Rule of Law
Podcasts
How’s the Rule of Law in Poland? – In Conversation with Jakub Jaraczewski
In this podcast, Jakub Jaraczewski examines the progress the Bodnar ministry made in undoing the consequences of eight years of Law and Justice rule. He also discusses the challenges that lie ahead for Minister Żurek, with Nawrocki being widely seen as more confrontational than his predecessor in the Presidential Palace, Andrzej Duda.
17.11.2025
Podcasts
Can Courts Save Democracy? In Conversation with Samuel Moyn
Samuel Moyn discusses the risks of focusing too heavily on legality in the fight against rising authoritarianism. Since the beginning of the year, the Trump administration has been trampling on different sectors of the U.S. state. Numerous commentators, both from the U.S. and abroad, have argued that the issue of a potential “constitutional crisis”—one that could pave the way for authoritarianism—essentially hinges on whether the government complies with court orders. In contrast, Professors Ryan Doerfler and Samuel Moyn have argued that this focus is, at the very least, misplaced. So far, rather than protecting democracy, the courts have helped pave the way for the current situation. This raises important questions about the right pro-democratic strategy—not only in the U.S., but also in European countries such as Germany, where the far-right is on the rise and the judiciary is widely seen as the bulwark against authoritarianism. In this conversation, Samuel Moyn explains the [...]
16.06.2025
News
In Uncertain Waters: The Restoration of the Rule of Law in Poland
The outcome of Poland’s presidential election has the potential to significantly harm the process of rule of law restoration in the country. In her op-ed Anna Wójcik examines the current situation and explores what the future strategy of the pro-democratic governing coalition must entail.
11.06.2025
News
What is Union Citizenship For?
With its judgment in Case C-181/23, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has put an end to a long-standing debate: Malta’s citizenship-by-investment scheme is incompatible with EU law because it violates the “bond of solidarity and good faith” between the individual and the member state that Union citizenship requires. In her op-ed, Anja Bossow examines the potential implications of this new criterion—both its perils and its potential promise.
21.05.2025
Podcasts
Valeurs de l’Union – In Conversation with Luke Dimitrios Spieker
Since the seminal 2018 Portuguese Judges case, it has been established that violations of values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) can be litigated before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Currently, proceedings are ongoing in the European Commission’s infringement action against Hungary, the argument being that its anti-LGBTQI+ laws breach provisions of the internal market, several Charter rights, and, importantly, the common values enshrined in Article 2 TEU. The case, known as Valeurs de l’Union, has been hailed as the “largest human rights battle in EU history.” In this RevDem Rule of Law podcast episode, our co-managing editor, Dr. Oliver Garner, discusses the enforcement of the Union’s values at the Member State level as well as at the Union’s institutional level with Dr. Luke Dimitrios Spieker. Dr. Spieker is Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law and Postdoctoral [...]
22.04.2025
Videos
Rule of Law at a Crossroads: The Walesa Case as a Catalyst for Rebuilding Judicial Independence?
The CEU Democracy Institute Rule of Law Clinic, the Review of Democracy (RevDem), and the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law (BIICL) held a webinar on November 27, 2024, on the state of rebuilding judicial independence in Poland, using the landmark Walesa v. Poland case as a starting point. In this ruling, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) applied its pilot judgment procedure, giving the Polish government a one-year deadline (November 24, 2024) to meet essential rule of law standards. Just days after this deadline, the event assessed Poland’s progress and explored practical solutions for restoring trust in its judiciary. The remaining challenges include reforming the judicial appointment process, determining the status of ‘neo-judges’, and addressing issues with the independence of the Constitutional Tribunal. The discussion also took a broader European perspective, highlighting the role of the European Union, the Venice Commission’s recent Opinions on Poland, and [...]
11.02.2025
News
Authoritarian International Law? – In Conversation with Tom Ginsburg
International law is a live instrument in the current global geopolitical crisis. This latest RevDem Rule of Law podcast, conducted by Konstantin Kipp with Professor Tom Ginsburg, reflects upon the potentially authoritarian nature of international law in its function of enabling relations between states.
13.12.2024
News
The Rule of Law Restoration in Poland – Legal and Political Challenges
In this conversation with RevDem editor and a re:constitution fellow Kasia Krzyżanowska, Krzysztof Izdebski (Batory Foundation) and Bartosz Pilitowski (Court Watch Poland) discuss all the current challenges the Polish government is facing with the legal legacy left by the Law and Justice party. How to restore trust in the judicial institutions? How to deal with the irregularly established Constitutional Tribunal and the National Council of the Judiciary? What should be the role of the judges in designing the judicial system?
6.03.2024
News
The Future in the European Union — In Conversation with Massimo Fichera
In this conversation with RevDem editor Kasia Krzyżanowska, Massimo Fichera talks about the need to include the future when designing EU constitutional architecture, criticises the economic components’ dominance over the European integration process, and explains his idea of communal constitutionalism as a remedy to presentism of constitutional theories.
15.11.2023
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
The ‘Political and the ‘Legal’ Approach of the EU?
Gábor Halmai reviews Stefan Auer’s European Disunion. Democracy, Sovereignty and the Politics of Emergency.
22.09.2023
Interviews
Models of Judicial Independence in Europe: In Conversation with Pablo Castillo Ortiz
In this latest RevDem Rule of Law podcast, assistant editor Teodora Miljojkovic discusses the different models of judicial independence in Spain and beyond with Pablo Castillo Ortiz.
19.07.2023
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
