Oliver Garner

Podcasts

Central and Eastern Europe after the Polish Elections: In Conversation with Daniel Hegedüs

Despite the Polish opposition election victory in the 15 October elections on 27 November President Duda swore in the Law and Justice Party ahead of a confidence vote that the incumbents seem set inevitably to lose. In this latest Rule of Law podcast, Oliver Garner and Daniel Hegedüs discuss the implications of the election for Central and Eastern Europe. Daniel is a German Marshall Fund fellow with expertise in populism and democratic backsliding and the foreign affairs of the Visegrad countries.

4.12.2023

News

The Role of (EU) Competition Law in Defending the Rule of Law

Kati Cseres is an Associate Professor of Law at the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG) and Program Director of the EU Law Masters at the University of Amsterdam. This series of RevDem op-eds collects reflections on the contemporaneous challenges for the Rule of Law, which stemmed from the conference organized at Radboud University (Nijmegen) on 21-22 September in honour of Prof. Petra Bàrd. This is the latest entry following previous contributions by Benedetta Lobina on the Russo-Ukrainian war, and Pauline Thinus on EU spending conditionality.

27.11.2023

News

Taking Stock: The Polish Opposition Victory and the Rule of Law

By stark contrast to the worsening situation in Hungary, Poland may be facing a new dawn and a restoration of liberal democracy. But caution may be required to ensure that this dawn does not darken again into political acrimony and fragmentation.

26.10.2023

News

Disabusing Constitutional Identity? In Conversation with Julian Scholtes

The monograph The Abuse of Constitutional Identity in the European Union (OUP, 2023) by Julian Scholtes (Lecturer in Public Law, University of Glasgow) was published in September. In this latest RevDem Rule of law podcast, Oliver discuss constitutional identity and its implications for the Rule of Law and democracy in Europe today. Oliver Garner: I found that your distinction between generative, substantive, and relational aspects of constitutional identity abuse is an impressive attempt to categorize such illegitimate practices systematically. How do these concepts advance our understanding of constitutional identity and its abuse? Do you believe they can be operationalized to allow the identification of abusive identity claims in practice? Julian Scholtes: I think we need to distinguish this idea of constitutional identity, that is quite commonly used in comparative constitutional law, as an analytical lens which allows us to look into the relationship between [...]

29.09.2023

News

Suspending Hungary’s Presidency of the Council of the EU? In Conversation with John Morijn and Alberto Alemanno

In recent weeks proposals by the Meijers Committee to suspend Hungary’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2024 have received support in a resolution of the European Parliament. In this RevDem Rule of Law podcast, Oliver Garner discusses these proposals in the wider context of the Rule of Law crisis with John Morijn and Alberto Alemanno.

9.06.2023

Interviews

Accession Through War? Ukraine and the EU: In Conversation with Roman Petrov

In this podcast, Oliver Garner speaks to Professor Roman Petrov on this subject of “accession through war”. Professor Petrov is the Jean Monney Chair in EU Law and Head of the Centre of Excellence in EU Studies at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. He is currently a British Academy Research Fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

23.05.2023

Interviews

Informal Power in Hungary and Poland: In Conversation with Edit Zgut-Przybylska

Formal Rule of Law backsliding in Hungary and Poland has been well-publicized. Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg of a system of informal power connections that are undermining the Rule of Law and democracy. In this RevDem Rule of Law podcast Oliver Garner discusses this informal power with Edit Zgut-Przybylska.

12.05.2023

News

Helsinki in Budapest: In Conversation with András Kádár and Márta Pardavi

In the latest RevDem Rule of Law podcast Oliver Garner discusses the work of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. András Kádár is an attorney at law and co-chair of the Committee. Amongst other engagements and positions he is the Hungarian member of the European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-Discrimination field. Márta Pardavi is the other co-chair of the Committee and she also co-leads the Recharging Advocacy for Rights in Europe (RARE) program. Previously, she has been a policy leader fellow at the EUI School of Transnational Governance in Florence.

3.05.2023

News

“A Pandemic of Populists”: RevDem online book discussion

On 28 March the Review of Democracy hosted an online debate on "A Pandemic of Populists" (CUP, 2022) by Wojciech Sadurski (University of Sydney). Hosted by CEU Democracy Institute Workgroup Lead Researcher Dimitry Kochenov, the debate brought together perspectives from Barbara Grabowska-Moroz (CEU), Zuzana Vikarská (Masaryk University), and Thiago Amparo (FGV Sao Paulo Law School).

14.04.2023

Interviews

In conversation with Jakub Jaraczewski: The European Commission’s latest action against Poland and Hungary

In this latest RevDem Rule of Law podcast, Oliver Garner speaks to Jakub Jaraczewski about the European Commission’s latest actions to defend the EU’s values against backsliding Member States. Jakub is a Research Coordinator at Democracy Reporting International, a Berlin based NGO, and one of the coordinators of the “re:constitution” programme.

