martedì 31 marzo 2015

Human Rights Treaties and Comparative Law


Mathias M. Siems 
Durham University - Durham Law School; University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research

March 27, 2015

Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, Vol. 171, pp. 118-121, 2015 

Abstract:    
This note comments on Mila Versteeg’s paper “Law versus Norms: The Impact of Human Rights Treaties on National Bills of Rights," available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2360814. Versteeg’s paper explores the relationship between international human rights treaties and domestic constitutions, using data on the adoption of 103 constitutional rights in 186 countries. This note suggests that this paper is an important contribution to international law and policy, quantitative and empirical legal research, and comparative law. The main comments will focus on the latter area of research and discuss the relationship between some of the paper’s findings and three frequent topics of contemporary comparative law.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 7

Keywords: comparative law, constitutions, international human rights treaties

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2586295
Brands, Morality and Public Policy: Some Reflections on the Ban on Registration of Controversial Trademarks


Enrico Bonadio 
City University London - The City Law School

March 1, 2015

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review (2015) 

Abstract:    
Commercial enterprises in several industries are increasingly using aggressive marketing strategies to attract and keep customers. Amongst these strategies, the choice of the “right” brand is obviously key — and trademarks are sometimes chosen that aim at shocking existing and potential customers, especially youngsters.

Yet, attempts to register controversial trademarks are likely to encounter legislative obstacles. Indeed, several international, regional, and national legislations prohibit the registration of scandalous trademarks and, in general, signs that are against morality and public policy.

The paper delves into thorny issues surrounding the registration of these trademarks in several jurisdictions including the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Australia. It argues, in particular, that the bans on registration of such signs are necessary to push brands out of the market that offend the most basic values of our society and the rights of vulnerable groups. This is true even if the prohibition in question does not actually prevent traders from using the unregistered, immoral, or scandalous sign: the ban at issue is indeed still capable of discouraging its use.

The article also highlights the relationship between the ban in question and legislation that protects commercial free speech.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 24

Keywords: Trademarks, morality, ordre public, commercial free speech

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2587791

domenica 29 marzo 2015

Call for Applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Law (Budapest)

Location: Budapest

Position: Postdoctoral Fellowship

Salary: 440,000 HUF gross (plus free accommodation)

Hours: Full time

Contract: Temporary

Begins: September 2015

Ends: June 2016



Aim of the call for applications

With the intention of enhancing their international competitiveness in research and education, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre for Social Sciences Institute for Legal Studies (hereinafter HAS CSS ILS) and the Pázmány Péter Catholic University Faculty of Law and Political Sciences (hereinafter PPCE FLPS) are launching a joint fellowship programme in order to include postdoc foreign researchers in their work.


Scope of applicants

In 2015 postdoctoral researchers are invited to apply for a fellowship programme at the HAS CSS ILS and PPCE FLPS. Knowledge of Hungarian is not required. The programme will be for a period of 10 months.


Legal status

Selected applicants will be employed from 01 September 2015 to 30 June 2016; in joint positions at the HAS CSS ILS (“research fellow”) and at the PPCE FLPS (“adjunct professor”).


Research and teaching topics

Any area of law


In the framework of the fellowship programme, the HAS CSS ILS and the PPCE FLPS

will provide an opportunity for renowned researchers to further develop their scholarly activity and experience in our institutions;

will offer foreign researchers a ‘joint position’ at the two hosting institutions;

will ensure that foreign researchers are fully involved in the scholarly work of the institutions and are able to participate in the most important scholarly events and programmes;

will provide teaching and research facilities;

will offer 440,000 HUF gross salary per month;

will provide free accommodation.




In the framework of the fellowship programme, the fellowship recipients

will help to strengthen the international relations of the HAS CSS ILS and the PPCE FLPS;

will actively take part in the most important scholarly events and programmes of the HAS CSS ILS and the PPCE FLPS;

will participate in the graduate and postgraduate education of the PPCE FLPS (lectures and seminars in English, no more than 4 hours per week);

will prepare a written evaluation of the obtained results at the end of the fellowship programme.




