The “Trade Policy Review Mechanism” passed within the framework of the Uruguay Round is intended to increase the transparency of national trade policies and to improve adherence to the rules of GATT. The following article offers a first evaluation of the new instrument.

International trade in services has not been governed by the GATT in the past. Opinion is divided over whether there is a real need for any separate agreement on services. The following article asks to what extent flows of goods and services can be properly separated in the first place, and...

In der Öffentlichkeit besteht Konsens darüber, dass das deutsche Rentensystem dringend reformiert werden muss, da das Verhaltnis von Beitragszahlern zu Rentnern immer ungünstiger werden wird. Die Regierungskommission "Verlasslicher Generationenvertrag" hat Ende Marz 2020 in ihrem...

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only caused millions to die and even more to lose their jobs, it has also prompted more governments to simultaneously declare a state of emergency than ever before enabling us to compare their decisions more directly. States of emergency usually imply the extension...

Nine out of 10 constitutions contain explicit emergency provisions, intended to help governments cope with extraordinary events that endanger many people or the existence of the state. We ask two questions: (1) does the constitutionalization of emergency provisions help governments to cope with...

Constitutional democracy is in decline and many would-be autocrats try to transgress constitutional constraints. Here, we introduce the concept of militant constitutionalism, which suggests a number of constitutional rules that could make constitutions more resilient to attempts to undermine...

Media freedom is often curtailed in the wake of terrorist attacks. In this contribution, we ask whether constitutional provisions that are intended—directly or indirectly—to protect media freedom affect the degree to which press freedom is curtailed after terrorist incidents. We find that...