Blog Posts


The crumbling compromise: German abortion law at the brink of a third reform debate?

By many Germany is regarded as a model student when it comes to human rights protection. However, this expectation remains unfulfilled in the abortion context since contrary to recommendations by international organizations (e.g. by the World Health Organization, the European Commissioner for Human Rights or the United Nations Human Rights Committee), Germany still criminalizes and […]

Abortion, Constitution and the Role of Constitutional Court: Lessons from Poland

On October 22th, 2020 the Polish Constitutional Tribunal (hereinafter: CT or Tribunal) made a judgment on the legality of abortion (case K1/20). The CT has decided about the unconstitutionality of abortion in the circumstances of malformation or serious disease of a foetus[1]. The decision has triggered mass social protests and heated debates – of both […]

Democratic tsunami in Poland

Setting the scene   The recent abortion judgement of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal (CT) caused a stir not only domestically but also abroad. On 22 October 2020 the Polish CT – with the majority of voices (and two dissenting opinions) – declared that abortion in cases where the foetus has serious and irreversible birth defects […]

COVID-19: the relaxation of measures and the multinational UK

In the UK, the COVID crisis has only served to exacerbate the problems within a system of ad-hoc, asymmetric federalism. Put simply, the approaches in the different countries of the UK have diverged for no good reason. This blog is intended to show the inconsistencies across the UK nations, briefly contextualising this within an uneven […]

Human Dignity: Hungary for Change? The EU, Backsliding States, and the First Foundational Value

Where there is democratic backsliding, it is perhaps unsurprising that vulnerable groups, such as trans people, face particularly significant threats to their rights. Important questions surround the legality of Hungary’s recent attack on trans rights, namely Art.33 of the ‘omnibus Bill’, but this post also turns to the bigger picture of the EU’s management of […]