Application and selection procedure

The application signed by the applicant should be sent electronically to the e-mail address kszki@jak.ppke.hu. The application shall include the applicant’s (1) detailed curriculum vitae, (2) publication list, (3) three best publications in electronic version, (4) presentation of ongoing researches and (5) a motivation letter. The motivation letter should contain (a) a research plan, (b) a list of the (at least two) postgraduate courses to be offered, and (c) a description as to how they are linked to the profile of the host institutions. The application language is English. Applications must be sent to the above e-mail address at the latest by 12.00 (Central European Time) on 30 April 2015.

Applications will be reviewed by the Director of the HAS CSS ILS and the Vice-Dean of PPCE FLPS on the basis of the estimation of the value of the applicants’ actual researches, the significance of the scientific results to be expected from the cooperation and the supposed effect of the cooperation on the Hungarian academic community. If necessary, Skype interviews can take place.

Winning applications will be approved by the General Director of the HAS CSS and the Dean of the PPCE FLPS based on the ranking of the committee.

The results of the selection process will be communicated to the researchers via e-mail by 20 May 2015.

The HAS CSS ILS and the PPCE FLPS will provide the fellowship to the selected researcher through two parallel contracts.



Other

Incomplete applications cannot be considered. No legal remedy is possible on substantive grounds, either regarding the selection process or concerning the results of the selection.


Further information

On the fellowship programme: András Jakab, Director of the HAS CSS ILS, e-mail: jakab.andras@tk.mta.hu; Balázs Schanda, Vice-Dean of the PPCE FLPS, email: schanda.balazs@jak.ppke.hu.

On the host institutions: HAS CSS ILS, http://jog.tk.mta.hu/en; PPCE FLPS, https://jak.ppke.hu/en.

"El veto judicial de la Unión al Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos", Complutense de Madrid, 8 de abril 2015

Seminario Eduardo García de Enterría
Ponencias del Seminario de Derecho administrativo que, bajo la dirección de D. Lorenzo Martín-Retortillo Baquer, se celebra todos los miércoles en la Sala de Juntas del Departamento de Derecho administrativo a las 10:30 horas.

Curso 2014/15



Miércoles 8 de abril de 2015

En colaboración con la Cátedra Jean Monnet del Prof. Ricardo Alonso García

Ponentes: Giuseppe Martinico, Filippo Fontanelli, Javier García Roca y Ricardo Alonso García

Título: "El veto judicial de la Unión al Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos"

lunedì 23 marzo 2015

1er avril 2015, "Après le Pacte budgétaire européen: juridicisation et judiciarisation dans l’Union économique et monétaire"

Dans le cadre de l'action de recherche concertée (ARC) "Why Regulate? Regulation, Deregulation and the Legitimacy of the EU", l'Institut d'études européennes de l'Université Saint-Louis - Bruxelles organise le mercredi 1er avril 2015 de 9h30 à 11h30 un séminaire de recherche sur le thème:

"Après le Pacte budgétaire européen: juridicisation et judiciarisation dans l’Union économique et monétaire"

Par Giacomo Delledonne
Chercheur post-doctorant
Institut d’études européennes de l’Université Saint-Louis - Bruxelles

Abstract:

Quelles sont les conséquences de la constitutionnalisation d'un principe d'équilibre budgétaire dans les États membres de l'Union européenne? Le mouvement symbolisé par l'art. 3 du Traité sur la stabilité, la coordination et la gouvernance signale-t-il simplement l'affirmation d'une approche de nature substantielle aux questions de finances publiques en droit constitutionnel (européen et national)? Ou plutôt annonce-t-il aussi une juridicisation et une judiciarisation d'un secteur du droit public qui a traditionnellement été vu comme un segment des relations entre les organes politiques?
Pour répondre à ces interrogations, l'analyse se concentre sur l'application de ces réformes dans les quatre plus importants États membres de l'Eurozone. Elle s'interroge notamment sur la justiciabilité des nouvelles clauses constitutionnelles par les juges, la signification des dérogations admises et l'expérimentation de nouvelles formes de contrôle. Les transformations décrites seront évaluées à la lumière du débat sur les caractères (et les vertus respectives) d'une notion politique et d'une notion juridique de constitutionnalisme.
Inscription (gratuite): http://goo.gl/forms/oQ75ZJqqYC

Lieu: Université Saint-Louis - Bruxelles
          Bld du Jardin Botanique 43
        1000 Bruxelles
        Salle P61

Contact: denis.duez@usaintlouis.be

Bien cordialement,

Denis Duez

domenica 22 marzo 2015

“Parliaments of Europe: foreign policy and democracy promotion” LUISS School of Government Rome, 14-24 July 2015

