Contentious legality in decentralized governance: The rise and decline of cannabis social clubs in Spain.

Medicines shortages are a major health policy challenge in Ecuador and reflect inconsistencies in the architecture of public-sector medicines access policy. This Health Policy paper, grounded in the policy design framework, synthesises administrative records and policy documents (2015-2024) to show how budget contraction, volatile execution, and weak ex ante needs assessment hinder the translation of allocations into sustained availability. Procurement has shifted from a centralised electronic catalogue towards more fragmented purchasing modalities, while limited transparency in inventory management sustains uncertainty about needs and stock. Governance constraints, including institutional weakness, gaps in timely information, and extensive Constitutional Court oversight, further strain decision-making. Strengthening coherence across financing, procurement, information systems, and governance, alongside more stable leadership, is essential to translate formal commitments into reliable access to essential medicines.

Taxes play a vital role as the backbone of fiscal sovereignty that ensures the sustainability of national development. However, the institutional position of the Tax Court under the executive branch has long created ambiguity and doubts regarding judicial independence for justice seekers. This study aims to analyze the institutional problems of the Tax Court and the implications of Constitutional Court Decision Number 26/PUU-XXI/2023 for strengthening the independence of the tax judiciary in Indonesia. This study employed a normative legal research method with statutory and conceptual approaches, which were analyzed descriptively-analytically based on secondary legal materials. The results showed that the Constitutional Court’s decision has ended the unconstitutionality of the dual supervisory system by placing the Tax Court entirely under the Supreme Court. This transformation changes the institutional paradigm from an executive regime to a purely judicial regime in order to reduce the potential for conflicts of interest and bureaucratic bias in the trial process. This study emphasizes that the implementation of a one-roof system is an important model for realizing legal certainty, strengthening judicial independence, and increasing trust in Indonesia’s taxation system. In addition, strengthening the dignity of the tax judiciary needs to be followed by the effectiveness of decision enforcement so that tax justice does not stop at the pronouncement of the ruling, but also provides a tangible impact for taxpayers.

Abstract The article discusses the unfolding of the anticorruption campaign in Romania, from pre-accession to present day. Its argument is that the risk-induced anticorruption paradigm has produced effects that have been from the very beginning irreconcilable with liberal-constitutional normativity. To generate results, normative understandings regarding fundamental rights, institutional autonomy, and judicial independence were subordinated to the policy imperatives and manipulated to achieve them. In the long run, normative considerations resurfaced as a backlash, in equally distorted and instrumental forms. I argue that a single-minded pursuit of policy imperatives thought conducive to risk-abatement has not only not reduced or managed the risk of corruption but also has generated more intractable, systemic threat patterns. Some of these paradoxical, unintended consequences are not contained, resulting in normative spillover within the common constitutional area. The first part of my paper discusses the politicisation of the judicial system. A second substantive section analyses the protracted saga of judicial salaries and pensions and repeated attempts to manipulate the retirement conditions in order to generate personnel and policy changes. A third probes into the dialogues between the CJEU, the Romanian Constitutional Court and the High Court of Cassation and Justice regarding the statute of limitations and its implications.

Speaking—and Silencing—The Constitution: A Semiotic Analysis of Jordan’s Constitutional Court Judgments (2025)

Constitutional documents include limitations on their amendment, established by the original constituent authority. These limitations are divided into procedural limitations, substantive limitations, and temporal limitations. Accordingly, this research raises an important question: what if the authority empowered to amend the constitution violates the limitations imposed upon its power in the constitutional document? In such a case, may constitutional amendments be subject to judicial review? This study seeks to answer this question by setting out the positions of comparative constitutional courts in a number of states regarding the review of constitutional amendments. It also examines constitutions that contain explicit provisions stipulating that constitutional amendments are subject to judicial review. This subject has been addressed through three principal axes: first, the legal basis of judicial review of constitutional amendments; secondly, the justifications supporting judicial review of constitutional amendments; and thirdly, the approaches of comparative constitutional courts regarding the review of constitutional amendments. This is undertaken within an integrated framework combining the analytical, inductive, descriptive, and comparative research methodologies. The study concludes that, in light of the limited number of constitutions that adopt the principle of judicial review of the constitutionality of constitutional amendments, the principal recommendation lies in the necessity of constitutional entrenchment of this principle, particularly in view of the inclusion within constitutional documents of constraints upon the amending power. Violation of these constraints constitutes a deviation of power that necessitates the imposition of a sanction.

Abstract Constitutional Courts (CCs) have significant responsibilities, including interpreting the constitution, safeguarding fundamental rights, and ensuring that laws adhere to constitutional principles. However, the effectiveness of CCs’ decisions in promoting democratic processes and upholding the rule of law remains a subject of debate. This is particularly true when court decisions grapple with sensitive societal issues such as women’s identity. The Turkish Constitutional Court’s (TCC) decisions on married women’s surname rights exemplify this tension, since it has consistently upheld legislation mandating that married women adopt their husbands’ surnames. This study focuses specifically on TCC cases concerning married women’s surname rights, which have been criticized for perpetuating gender inequality and restricting women’s autonomy. It aims to explore how decisions by CCs can potentially erode democratic values and seeks to illustrate how TCC rulings on married women’s surnames exemplify cases where constitutional adjudication might not achieve desired rule of law outcomes.

