Author Archives: Mattias Kumm

Gegen obrigkeits­staatliche Tendenzen in der Krise. Massive Freiheitseingriffe und deren Grundrechtliche Rechtfertigung

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I. Der massiv eingreifende Staat unter grundrechtlichem Rechtfertigungsdruck

Die Grundentscheidung vor ĂŒber vier Wochen, der Corona-Pandemie mit einem weitgehenden Lockdown zu begegnen, war trotz der fĂŒr die Nachkriegszeit prĂ€zedenzlosen GrundrechtseinschrĂ€nkungen – bei aller berechtigter Kritik an FormalitĂ€ten (siehe hier und hier) und auch einiger Einzelmaßnahmen (siehe hier und hier) – grundsĂ€tzlich verfassungsrechtlich gerechtfertigt. Mehr noch, hĂ€tten die Bundes-und Landesregierungen einen Kurs verfolgt, der auf GrundrechtsbeschrĂ€nkungen verzichtet hĂ€tte und der Pandemie freien Lauf gewĂ€hrt hĂ€tte, um schnellstmöglich weitreichende ImmunitĂ€t und damit das relativ schnelle Ende der Pandemie bei möglichst geringem wirtschaftlichen Schaden zu erreichen, wĂ€re eine solche Lösung auf der Basis der zum Entscheidungszeitpunkt vorliegenden Datenlage möglicherweise eine verfassungswidrige Verletzung der staatlichen Schutzplicht gegenĂŒber dem Recht auf Leben und körperlicher Unversehrtheit potentieller Opfer der Krankheit. Continue reading →

„Trump ist nicht das Problem, sondern nur ein Symptom“

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Maximilian Steinbeis/Verfassungsblog: Das Impeachment-Verfahren gegen Donald Trump ist gescheitert. Welchen Schaden hat die US-Verfassung darĂŒber genommen?

Mattias Kumm: Der Schaden ist erst einmal ein politischer. Die Entscheidung ist strikt nach Parteilinie gefallen, fast kein Republikaner hat fĂŒr die Amtsenthebung gestimmt. Ein solches Verfahren wie das Impeachment kann, wenn es gut lĂ€uft, an einem konkreten Fall allgemein verbindliche Mindeststandards als Exempel statuieren. Diese Funktion hat das Verfahren jedenfalls nicht erfĂŒllt, sondern nur die tiefe Zerrissenheit des Landes sichtbar gemacht. Continue reading →

Donald Trump as Global Constitutional Breaching Experiment

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During the nearly 24 months since the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America, it has become commonplace to observe that the actions of this President are ‘not normal’. Examples of his abnormal behaviour are numerous, but for a quick refresher consider the following (very incomplete) list. Calling the director of the National Parks Service to find photos of the inauguration to disprove media claims that President Obama’s inauguration had a larger audience. Launching an investigation into voter fraud over the election he won, without any actual evidence of voter fraud. Hanging up on the Australian Prime Minister because he did not like a pre-existing refugee agreement between the US and Australia. Pressuring the director of the FBI to stop investigating Michael Flynn for his undisclosed dealings with Russia and Turkey. Banning major media outlets from White House press briefings because he did not like the coverage he received from these organisations. Accusing President Obama Continue reading →

The end of “the West” and the future of Global Constitutionalism

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1. The collapse of “the West”?

A century after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and more than 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the “Eastern Block”, we may now to be witnessing the collapse of the American Republic and the Western order it created and led after WWII. Whether NATO, the EU and the string of alliances the United States has built across Asia will continue to exist in three or five years is by no means a foregone conclusion, but it has become an open question. Continue reading →

Impeaching Remnants of the Authoritarian Past: A Constitutional Moment in South Korea

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Last Friday, effective March 10 at exactly 11:21 a.m., the sitting President Park Geun-hye was removed from her office by a unanimous decision of the South Korean Constitutional Court. With public life coming to a standstill as eyes focused on TV and internet live broadcasting, the acting Chief Justice delivered the court decision. The conclusion of the constitutional impeachment procedure marked the climax of a transformative ongoing constitutional moment in South Korea. Continue reading →

Taking “The Dark Side” Seriously: Constitutionalism and the Question of Constitutional Progress

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It is an obvious point that the global history of constitutionalism cannot plausibly be told as a simple progress narrative. The French and American Revolutions did not trigger an ineluctable steady march of progress. And the end of the Cold War did not bring about the realization of a world made up of liberal constitutional democracies integrated by a global rule of law. Yet it is worthwhile to pause and think more closely about the different ways in which progress narratives might be misguided and in which ways they might not be. Continue reading →

Filling the Vacancy left by Scalia: The Democratic Virtues of Delay

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With the death of Antonin Scalia, a vacancy of considerable political import for the future direction of the court has opened up. The quick-minded and rhetorically gifted conservative judge not only often provided a critical 5:4 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, he is also widely regarded as the intellectual leader of the conservative side of the legal establishment. With Presidential elections coming up later this year and the primaries in full swing, it has already become obvious, that appointing Scalia’s successor will not be an ordinary appointment process. Continue reading →