Habermas's European constitution: Catalyst,reconstruction, refounding

Jürgen Habermas has long been one of the EU's most prominent and influential critical friends, engaged as much at the level of legal and political praxis as social theory. In particular, he has a close and complex longstanding interest in the idea of an EU constitution. On the occasion of his 90th birthday, I want to discuss three treatments of the EU constitution located in Habermas's work: constitution as catalyst, as reconstruction, and as refounding. We find the different treatments, and the priorities that underscore them, emphasised at different times—partly reflecting changing political circumstances. We also observe some tension between the different approaches. Yet, as someone broadly sympathetic to his overall project, I argue that the best understanding of the Habermasian position, and certainly the most attractive version of that position in today's political climate, involves reconciling all three treatments within a single package.     

Need for standardizing performance evaluation criteria for judicial magistrates in India

This article, after deliberating on utility of performance evaluation (PE) for the judiciary and practices developed in different jurisdictions for PE, examines existing rules on PE of magistrates in India. From these rules, effectiveness and utility of criteria formulated for PE of magistrates by different high courts is mapped to show their shortcomings, and suggestions are provided for improvement. The article relies on the results of a survey among 35 senior district judges to understand how evaluators see their role in the PE. In the end, some suggestions are offered for reforming the existing system of PE – like delinking it from annual confidential reports, establishing independent commission for PE, adopting transparency in PE, widening gap between two evaluations and making PE as a deciding factor for upward career mobility of magistrates.     

Auswirkungen des Emissionshandels auf die Praxis

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Der Eigentumsschutz von Nutzungsmöglichkeiten—ein (un-)gelöstes Problem des Eigentumsgrundrechts?

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Constitutionalising Enlargement, Enlarging Constitutionalism

Abstract:   The relationship between the present enlargement and the development of an active constitutional discourse in the EU is a complex one. On the one hand, it may appear that the pre-existence and the current extension of the constitutional acquis threatens to confront the enlargement countries, many of whom are understandably jealous of their recently won constitutional autonomy, with a fait accompli whereby their membership of the club is conditional upon acceptance of an already mature constitutional doctrine and culture. On the other hand, EU constitutional discourse is by no means a closed book, or one which systematically favours old members over new. Rather, it remains an open-textured and provisional affair which is bound to address certain deep-rooted and urgent tensions over institutional design and fundamental values and which may do so in a manner that combats rather than accentuates the possibility of discrimination against the new members. In this regard, the current Convention on the Future of Europe and the Intergovernmental Conference to which it is directed represent a key episode in the ongoing development of the EU's constitutional identity.     

Progressive introduction of the Education Reform Act 1988 in the schools sector – the story so far

This article charts the phasing in of the Education Reform Act (ERA) 1988 reforms, showing the legal position reached by August 1991.     

Abandonments of unfinished nuclear power plants: A study of the causes of technology rejection after adoption

A major feature of the last decade has been the systematic and continuous abandonments of large investments in nuclear power plants by electric utilities. This paper investigates the mix of financial, regulatory, and other causes associated with these abandonments by investor owned electric utilities. Construction cost escalation, the major force in Nuclear plant abandonments, appears to result from multiple joint causes whose individual effects are difficult to isolate. Discussion of construction cost escalation focuses on the causes of inaccurate projections, the timeliness of management's reaction in making abandonment decisions, and the impact of unforeseen external events. Failure to recognize and control construction cost escalation has resulted in a consensus that additional Nuclear plants are unlikely to be built in the near future.