Attila Vincze joined the Current Reflections on EU Anti-Discrimination Law seminar (25–26 June 2026) in Trier. The seminar focused on current developments in EU anti-discrimination law, featuring experts from universities, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and European institutions📚

Meet the rest of the JUSTIN team at #ICONS2026! If you're in Dublin for ICON-S, come and connect with Katarína Šipulová @katarinasipulova.bsky.social, Patrick Leisure & Hubert Smekal @hubertsmekal.bsky.social — to discuss research, exchange ideas or just to say hello. See you at the conference!

The JUSTIN team is heading to #ICONS2026 in Dublin! Don't hesitate to say hello if you see David Kosar, @davidkosar.bsky.social Michal Kovalčík, Mathieu Leloup & Ondřej Kadlec @ondrejkadlec.bsky.social around the conference! #ICONS2026 #ConstitutionalLaw #JudicialStudies

📚 David Kosař @davidkosar.bsky.social joined the 2026 EuConst Symposium @euconst.bsky.social for Early-Career Scholars at the University of Hamburg last week. He provided feedback on Anne Bombay’s paper “Courts and the Vacant Seat of the Legislator” and engaged in discussions on constitutional law.

Our Ondřej Kadlec @ondrejkadlec.bsky.social joined CZDEMOS4AI conference on responsible & trustworthy AI in Czechia 🤖⚖️ He contributed to a legal workshop on a Czech legal AI assistant, focusing on transparency, accountability, data quality & human oversight. Proud to contribute to the discussion.

📢 New chapter by @davidkosar.bsky.social & @katarinasipulova.bsky.social in “Elgar Companion to Female Chief Justices”, a monograph by edited by Erin F. Delaney efieldingd.bsky.social and Rosalind Dixon! 🏛️ It tells stories of Eliška Wagnerová & Iva Brožová in the post-communist Czech judiciary ⚖️

Happy to welcome Wojciech Zomerski, Max Weber Fellow at the EUI & researcher at the Centre for Legal Education and Social Theory (University of Wrocław). 📃Executive Dominance and the Rise of Populism in Power: A Mutually Reinforcing Dynamic? 👏 Thank you, Wojciech, for the engaging discussion. 📚

Last week davidkosar.bsky.social & katarinasipulova.bsky.social participated in the workshop "The Legal Complex and Autocratization" in Oñati. David presented 'Judicial Overstay'. Katarína a NET-ROL paper on judicial associations & the rule of law. 📄Read it online: www.net-rol.eu/publications...

Last week, Lukáš Hamřík joined the LSA Annual Meeting (May 28–31) in San Francisco & presented his research on how political parties across the EU respond to democratic backsliding in member states. Happy to see our team's represented. Well done, Lukáš! 👏

New blog post by @davidkosar.bsky.social on Hungary’s judiciary after Orbán: How can democratic reform avoid repeating the mistakes of court-packing? “Don’t Imitate – Innovate!” argues for building a more resilient, transparent, and trusted judiciary. 🔗 verfassungsblog.de/fixing-the-h...

New publication alert 📚 Our team member Michal Kovalčík has co-authored a new EuConst case note with Jakub Stádník (Faculty of Law, Charles University): "Preaching Consistency, Drinking Inconsistency". 🔓 Open Access – freely available to read. 🔗See the link below. 👏Congrats to both authors!

📢 The Oxford Global Society recently hosted the "Courts Under Scrutiny" roundtable. @katarinasipulova.bsky.social joined fellow leading scholars to debate judicial resistance, how courts act in gray areas, and the limits of judicial populism 🏛️⚖️ 🔗 Full debate here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=36hI...

🚨 New on EU Law Live Attila Vincze & Patrick Leisure on Brandl (C-286/25): EU law requires compensation to reflect real economic loss — not merely exist on paper. ⚖️ A key ruling in the Hungarian usufruct saga. #EULaw #CJEU 🔗Find the link to the article in comments.

Patrick Leisure will spend his mobility phase at the DCU Anti-Bullying Centre working on his project “Schools and Positive Obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights: What Implications for Democracy in Europe?” Find Patrick's Fellow Profile here: www.reconstitution.eu/fellows/deta...

Join a discussion "Courts Under Scrutiny: Judges and Democracy" with @katarinasipulova.bsky.social with Tom Daly, Agnieszka Kubal, Lisa Hilbink and Richard Clary this Thursday. Details and registration below ⬇️

Last Friday @davidkosar.bsky.social joined "Transition 2.0 - Hungary" at @mpil.de discussing how court-packing tools—once used to capture Hungary’s judiciary—could, with legal safeguards, help restore constitutional democracy. ⚖️🇪🇺

🏅The conference "ECtHR & Sport" last week at Faculty of Law MU explored ECtHR case law in sport—incl. arbitration, doping, expression, gender & fundamental rights. Michal Kovalčík discussed Article 8, focusing on state obligations & athletes’ privacy, also on the role of sports bodies & arbitration.