This study examines Decision No. 8/Pdt.G.S/2024 of the Mataram District Court concerning the execution of fiduciary security following Constitutional Court Decision No. 18/PUU-XVII/2019. It focuses on the prohibition of unilateral execution by creditors and the legal reasoning behind the rejection of the debtor’s claims for material, immaterial, and loss-of-use damages. Using a normative juridical methodology, the study finds that the judges consistently applied the Constitutional Court’s interpretation, declaring the unilateral repossession of the vehicle without a court order as an unlawful act. However, the rejection of all compensation claims reflects insufficient protection for the debtor’s actual losses, particularly loss of use. The decision also highlights a normative gap regarding proof of non-economic damages in fiduciary execution cases. Therefore, more operational judicial guidelines are needed to ensure that civil judgments provide not only formal justice but also substantive justice for debtors.

This study aims to analyze the limitation of Fixed-Term Employment Agreements (PKWT) based on Constitutional Court Decision Number 168/PUU-XXI/2023 and to examine the legal consequences for employers and workers if PKWT exceeds the maximum five-year term. This research employs a normative legal method using statutory and conceptual approaches by analyzing labor law regulations and relevant legal doctrines concerning employment agreements. The study focuses on examining the legal interpretation and binding force of the Constitutional Court decision related to PKWT duration limits. The results demonstrate that the five-year maximum duration of PKWT constitutes an imperative legal norm designed to ensure legal certainty, balance of rights and obligations, and protection of workers’ job security. The Constitutional Court decision clarifies the ambiguity in previous regulations regarding PKWT duration, thereby preventing potential misuse of fixed-term contracts that may disadvantage workers. If employers implement PKWT exceeding the five-year limit, the employment relationship automatically converts into an Indefinite-Term Employment Agreement (PKWTT) by operation of law. This conversion imposes additional legal responsibilities on employers, including the obligation to provide stronger employment guarantees and fulfillment of normative labor rights. Therefore, the decision reinforces the legal framework governing fixed-term employment arrangements while strengthening worker protection within Indonesia’s labor law system.

The position of the Notary as a public official who is authorized to make authentic deeds places him in a strategic position in the civil law proof system as well as in the criminal law enforcement process. In practice, it is not uncommon for a notary to be called and checked at the stage of the investigation regarding the deed drawn up by him. This study aims to analyze the concept of notary position in the investigation process as well as the mechanism of summoning and examination of notaries as witnesses after the decision of the Constitutional Court decision Number 49/PUU-X/2012. The method used is normative legal research with a legislative and conceptual approach, especially to the Notary Office Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure. The results showed that notaries can be called as witnesses, experts, or related parties, but still bound by the obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the position. After the Constitutional Court decision, the mechanism for calling notaries must still pay attention to the principle of protecting positions through special procedures as stipulated in Article 66 of the UUJN. Therefore, a balance is needed between the authority of investigators in uncovering criminal acts and the protection of the dignity and independence of the notary profession in order to ensure certainty, justice, and legal expediency.

In order to examine the legal foundation upon which laws are built, this research study began by examining the historical context that followed the evolution of the Palestinian judicial system in general and the problem of monitoring the constitutionality of legislation in particular. Up to the provisions governing the court's operations, it has judicial oversight over the constitutionality of laws in Palestine, which serves as a legal pillar upon which the Supreme Constitutional Court of Palestine bases its work. It focuses on the nature of the court's rulings and decisions to confirm how much they adhere to the standards of constitutional justice. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, we must follow the descriptive analytical approach, which will enable an accurate description of how the Supreme Constitutional Court in Palestine dealt with the issue of oversight of the constitutionality of laws and the legal basis on which judicial oversight of the constitutionality of laws in Palestine is based, and then work To analyze and synthesize it in a way that reveals to us a cognitive interpretation that leads us to draw research results that will enable us to evaluate the established supervisory model and judge its ability to establish standards of constitutional justice.

The Political Funds Act stipulates provisions that prohibit political contributions from corporations or organizations, as well as contributions made using funds associated with such entities. These regulations are understood as measures intended to prevent the systemic evils arising from the collusion between politics and business, and to ensure that the democratic will-formation process or the intent of its individual members is not distorted by the disproportionate political influence of corporations or organizations. While the Constitutional Court of Korea has maintained in its rulings that the specific measure in question does not infringe upon the freedom of political expression, a meticulous review is required regarding judicial decisions that justify unilateral and comprehensive state control, especially considering the “preferred position” of free speech under the Constitution. In this regard, it is instructive to analyze and compare the legal doctrines established by the U.S. Supreme Court in similar contexts. A primary justification for banning corporate or organizational political contributions lies in the profound concern over the distortion of public will. Therefore, the critical issue is how to devise effective countermeasures against such distortion. Relying on government power to rectify these imbalances risks inviting arbitrariness and the abuse of authority, which may prove to be an imprudent choice under the ideals of liberty. Rather, it is more desirable to secure a space for evolution and progress by guaranteeing a sphere of autonomous deliberation and judgment rooted in individual freedom. To advance such institutional reform, it is essential that the principle of publicity—achieved through the transparent disclosure of relevant information—be recognized as the primary guiding principle.

