cooperation with the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study and Humboldt University Berlin.

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Each of these blogs welcomes submissions on constitutional happenings anywhere in the world. If you have something to report, I encourage you to submit a piece to one of these blogs, especially to I•CONnect, where I am a founding co-editor along with Tom Ginsburg and David Landau; we have since been enriched by two new co-editors Antonia Baraggia and Jaclyn Neo.

Submission details are available here.

Published just last week, Memory and Authority: The Uses of History in Constitutional Interpretation is one of my early nominees for book of the year. In this exquisite study of the U.S. Constitution, Jack Balkin evaluates how and why lawyers and judges turn to history as a source of legitimation in constitutional interpretation. Timely, provocative, and important.

In a new paper, Merris Amos coins the term “autocratic method” to describe an informal constitutional reform that is “carefully designed by a government (whether it be autocratic or democratic) to deliver a constitutional change which will usually assist it in the continued consolidation or maintenance of power.” Professor Amos illustrates this phenomenon with reference to the 2022 attempt to replace the UK Human Rights Act.

The Brennan Center for Justice has issued a call for applications for a Senior Fellow Project Manager to lead its new Future of the Constitution Project. The role is perfect for someone who enjoys researching constitutional subjects, translating scholarly arguments for public consumption, organizing conferences, and building relationships with elected representatives, appointed officials, civil society, and people across the country. Another excellent reason to apply is the opportunity to work closely with John Kowal, Vice President of Program Initiatives at the Brennan Center.

Registration is now open for the 3rd Graduate Conference on Constitutional Change at the University of Texas at Austin, to be held on December 9-11, 2024. Graduate students of all levels are welcome. More details here. Applicants will be notified on a rolling basis.

The Center for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the University of Brasília invites international students to enroll at no cost in its two-week intensive introduction to the Brazilian legal system. The program runs entirely in English from May 13 to May 26, 2024. Students will learn about constitutional law, human rights, environmental law, and much more in this immersive course. Details and application here.

What happens to rights in an emergency? This new book examines how human rights fare during emergencies in the Visegrad countries, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The book features a total of roughly one dozen contributors, with chapters divided into three major parts: (1) models of emergency; (2) models of human rights protection; and (3) case studies of human rights during COVID-19.

The Constitutional Court of Kosovo recently issued an important ruling on the constitutionality of a new vetting process for public officials in the justice system. I am pleased that Judge Remzije Istrefi-Peci cited three of my works: (1) Constitutional Amendments: Making, Breaking, and Changing Constitutions (Oxford University Press); (2) The Theory and Doctrine of Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendments in Canada, 41 Queen's Law Journal 143 (2016); and (3) Counterconstitutionalism, 31 Dalhousie Law Journal 1 (2008). The text of the ruling is available here.

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Before a constitutional amendment can be approved in Kosovo, the Constitutional Court must be satisfied that the proposed amendment “does not diminish the rights and freedoms” guaranteed in the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. 

The International Forum on the Future of Constitutionalism is pleased to co-sponsor the Doctoral School on Asian and Comparative Regionalism on August 19-24 at Airlangga University in Indonesia. This innovative program is open to all graduate students. Details and application here.

Last week I traveled to Tucson for the 2024 National Conference of Constitutional Law Scholars hosted by the William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of Government. I was invited to serve as “distinguished commentator” for a panel of excellent papers on constitutional democracy. The conference was held at Hacienda del Sol, a beautiful resort hotel. As lovely as the scenery was – and it truly was marvelous, as seen below in some photos I took – the best part of the conference was the lively exchange of ideas on all aspects of constitutionalism.