Summer School "Parliamentary Democracy in Europe"

(Jean Monnet Module n. 529931 –LLP -2012 – IT – AJM – MO)

4th Edition
“Parliaments of Europe: foreign policy and democracy promotion”
LUISS School of Government

Rome, 14-24 July 2015

Application deadline 4 May 2015
Globalization, the intensification of international relations, and ongoing regional integration processes have called Parliaments in Europe, that is national parliaments and the European Parliament, to adjust their traditional functions, organization and role to deal with these phenomena. Moreover, these parliaments have increasingly strengthened their oversight role on foreign policy and to promote democracy at an international level.

Parliaments have been usually marginalized in foreign policy, a traditionally exclusive domain of the executive branch. Yet, since the end of WWII and the beginning of the European integration process – and even more so since the fall of the Berlin wall – national parliaments and the European Parliament have start to play an important role in the international scene, which is acknowledged by Treaties, constitutions and legislation.

Such a role can be direct, when parliaments take part in the international or supranational decision-making through ad hoc bodies set up within regional organizations or when they operate as real actors in foreign policy, for example in order to expedite crisis resolutions. The European and national parliaments can also play an indirect role through the oversight and scrutiny of the executive, for instance regarding the conclusion of international agreements and the protection of fundamental rights.

While, especially in Europe, this new international dimension of parliamentary activity is deemed to enhance the democratic legitimacy of intergovernmental procedures, at the same time it poses a series of challenges. It must be ascertained, for example, whether parliaments are really effective in this field compared with courts and executives; whether there is an added value deriving from parliamentary 'diplomacy' and interparliamentary institutions; if and to what extent parliaments can interfere with foreign policy.

This summer school untangles these issues and provides its participants with a map of the current state of democracy on a global scale, under the perspective of the parliaments of Europe, by looking at their powers, functions, and inter-institutional relations in the field of foreign policy and democracy promotion.

Participants will be provided with knowledge and expertise that will allow them to understand and interpret the complex and fascinating role of these institutions. The need to combine theory with practice in understanding the future of Europe's democracy and the role of the European Union as a global actor is reflected in the Faculty, which includes world-class academics and experienced officials from European and national institutions.

This Summer School has been awarded as a Jean Monnet module co-financed by the European Commission in 2013, 2014, 2015.

This intensive summer course is organised in cooperation with:

LUISS Centre for Parliamentary Studies, that undertakes multidisciplinary research initiatives concerning the organisation and activities of the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies, Regional Parliaments and the European Parliament.
CEUR Foundation, set up in 1990 by a group of Professors, entrepreneurs and professionals and it is an institution aimed at educating and promoting culture by offering young people attending the university the best conditions to successfully build their own future.
International Political Science Association (IPSA), established in 1949 under the aegis of UNESCO, IPSA fosters the development of political science and public policy by supporting academic networks linking East and West, North and South. Its strategic aim is to create a global political science community allowing everybody to participate.
PADEMIA is a Europe-wide network of 56 academic institutions from 31 countries to promote research and teaching in reaction to growing European demands to study parliamentary democracy in Europe. PADEMIA seeks to enhance discussion among students, junior and senior researchers, also in exchange with stakeholders, on how to deal with the new challenges that parliaments and citizens across Europe are facing today.
SciencesPo - Centre d'études européennes, Founded in 2005, the Centre d'études européennes is one of the nine research centres of Sciences Po. Its scientific project rests on a multidisciplinary and transversal approach to policy and politics. Its principal fields of research unfold into three transversal axes: to understand the European construction and its impact, to grasp the policy/politics articulation, and to invest in methodological questions.
ULB, Université Libre de Bruxelles, The Université libre de Bruxelles has 13 faculties, schools and specialized institutes that cover all the disciplines, closely combining academic input and research. It offers almost 40 undergraduate programmes and 235 graduate programmes. It also partners 20 Doctoral schools, with almost 1,600 PhD in progress. One of the University's main aims is to give its students a solid foundation in critical thinking as well as a taste for research, while at the same time catering to the needs of new publics.
The Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies been set up in the Spring of 2007 as an exciting new interdisciplinary research centre of the humanities and social sciences at the KU Leuven. The aim is to make high-quality, innovative and policy-relevant contributions to the study of globalization, governance processes and multilateralism with a particular focus on the European Union's role in global governance. In 2010, the Centre has been recognized as a KU Leuven Centre of Excellence and has attracted numerous research projects at the Flemish, Belgian, European and international levels, and regularly conducts studies for governments, EU institutions and international organizations.

