Venezuela After the Earthquakes
On June 24, 2026, two earthquakes struck Venezuela with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5. As of 2 July, the official death toll has climbed past 2,295, and more than 38,600 people remain unaccounted for. Having lived through the disaster in Caracas and seeing people desperately crying for help, only reinforces our own empirical understanding of a state in decline. Democracy depends on social trust and a functioning state with administrative capacities. Within hours, what the earthquakes revealed was the extent to which those foundations have eroded in Venezuela.
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Nach den Beben in Venezuela
Am 24. Juni 2026 erschütterten zwei schwere Erdbeben der Stärken 7,2 und 7,5 Venezuela. Bis zum 2. Juli stieg die offizielle Zahl der Todesopfer auf über 2.295. Mehr als 38.600 Menschen gelten weiterhin als vermisst. Wer die Katastrophe in Caracas selbst miterlebt hat und die Menschen verzweifelt um Hilfe schreien sah, für den wird der schleichende Verfall des Staates zur bitteren Gewissheit. Eine Demokratie lebt von gesellschaftlichem Vertrauen und einem funktionierenden Staat. Innerhalb weniger Stunden offenbarten die Erdbeben, wie stark dieses Fundament in Venezuela bereits erodiert ist.
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The Constitution Always Speaks in the Present
The newly elected Hungarian Parliament approved the Sixteenth Amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary on 15 June 2026, now awaiting the President’s signature before entering into force. Specifically, the Amendment limits the prime Minister’s term of office to eight years, calculated from 1990 onwards. Effectively, this change prevents Orbán from returning to the office. I argue that the Amendment may be justified in the specific Hungarian context to prevent the consolidation of power of one-man. Moreover, I contest that the Amendment is retroactive and, for that reason, ad personam.
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Der Bundestag ist kein Akklamationsorgan
Am 26. Februar 2026 verhandelte das Bundesverfassungsgericht über eine zentrale Frage: Wie viel Zeit brauchen Abgeordnete, damit der Bundestag mehr ist als ein bloßes Vollzugsorgan exekutiver Vorgaben? Johannes Gallon These, „schnell sei nicht zu schnell“, ist ein Appell an die gerichtliche Selbstbeschränkung – unterschätzt aber den schleichenden Kompetenzverlust der Legislative. Der Senat sollte vielmehr deutlich machen, dass Art. 40 Abs. 1 Satz 2 GG den Bundestag verpflichtet, in seiner Geschäftsordnung ein parlamentarisches Gesetzgebungsverfahren zu normieren, das eine wirksame Ausübung der Mitwirkungsrechte des einzelnen Abgeordneten gewährleistet.
Continue reading >>Handyblitzer powered by KI
Künstliche Intelligenz soll Handyverstöße am Steuer effizient aufdecken – doch das OLG Koblenz setzt dem Einsatz der MonoCam enge verfassungsrechtliche Grenzen. Bedeutet das das Aus für KI-gestützte Ermittlungen im Ordnungswidrigkeitenrecht? Nicht unbedingt: Entscheidend ist nicht, dass KI eingesetzt wird, sondern wie.
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Dein Algorithmus, dein Problem?
Was passiert, wenn eine Plattform fremde, rechtswidrige Inhalte verbreitet? Bislang regelt das sogenannte Haftungsprivileg, dass Plattformbetreiber für solche Inhalte bis zur Kenntnis der Rechtswidrigkeit nicht verantwortlich sind. Trotz wachsender Kritik bekannte sich der europäische Gesetzgeber zuletzt zu dem Privileg, indem er es in den DSA überführte. Der EuGH stellte dagegen in einer aktuellen Entscheidung fest: Wer Inhalte mittels Empfehlungsalgorithmus verteilt, ist kein neutraler und damit haftungsprivilegierter Informationsvermittler mehr.
Continue reading >>Of Flamingos, EU Conditionality and Unfulfilled Expectations
Recently Albania has hit international headlines with news on an ongoing protest over a development project linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Flamingos, that populate the area where the project is set, and banners “Albania is not for sale” have become the symbol of the demonstrations. The approval by the EP of a Resolution on the 2025 Commission Report on 17 June 2026, where a moratorium was requested on any development in the Vjosë-Nartë, was received with optimism from protesters. Yet pre-accession EU conditionality may appear slow and with limited effectiveness.
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Black is the New Orange
Last week, eight anti-ICE protesters were sentenced at the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas, receiving a combined 450 years in prison. The sentencing has provoked much condemnation in Europe, and rightly so. Thirty years for moving a box of pamphlets. Fifty for showing up at a protest wearing black. Legally, the concept of terrorism has been hollowed out since the 1990s by legislation that paves the way for massive sentences for relatively banal crimes like moving a box of pamphlets.
Continue reading >>Vulnerable by Legal Design
Today, the deadline expires for applications under Spain’s extraordinary regularization program that made headlines around the world when announced in January 2026. Designed to provide a pathway to legal residence for hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants already present in the country, it is the largest regularization initiative in the country's history. Yet the program raises questions that extend well beyond the Spanish context. In particular, it invites reflection on the relationship between irregular status and vulnerability.
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Corporate Duty of Vigilance in Climate Litigation
On 25 June 2026, the Paris Judicial Court ruled on the adequacy of TotalEnergies’ vigilance plan. Among other things, the Court ruled that the company's Vigilance Plan must address the greenhouse gases generated through the downstream use of its products (Scope 3 emissions). The judgment simultaneously strengthens the normative content of the Duty of Vigilance while revealing the judiciary’s reluctance to fully articulate a unified framework of corporate climate responsibility.
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CURRENT DEBATES
European Society After Commission v Hungary
The landmark judgment in Commission v Hungary has opened a new chapter in the history of EU law. In this decision, the CJEU not only held that Article 2 TEU can be invoked as a self-standing provision in infringement proceedings but also acknowledged the existence of a European society, in which certain values prevail – a historic first. In this symposium, we aim at showing the diverse ways in which scholars from law, philosophy, and the social sciences reflect on European society, in and beyond Commission v Hungary.
Read all articles >>Inter-Judicial Dialogue on Climate Change and Human Rights
This symposium brings together judges, practitioners, and scholars from the European, Inter-American, and African regional human rights systems to examine climate change as a human rights challenge, tracing shared legal questions, divergent doctrinal responses, and the growing importance of inter-judicial dialogue in shaping transnational climate justice.
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Volume 7,
Issue 2
July 2025
JUS COGENS
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Killing Hitler Word by Word: The Oath as Apocalyptic Lawmaking
GREGOR NOLL
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Adjudicating Climate Protest as a Tool of Modern Republicanism
DMITRII KUZNETSOV
OUR LATEST PUBLICATION
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Enabling Access, Fostering Innovation: Towards a Digital Knowledge Agenda in Europe
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EDITORIAL
Venezuela After the Earthquakes
On June 24, 2026, two earthquakes struck Venezuela with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5. As of 2 July, the official death toll has climbed past 2,295, and more than 38,600 people remain unaccounted for. Having lived through the disaster in Caracas and seeing people desperately crying for help, only reinforces our own empirical understanding of a state in decline. Democracy depends on social trust and a functioning state with administrative capacities. Within hours, what the earthquakes revealed was the extent to which those foundations have eroded in Venezuela.
VB SECURITY AND CRIME
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VB Security and Crime is a cooperation of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law (MPI-CSL) and the Verfassungsblog in the areas of public security law and criminal law. The MPI-CSL Institute is a member of the Max Planck Law network.