Arletta Gorecka (PhD Candidate, University of Strathclyde) Van Gend en Loos (1963), in its famous passage, claimed that EU constitutional law “constitutes a new legal order of international law for the benefit of which the states have limited their sovereign rights, albeit within limited fields, and the subjects of which comprise not only EU member…
By Rafael Santa Maria (PO ’20) On April 11, Spanish police detained an 18-year-old Italian man accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old British national on a Mediterranean cruise ship. However, the suspect was promptly released by a Spanish judge who claimed that Spain had no jurisdiction over the case. Specifically, the judge argued that Spain…
By Savannah Green (CMC ’20) The topic of citizenship in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe has been consistently discussed since the beginning of Brexit talks. Though the UK’s exit from the European Union is still not finalized, many EU citizens living in the UK (and vice versa) are worried about their status post-Brexit. EU…
By Katya Pollock (PO’21) In March 2019, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announced that they had secured the last ISIS stronghold in Syria, the small town of Baghouz at the eastern border of the country. In the nearly five years since ISIS’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, first declared the creation of an Islamic caliphate, the…
By Katya Pollock (PO ’21) On March 8th, Finland’s center-right coalition government, led by Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, resigned after failing to pass a promised reform of healthcare programs. A dramatic rise in the population’s old-age dependency ratio and recession-level labor force participation rates have tightened financial pressure on the country’s healthcare, pension, child-care, and…
By Rafael Santa Maria (PO ’20) The Philippines officially left the International Criminal Court (ICC) two weeks ago, on March 17, thus ending the country’s participation in the Netherlands-based international tribunal. This comes a year after the Philippine government filed a notice of withdrawal to the UN, and it makes the island nation only the…
By Savannah Green (CMC ’20) Over the past few weeks, several countries have come to the support of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was arrested in Iran in June of 2018 for representing women accused of removing their hijabs in public. When Sotoudeh was arrested by Iranian authorities, she was given no explanation and…
By Katya Pollock (PO’21) At the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland this January, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman shocked fellow panelists and audience members with his harsh criticism of philanthropic efforts to address inequality. Berman lambasted the global corporate elite for initiating “stupid philanthropy schemes” which, he argues, serve only to distract from the rich’s…
By Savannah Green (CMC ’20) One of the more prominent topics in the news recently has been the current standing of the Brexit negotiations. Theresa May, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative (Tory) Party, has been the front woman for the negotiations on the British side. Unfortunately, she is…
By Francis Northwood (PO ’21) Thailand will be holding its first elections in four years on February 25th. Since Thailand’s last election, a military Junta led by Prayut Chan-o-cha has controlled the country. The military junta only recently lifted the ban on political activity it had set in 2014. In the years since the Absolute…