http://sog.luiss.it/graduate-and-summer-programs/summer-school-parliamentary-democracy-europe

venerdì 13 marzo 2015

Doctoral Program in Individual Person and Legal Protections, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa

The Doctoral Program in Individual Person and Legal Protections of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa is characterized by a strong commitment to interdisciplinarity. Ph.D. candidates enrolled in the program specialize in one of the following areas:

private law
comparative private law
European and comparative public law
constitutional law
legal theory
criminal law
The Programme consists of the following curricula:

Human Person, Liabilities and Contracts
Constitutional Law and protection of Individual
Criminal Law and the Individual
Legal Protection in Comparative and Transnational Law
Law and Technology
The three-year Doctoral Program encompasses methodological courses; general and interdisciplinary courses; specific courses in the above mentioned legal areas. A number of additional seminars, workshops and research meetings take place every month involving Ph.D. researchers, Faculty members, guest lectures (to get more info about seminars and lectures please visit the page "Seminars and Workshops" in the menu on the left of this page).

Language Courses are provided for enhancing linguistic competence ((English, Italian as foreign language, and others).

For admission, candidates have to submit a research project and their curriculum vitae and list of publications. An interview shall follow, after a preliminary screening, based on the subject and quality of the research project and its feasibility within the fields of interest pursued by the Faculty members.

Successful candidates shall be provided a three-years scholarship (grant), and shall avail from Monday to Saturday of one daily free meal at the canteen of the Scuola for the full duration of their doctoral period. They shall have access to all the facilities and services at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna.
In order to strengthen the international outlook of their research projects, Ph.D. candidates are requested to organize a stay abroad as visiting students for no less than three months. The Scuola has signed a number of memoranda of understanding with Schools of Law in many countries.

The individual record of each Ph.D. candidate and his/ her advancements in research activity are regularly scrutinized by the Program faculty.

A dedicated Supervisor is appointed for each Ph.D. candidate also in order to facilitate and monitor his/her activities and foster coordination and enhance fruitful relations between the latter and faculty members.

http://www.sssup.it/ist_context.jsp?ID_LINK=368&area=199&lang=UK

Calls for admission to the 2015/16 Ph.D. Programmes. Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa

The Ph.D. Programmes at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna are designed for talented graduates from around the world, who wish to carry out study and research in an international campus based in Pisa. Pisa is a medieval town in Tuscany, with a great quality of life and with a university system that is unique in Italy, with few equals in Europe, where every thing is designed to help you get the most out of your studies and research. Ph.D. students at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna are supervised by tutors in a personalized program in order to make the most of your potential and to guide you towards a future full of success, whatever profession you may decide on.


For the academic year 2015/2016, there are 65 places for Ph.D. students available with the same number of grants, funded by the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, by the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (MIUR), and by external public and private bodies. The number of places and scholarships will increase if, prior to the course, additional funds are made available.


Applying is simple: just follow the directions below. Remember to pay attention to the deadline, which varies depending on the course you opt for.


To find out how to participate in the competition for admission to the Ph.D. Courses you can download the calls and the forms for the individual courses - see the box on the right.

If you are not an Italian resident and wish to take part in the competitive exam, you must already have, or achieve by October 31, a Msc's degree that has been declared as being equivalent by the Italian authorities or recognized as being equivalent in terms of duration and content to the Italian degree. 


The Ph.D. courses will begin on October 1, 2015.


