On 18 September 2013, Professor Lucan Way discussed his upcoming book, Pluralism by Default and the Sources of Political Competition after the Cold War, at the Constitutional Transitions & Global and Comparative Law Colloquium. Professor Way is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto. The book explores factors that explain the […]
In a visit to NYU Law on September 24, Dr. Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, President of the Republic of Tunisia, delivered an address on “The Past, Present, and Future of the Arab Spring.” The event, presented by Constitutional Transitions, was introduced by Dean Trevor Morrison and Constitutional Transitions Faculty Director and Cecelia Goetz Professor of Law Sujit Choudhry. As the […]
In July 2013 Constitutional Transitions and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) prepared an opinion outlining strengths and weaknesses of the 2012 Egyptian Constitution. An Arabic language version of the opinion is now before the “Committee of 50,” appointed by Egypt’s interim government to draft a new constitutional text. That opinion […]
In March 2012, Constitutional Transitions held a symposium on the constitutional reformation of the Middle East and North Africa region in the wake of the Arab Spring. The papers presented at the symposium are collected in this special edition of the International Journal of Constitutional Law (I•CON), with an introduction by the Constitutional Transitions Faculty Director […]
Constitutional Transitions, in cooperation with Democracy Reporting International (DRI), is pleased to announce the publication of two Briefing Papers on the importance of constitutional review in democratic transitions, and on international standards for the independence of the judiciary. The papers will be available in both English and Arabic, and are intended primarily for an audience of policy practitioners in the Middle East […]
On 4 September 2013, Professor Mark Tushnet presented his draft paper, Authoritarian Constitutionalism, at the Constitutional Transitions & Global and Comparative Law Colloquium. Tushnet is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Tushnet’s paper draws on and generalizes from Singapore’s constitutional experience to suggest that a plural understanding of constitutionalism is […]
Constitutional Transitions is proud to announce the launch of the Fall 2013 Colloquium series. The Constitutional Transitions & Global and Comparative Law Colloquium: Emerging From / Sliding Back into Authoritarianism will feature ten leading international experts at events throughout the semester. The series will be co-convened by Professors Sujit Choudhry and Mattias Kumm. A full schedule of speakers and […]
Constitutional Transitions is pleased to welcome six new visiting fellows who will be joining us beginning in Fall 2013. The fellows will be at NYU School of Law for terms ranging from one to two semesters. Hailing from five different countries, the visiting fellows are legal experts, academics, and practitioners with a wealth of experience […]
Following a busy and successful first year, Constitutional Transitions is about to enter the second year of its multi-faceted partnership with its current client, the West Asia and North Africa Office of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). International IDEA, an intergovernmental organization composed of 27 member states, is a recognized […]
On 11 July 2013, Constitutional Transitions faculty members Samuel Issacharoff and Mattias Kumm delivered papers at the 5th Constitutional Court Review Symposium, held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Issacharoff and Kumm spoke on a panel entitled “Constitutional Courts as Hedges against Democratic Authoritarianism.” Issacharoff delivered the lead paper for the panel, “The Democratic Risk to Democratic […]
As part of its ongoing two-year partnership with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), Constitutional Transitions sent three students from New York University School of Law to work as summer researchers at International IDEA’s regional office in Cairo. The summer fellows each prepared a chapter for a manual that International IDEA […]
The Constitutional Transitions Clinic recently concluded its successful first year of operations. The clinic was launched by CT Director Sujit Choudhry to serve as a New York “back office” to support organizations and advisors working in the field as a part of constitution building processes. The clinic is staffed by law student researchers, who respond […]
On 2 May 2013, Constitutional Transitions’ Faculty Director Sujit Choudhry participated as an international expert in a one-day workshop, “Democracy Assessment of Constitutions,” organized by Democracy Reporting International (DRI). The workshop took place in Tunis, Tunisia. The purpose of the workshop was to determine whether there are international law standards ‑ either in hard or soft law ‑ that […]
On 3 May 2013, Constitutional Transitions’ Faculty Director Sujit Choudhry gave a plenary address at an international conference on the establishment of an International Constitutional Court. The conference was convened by Moncef Marzouki, President of the Republic of Tunisia. Creating such a court is an initiative of the Tunisian Presidency. The proposed court would serve […]
In June 2013, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and Constitutional Transitions published the Consolidating the Arab Spring Working Paper Series, as a response to the imperative for targeted expertise in support of constitution building in the wake of the Arab Spring. Each paper addresses a specific question of constitutional design. The […]
This article was first published on 31 May 2013 in the New York Law Journal. The original is available here. Sujit Choudhry last month returned from a trip to Tunisia with 16 members of the recently established Constitutional Transitions Clinic at New York University School of Law, which he directs. Tunisian protesters triggered the ‘Arab […]
On 1 May 2013, Professor Andrew March presented his draft article, A Caliphate of Man? Divine and Popular Sovereignty in Islamist Political Theology, at the Constitutional Transitions Colloquium. March is Associate Professor of Political Science at Yale University. March’s article, part of a larger book project, provides a historical and conceptual background to certain contemporary […]
From 7 to 11 April 2013, researchers from the Constitutional Transitions Clinic travelled to Tunis, where they presented their research on pressing constitutional issues unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), at a conference hosted at the University of Tunis Al-Manar’s Faculty of Law and Political Science. The team included 16 researchers from […]
On 10 April 2013, researchers from the Constitutional Transitions Clinic met with Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki to discuss Tunisia’s ongoing constitutional transition. The meetings were part of the clinic’s four-day trip to Tunisia, during which they also met members of the Tunisian Constituent Assembly as well as officials from the US Embassy, and presented their […]
On 3 April 2013, Professor Asli Bâli presented her draft paper, A Kemalist Secular Age? Negotiating the Islam-Modernity Binary in Turkey, at the Constitutional Transitions Colloquium. Bâli is Assistant Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law. A video recording of her presentation is available here. Bâli’s article engages with the concept of secularity […]