Hague Journal on the Rule of Law最新文献

On 22 October 2020, the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland ruled that an abortion due to foetal impairment was unconstitutional. This article discusses the context of this controversial ruling as well as its main tenets, focusing on the interpretation of the human rights proffered by the Tribunal and on the rule of law concerns raised by the Tribunal’s decision. Against the backdrop of a brief history of the legal regulation of abortion in Poland since 1945, the article offers a critical assessment of the human rights framework used in the Polish abortion debate. Based on a close reading of the Tribunal’s ruling and the dissenting opinions, the article points out the particularities in the Tribunal’s engagement with international law and human rights jurisprudence. The article argues that the Tribunal’s decision is yet another symptom of the crisis in which the rule of law in Poland has found itself since 2015. It bears evidence to the closing of the jurisprudential horizon caused by the political change which has been taking place in Poland since 2015, consisting of the reduction of the role of international human rights debates as a reference in Polish constitutional jurisprudence. The ruling is therefore a portent of Poland’s future compliance with its international commitments in human rights matters.

During the last decade, it has become apparent that the European Union (EU) Commission is failing to halt rule of law decline in Poland and Hungary. However, has the Commission learnt from its experience in handling rule of law decline in these countries? This article suggests that not only has the EU Commission failed to learn the importance of swift action in the face of burgeoning rule of law crises but has actively ignored similar systemic issues altogether in Lithuania, a country that has historically been an exemplary Member State. This article will analyse the status of the rule of law and judicial independence in Lithuania in light of the EU Commission’s first two Rule of Law Reports published in September 2020 and July 2021. These reports were designed to act as a preventative measure to protect the rule of law in each Member State through documenting and raising awareness for rule of law developments in the Union. Lithuania has largely slipped under the radar of constitutional democracy scholars; however, in the past two years, Lithuania has endured a series of attacks on judicial independence and suffered an attempted siege of its national broadcaster. There has been an intense deadlock recently over the election of Constitutional Court justices, which has raised concerns over the executive’s persistent attempts to politicise Lithuania’s highest court. Worryingly the recent Rule of Law Reports, published by the EU Commission, fail to reflect the severity of these recent developments. The reports’ silence on these issues leads this article to conclude that the EU Commission is turning a blind eye to Lithuania’s precarious rule of law situation by failing to truthfully document significant negative developments around the rule of law. By doing so, the Commission not only exacerbates rule of law issues domestically but also undermines the fight against rule of law backsliding in the Union.

This paper analyses the mutually reinforcing relationship between upholding the Rule of Law and protecting university autonomy. Academic freedom as recognised in international human rights law can be deconstructed into two inter-connected dimensions: an individual right and institutional autonomy. The paper argues that the relationship between institutional autonomy of universities and the Rule of Law is a mutually reinforcing one, as demonstrated by the situation in Hungary, Poland and Russia. This relationship manifests in two distinct ways. Firstly, the core principles of the Rule of Law are necessary to ensure that university autonomy is not threatened by arbitrary and untrammeled exercise of State power. Secondly, this autonomy, in turn supports and strengthens the Rule of Law. Therefore, to fully appreciate the state of academic freedom in Hungary, Poland and Russia, we need to consider this bidirectional link between institutional autonomy of universities and the Rule of Law.