Choose the course that interests you and click on the name to access the page with all the information, which includes the link to the online application form.
Ph.D. in BioRobotics - application deadline: June 22, 2015 at 12:00 pm (Italian time).
Ph.D. in Individual Person and Legal Protections - application deadline: June 30, 2015 at 12:00 am (Italian time)

Ph.D. in Politics, Human Rights and Sustainability - application deadline: June 12, 2015 at 12:00 pm (Italian time)
International Ph.D. in Economics - application deadline: May 7, 2015 at 11:00 am (Italian time)
International Ph.D. in Management Innovation, Sustainability and Healthcare - application deadline: May 18, 2015 at 12:00 am (Italian time)
Ph.D. in Agrobiosciences - application deadline: May 31, 2015 at 12:00 am (Italian time)
International Ph.D. in Agrobiodiversity - application deadline: May 31, 2015 at 12:00 am (Italian time)
Ph.D. in Translational Medicine - application deadline: June 30, 2015 at 12:00 am (Italian time)
International Ph.D. in Emerging Digital Technologies - application deadline: June 30, 2015 at 12:00 pm (Italian time)
NEW! Starting soon: Ph.D. in Political Science, European Politics and International Relations (Jointly with the University of Siena)

García Pelayo Fellowship Program. Call 2015

Programa de investigación García Pelayo

El programa de investigación posdoctoral “García Pelayo” del Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales (CEPC), ofrece contratos de tres años de duración para la realización investigaciones en los ámbitos de la ciencia política, la sociología y el derecho público.

El CEPC, en colaboración con la Agencia Nacional de Evaluación y Prospectiva (ANEP) del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, selecciona anualmente mediante un sistema de concurso-oposición a investigadores que hayan obtenido el doctorado en alguna de las disciplinas del derecho público o las ciencias sociales en los cinco años anteriores a la fecha de cierre de la convocatoria.

Los contratos tienen por finalidad desarrollar proyectos de investigación en el marco de las líneas de investigación del CEPC:

Pluralismo territorial del Estado
Unión Europea
Democracia y Representación
Ciudadanía, Diversidad y No Discriminación
Derechos fundamentales

Los investigadores se integran asimismo en el conjunto de actividades que se desarrollan regularmente en el CEPC y presentan los resultados de sus trabajos en el Seminario de Investigadores.

Debido a razones presupuestarias, no se ha podido realizar la convocatoria del 2012 y estamos a la espera de respuesta a nuestra solicitud para una convocatoria en el 2013

http://www.cepc.gob.es/investigacion/programainvestigaciongarciapelayo/programainvestigaciongarciapelayo

27 marzo 2015 UNIVERSITA' DELLA CALABRIA, LE SFIDE “TRANSCONSTITUZIONALI” DEL SISTEMA INTERAMERICANO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS: IL PLURALISMO NORMATIVO E INTEGRATIVO IN ARGENTINA E MESSICO

27 marzo 2015
UNIVERSITA' DELLA CALABRIA      
LE SFIDE “TRANSCONSTITUZIONALI” DEL SISTEMA INTERAMERICANO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS: IL PLURALISMO NORMATIVO E INTEGRATIVO IN ARGENTINA E MESSICO
Il Workshop è organizzato dall'unità locale del Prin "Jurisdictions and Pluralisms" (JPs) dell'Università della Calabria. Il Workshop si terrà il 27 marzo 2015 presso la Scuola Superiore di Scienze delle Pubbliche Amministrazioni nel Campus di Arcavacata.
Programma: http://www.unical.it/portale/portalmedia/2015-03/Workshop.pdf

Summer School "Parliamentary Democracy in Europe"


(Jean Monnet Module n. 529931 –LLP -2012 – IT – AJM – MO)

4th Edition

“Parliaments of Europe: foreign policy and democracy promotion”

LUISS School of Government

Rome, 14-24 July 2015

Application deadline 4 May 2015

'It's the Autonomy, Stupid!' A Modest Defense of Opinion 2/13 on EU Accession to the ECHR, and a Way Forward


Daniel Halberstam 


University of Michigan Law School

February 20, 2015

U of Michigan Public Law Research Paper No. 439 

Abstract:      
Opinion 2/13 of the European Court of Justice (striking down the draft agreement on accession to the ECHR) has been widely derided as “unsubstantiated,” purely “self-interested,” and “playground politics.” This Article disagrees with that assessment. The Article provides the first comprehensive legal analysis and reconstruction of the Opinion’s many objections to show why the Court’s concerns are mostly warranted. At the same time, however, the Article explains why accession to the ECHR is not only important for human rights, but also vital to save the European Union itself. Finally, the Article points the way forward, arguing for changes (though not all those the Court demands) that must be, and can be, made to allow accession to proceed.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 39

Keywords: Opinion 2/13, European Union, Constitutionalism, Common Foreign and Security Policy, European Convention on Human Rights, Accession, EU External Relations