3.03.2023

5 Key 2022 Books: Rule of Law

Dr Oliver Garner, RevDem editor of the Rule of Law section at the Review of Democracy, presents five key books on the rule of law in 2022.

22.12.2022

The (Re)making of Constitutional Democracy? In conversation with Paolo Sandro

In this latest RevDem Rule of Law section podcast, Oliver Garner speaks to Paolo Sandro, Lecturer in Law at the University of Leeds. Sandro’s recently published monograph The Making of Constitutional Democracy: From Creation to Application of Law (Hart Publishing, 2022) confronts the topic from a legal theoretical perspective. Their conversation considers the practical application of his work and the theme of (re)making constitutional democracy following recent significant events in Europe.

15.10.2022

“Vacanze Romane” for the EU’s Values Crisis?

In his latest op-ed, RevDem editor Oliver Garner analyzes the Italian election results and their implications not only for Italy, but also for the European Union.

30.09.2022

The State of the Rule of Law in the USA and the EU: In Conversation with Niels Kirst

In this interview for the Rule of Law section, RevDem Editor Oliver Garner converses with Niels Kirst about the state of the Rule of Law in the USA and the EU.

3.06.2022

Re-establishing the Epistemological Foundations of EU Law: In Conversation with Renáta Uitz

Oliver Garner interviews Renáta Uitz, Co-Director of the CEU Democracy Institute and Co-Editor-in-Chief of RevDem, on the distinct but interconnected roles of the European Parliament and the Court of Justice in combatting the Rule of Law crisis.

26.05.2022

Immediate EU membership for Ukraine? In conversation with Dimitry Kochenov

This interview, conducted by Rule of Law section editor Oliver Garner, considers the feasibility of immediate EU accession for Ukraine with Prof. Dimitry Kochenov, Professor in the CEU Legal Studies Department and Lead Researcher in the Democracy Institute Rule of Law work group.

20.04.2022

Criminalizing backsliding judges? In Conversation with Armin von Bogdandy

In March, before the Hungarian elections, our editor Oliver Garner sat down with Professor Armin von Bogdandy. They discussed Professor von Bogdandy’s recent article, published with Luke Dimitrios Spieker, on restoring the rule of law through criminal responsibility.

6.04.2022

In Conversation with Antonia Baraggia: Using Money to Protect the Rule of Law?

In this podcast, Oliver Garner and Antonia Baraggia discuss the judgment on the budget conditionality regulation and conditionality as a constitutional tool.

14.03.2022

Martin Krygier: Three Ways Not to Think About the Rule of Law

In this lecture, Martin Krygier discusses three conventional ways of approaching the rule of law, each of which seems to me misconceived and misleading. The first starts in the wrong place. The second goes on in the wrong way. The third misconstrues the point and destination of the quest.

1.03.2022

In Conversation with Joelle Grogan: Two Years On – COVID-19 and the Rule of Law

Oliver Garner interviews Dr Joelle Grogan about the legacy of the pandemic for the Rule of Law, democracy, and other constitutional values around the world.

17.02.2022

In conversation with Tom Theuns: An EU 2.0? Mass Withdrawal of Pro-Democratic Member States

Oliver Garner interviews Tom Theuns about the possibility and justification of a mass-exodus of democratically minded Member States via Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and the founding of an EU 2.0 in response to Member States becoming autocratic.

28.01.2022

Oliver Garner: Bridging Brexit and Polexit? Reforming EU withdrawal

This op-ed considers whether the reforms to the EU withdrawal that use the lessons of Brexit to address the possibility of "Polexit" can be helpful in resolving the ongoing values crisis in the EU.

7.01.2022

2021’s End of Year Special

Our editors Laszlo Bruszt, Oliver Garner, Kasia Krzyżanowska, Ferenc Laczo, and Michal Matlak discuss their favorite RevDem content, as well as the year's highlights and the most significant developments of the year.

24.12.2021

6 Key 2021 Books: Rule of Law and the Future of Europe

Oliver Garner and Michał Matlak, the Review of Democracy editors, select 5 most important books in two areas: Rule of Law and the Future of Europe.

23.12.2021

In conversation with Barbara Grabowska-Moroz: The escalation of Poland’s Rule of Law crisis

Barbara Grabowska-Moroz discusses the current state of the rule of law crisis in Poland, the arduous relationship between the EU and Polish courts, and how this impacts EU Member States.

2.12.2021

The instability of the Northern Ireland Protocol: A present threat to the Rule of Law?

RevDem editor Oliver Garner reflects here on the present threat to the Rule of Law arising from the fraught context of renegotiation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

10.11.2021