Prof. Vladislava Stoyanova talked on positive obligations under the ECHR 🎓⚖️She explored many aspects of these obligations and the challenges of clarity and predictability in case law 📚 Great to welcome colleagues from Prague, Vienna, and guests from the Czech Constitutional Court 🇨🇿👏

What happens when courts answer legal questions with AI? 🤖⚖️ The Czech Constitutional Court’s new chatbot isn’t just a search tool—it shapes how people understand the law. But who is accountable? Who shapes legal meaning in the age of AI? More @verfassungsblog.de in text by @ondrejkadlec.bsky.social

📢 Latest article by @davidkosar.bsky.social & Attila Vincze is out! It explores how unwritten constitutional conventions function in Central European civil law systems 🏛️ Why do Czechia & Poland diverge? ⚖️ 🔗Read more here: doi.org/10.1093/ajcl/avaf031

Delighted to host @anabobic.bsky.social at the JUSTIN seminar for her talk on “Hierarchies of human beings and freedom under EU law.” 🎓 Great discussion also with colleagues from Constitutional Law & Political Science! 💬 Thank you Ana for the visit!

On 10–11 Feb 2026, the “Unwritten Constitutionalism and Informality” conference debated unwritten norms, constitutional culture & institutional resilience, key reasearch areas of the ERC INFINITY & the UCNP projects @ucnpproject.bsky.social Read the full article 👇Link in comments.

Great seminar last week with Agnieszka Kubal (in person) & Anna Ratecka (online) on abortion governance in post-2023 Poland. Their paper explores how executive guidelines reshape access amid parliamentary deadlock—creating “liminal law” and structured legal uncertainty. ⚖️📚

We kicked of the Unwritten Constitutionalism & Informality Conference today in Brno bettween JUSTIN and the UCNP project @ucnpproject.bsky.social organized also with Durham, EUI & uOttawa, within the ERC INFINITY & UCNP projects at Masaryk University.

⚖️📘 Last week, 2nd edition of European Convention on Human Rights. Commentary was launched at the Constitutional Court. The updated volume reflects 13 years of ECtHR case law & procedural changes. Proud to see @davidkosar.bsky.social @katarinasipulova.bsky.social & Michal Kovalčík among the authors

Last week, our colleagues @davidkosar.bsky.social & @katarinasipulova.bsky.social spoke at a Supreme Court seminar on judicial decision-making in times of deep societal polarization. David discussed political & ideological pressures on judges; Katarína the impact of public opinion & social media.

🌍 At yesterday’s JUSTIN seminar, Zinaida Bechná (IIPS, FSS MU) presented the HORIZON Twinning project CENTREPEACE @centrepeace.bsky.social and research from “The Clash of Diffusions” on political change in post-Soviet in-between countries, with a focus on Georgia.

🧑‍⚖️🤖 Who speaks for the Constitutional Court today? A new Respekt commentary by @ondrejkadlec.bsky.social examines the AI chatbot on the Czech Constitutional Court’s website—and the institutional questions it raises about responsibility, limits, and court–public communication. 🔗Link below in Czech.

👏 Congrats to @ondrejkadlec.bsky.social on winning the GAČR funding for the 3-year JUDITA project! It will explore how court digitization and data shape court management & evaluation of judges, and their impact on independence, accountability & efficiency with an interdisciplinary team.

Can EU State aid law defend media freedom? Magyar Hang challenges €1.1bn in Hungarian state ads allegedly favouring pro-government media. If Commission acts, this case could test whether State aid law can curb media capture. Attila Vincze in EStAL. 🔗below #RuleOfLaw #MediaFreedom #StateAid #EUlaw

@davidkosar.bsky.social took part in the international Cyberspace Conference at the Faculty of Law, MU (28–29 Nov). ⚖️💻 He commented in the debate alongside Vice-Dean Radim Polčák and keynote speaker Burkhard Schafer (Uni of Edinburgh), discussing digitalisation and AI in law. 🔗 cyberspace.muni.cz

🎙️ New Podcast Episode! Our colleagues @ehanelt.bsky.social & Attila Vincze join Arena Europa to unpack how Hungary’s judiciary is managed in a competitive authoritarian system — from subtle pressure tools to why resistance has been limited. 🎧 Worth a listen! Link ⬇ www.sv.uio.no/arena/englis...

🎉 Exciting news! 🏆 @katarinasipulova.bsky.social has received the MUNI SCIENTIST AWARD 2025 for her article “The Light and the Dark Side of Judicial Resistance” in Law & Policy. 👏 Congratulations, Katka! Find the links to the article and the full list of awardees in the comments. 📷 Martin Indruch

📢 Latest article from Patrick Leisure explores why ECtHR went from tolerating corporal punishment in the 1990s to recognizing verbal abuse as mental violence in schools by 2021 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YY9JJ...

