Latest blog articles

  • Logic of International Law

    On 14 and 15 November 2022, UM’s Faculty of Law held the “Logic of International Law Conference.” Henrique Marcos (UM & São Paulo Univ.) and Antonia Waltermann (UM) organised the conference under the auspices of the Globalization and Law Network (GLaw-Net) and the International Law Discussion Group...

  • Constitutive and constituted sovereignty

    Sovereignty is invoked in many discussions today, from Brexit to Catalan independence, but it is rarely clear what, exactly, those who invoke sovereignty mean by it. For the purposes of understanding, analyzing, and understanding legal phenomena, however, a more precise understanding is necessary.

    law_reconstructing_sovereignty_antonia_waltermann
  • On awkward membership: dealing with awkwardness: some positive signals

    There is wide agreement that the EU has not been effective in dealing with what I would define here as values’ awkwardness, cases in which EU Member States threaten the rule of law and the other common values of the European project. The obvious reference is in this respect to Hungary and Poland...

    Protection_no suspect interrogation without a lawyer
  • Whose sovereignty is it, anyway? Catalonia vs Spain

    The wishes of the Spanish government and those of the Catalan people are diametrically opposed: 90% of voters in the referendum were for independence - but keep in mind also that only about half of the Catalan people voted.

    Catalonia_is_not_Spain
  • Another brick in the wall? (Part 2)

    This second post critically analyzes the decision of the Court, arguing that it is quite unconvincing from different perspectives.

    freedom of religion_MLR blogs
  • Another brick in the wall? (Part 1)

    On March 7, 2017, the CJEU concluded that EU law does not oblige Member States to issue humanitarian visa to Syrian individuals and families seeking international protection. Despite the humanitarian disaster in Syria, safe legal routes to Europe remain a mirage.

    roman theatre, bosra, syria, easter 2004_Law Blogs Maastricht
  • Popular sovereignty is not dead

    Do the people still have power? Some might feel forgotten and turn to populism promising to give the country back to them. But popular sovereignty is not dead.

    Sovereignty