🏛️ On 27 Nov @katarinasipulova.bsky.social @davidkosar.bsky.social & Attila Vincze spoke at the conference “Zrcadlo minulosti: jak na (re)demokratizaci?” at FSS MU. 🔹 Šipulová & Kosař discussed judicial independence 🔹 Vincze outlined key developments in the Hungarian judiciary over the past 15 years

📢 Our colleague @davidkosar.bsky.social joined the Scholar-in-Residence Conference 2025 “What Constitutional Future for Ukraine?” in Hamburg, speaking with on judicial independence, a key element for Ukraine’s democratic future. We’re proud of his contribution 👏

📅 On Monday, we hosted Tomáš Koref at our seminar. 📄 We discussed his paper "Mining Legal Arguments to Study Judicial Formalism..." with commentary from @ondrejkadlec.bsky.social. 🙏 Thanks, Tomáš, for the insights!

📢 New article by Mathieu Leloup in ICON•S! 📰 @icon-s.bsky.social How do supranational courts reshape the domestic separation of powers? ⚖️🌍 It discusses how the case law of supranational courts forms a blueprint for domestic separation of powers🏛️ 🔗Open Access text: academic.oup.com/icon/article...

📢Latest article by @ondrejkadlec.bsky.social is out in International & Comparative Law Quarterly! @iclq.bsky.social In this piece, Ondřej Kadlec explores two ways courts make use of their grand chambers — the Collective Control Model👥 and the Jurisprudential Model📚 🔗Read more here: bit.ly/43mm2DN

🏅 Congrats to @davidkosar.bsky.social awarded the Bronze Antonín Randa Medal for his work on judicial self-government and European judicial systems! The medal was presented by the Union of Czech Lawyers (Jednota českých právníků) in Prague’s Karolinum. 🔗 www.em.muni.cz/udalosti/183...

📖 Last week, Attila Vincze participated in the Erasmus programme at the University of Würzburg, where he delivered lectures on European Administrative Law. The visit provided an excellent opportunity for academic exchange and discussions with students and colleagues 🍂

🚨 New Working Paper drop! 🚨 Mathieu Leloup explores how fundamental rights can reshape government architecture through the idea of structural rights — rights that, when enforced, directly alter institutions and the separation of powers. Read more 👉 justin.law.muni.cz/media/396614...

📢 Our second article in Common Market Law Review! Insight the ECJ’s NFK judgment — a key episode in Hungary’s usufruct saga 🏛️ It highlights the real-world stakes of legal uncertainty, showing how EU law safeguards fundamental rights ⚖️ 👉 Read more here: kluwerlawonline.com/journalartic...

📢 One of our two new articles in Common Market Law Review! In its Grand Chamber judgment CV v Ministerstvo vnitra ČR, the ECJ reshaped the concept of safe country of origin in EU asylum 🏛 This sparked debates on the limits of judicial power ⚖️ 👉 Read more: kluwerlawonline.com/journalartic...

Last week @davidkosar.bsky.social joined the ELU-S 2025 Conference in Prague hosted by Charles University Law Faculty. He presented: 👉 Perceptions of Judicial Governance in Europe 👉 Embedding Strategies of the European Apex Courts Big thanks to @elu-society.bsky.social for such an inspiring event!

Exciting news: Patrick Leisure is a re:constitution Fellow 2025/26! 🎉 His project explores states’ positive obligations under the ECHR & schools, inspired by Amy Guttman’s Democratic Education. He follows colleagues @katarinasipulova.bsky.social & @ehanelt.bsky.social from last year. See link below👇

📢 Check out the new publication by @davidkosar.bsky.social in German Law Journal, Special Issue: Constitutional Judging under Pressure📰 The article explores strategies European apex courts can use to strengthen public trust through communication ⚖️ 🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Yesterday @ehanelt.bsky.social & @fzillessen.bsky.social (Verfassungsblog’s Judicial Resilience Project) brought a paper "Analysing Democratic Backsliding Before It Happens: Studying Judicial Resilience in Germany Through Scenario Analysis" 🔗Follow the project on: verfassungsblog.de/justiz-proje...

Our @hamriklukas.bsky.social took the stage at @uaces.bsky.social in Liverpool🎶– home of The Beatles! 📃Paper: 'Rule of Law as a New Cleavage in EU Politics? Political Parties’ Responsiveness to the Democratic Backsliding in the European Union' When it comes to democracy, we can’t just “Let It Be!"

📢 @davidkosar.bsky.social & Patrick Leisure introduce the concept of judicial overstay ⚖️ and argue that we should pay more attention to this transnational phenomenon 🌍. 📖 Read their new article on the IACL blog ✍️📰 🔗 blog-iacl-aidc.org/2025-posts/2...