Regional head elections with a single candidate pair are a consequence of the dynamic legal framework for regional elections in Indonesia, particularly after the Constitutional Court, through Decision Number 100/PUU-XIII/2015, permitted the implementation of regional elections with a single candidate as an effort to ensure the continuity of democracy. However, the high nomination threshold has led to an increase in the number of single candidate pairs, thus creating a gap in the number of democratic control by the public. This research seeks to identify and examine the regulatory framework governing regional head elections involving a single candidate pair both prior to and following the issuance of The Constitutional Court ruling No. 60/PUU-~II/2024, as well as to analyze the legal politics underlying such elections based on the prevailing regulations. The study employs a normative juridical method, utilizing statutory and conceptual approaches. The analysis is conducted through the examination of legal materials by interpreting, evaluating, and critically reviewing relevant laws and regulations, alongside other pertinent legal sources. The findings reveal significant regulatory developments in regional head elections subsequent to the Constitutional Court’s decision. The previously stringent nomination threshold set at 20% of DPRD seats or 25% of valid votes was reduced to a tiered threshold of 10%, 8.5%, 7.5%, and 6.5%, adjusted according to the size of the Final Voters List (DPT). Furthermore, the study highlights that the existence of blank columns signifies regulatory deficiencies, as they do not constitute legal subjects possessing rights and obligations, thereby potentially giving rise to uncertainty in governance. The Constitutional Court’s decision is regarded as a legal product that demonstrates a responsive orientation toward democratization needs; however, it has not yet achieved full responsiveness, as ambiguities remain concerning its authority and implications. In general, this decision reflects a trajectory of legal development that increasingly aligns with the ideals of ius constituendum.

The development of constitutional judicial practice in Indonesia shows that the interpretation of the constitution by the Constitutional Court is not static, but experiences dynamics along with changes in the legal, political, and social context. This condition creates an urgency to examine in depth the direction and pattern of constitutional interpretation used by the Constitutional Court in its latest decisions, given its significant implications for the constitutional system and the protection of citizens' constitutional rights. This study aims to analyze the dynamics of constitutional interpretation in the recent Indonesian Constitutional Court decisions, focusing on the interpretation methods used and the form of shifting interpretation approaches that occur. This study uses a normative juridical approach with a case study method of six Constitutional Court decisions, which are collected through a documentary study of the law testing decisions and analyzed qualitatively through content analysis techniques and comparison between decisions. The results of the study show that the Constitutional Court tends to adopt a teleological and progressive interpretation in strategic matters, accompanied by variations in the application of judicial activism and judicial restraint approaches, which reflects shifts and inconsistencies in the interpretation of the constitution in certain contexts. This study concludes that the dynamics of constitutional interpretation by the Constitutional Court contribute to the evolution of constitutional law in Indonesia, while affirming the strategic role of the Constitutional Court in shaping the direction of constitutional practice through the construction of constitutional meaning

The increasing prevalence of cross-border marriages necessitates robust legal frameworks governing matrimonial property rights, particularly regarding post-nuptial agreements. Indonesia's Constitutional Court Decision No. 69/PUU-XIII/2015 marked a significant departure from traditional restrictions by permitting post-nuptial agreements, a development with profound implications for mixed marriages involving Indonesian nationals and foreign spouses. This research examines the legal consequences of post-nuptial agreements in cross-border marriages under Indonesian law, analyzing how this constitutional development interacts with property ownership restrictions, citizenship regulations, and private international law principles. Employing normative legal research methodology with comparative, statutory, and case-law approaches, this study analyzes Indonesian marriage law (Law No. 1/1974 as amended by Law No. 16/2019), citizenship law (Law No. 12/2006), and agrarian restrictions, comparing these with the Netherlands, Singapore, and Australia. The research reveals that while Constitutional Court Decision 69/2015 expanded spousal autonomy by permitting agreements to be concluded at any time during the subsistence of marriage rather than exclusively before marriage, implementation challenges persist due to inadequate harmonization between marriage law, property law, and immigration regulations. The findings demonstrate critical gaps in legal certainty regarding the retroactive application of post-nuptial agreements, recognition across jurisdictions, and their effectiveness in navigating foreign ownership restrictions on Indonesian land. This study contributes to international family law scholarship by providing a comprehensive English-language analysis of Indonesia's post-nuptial agreement framework in cross-border contexts, offering recommendations for legislative reform aligned with private international law standards.

Abstract Public opinion surveys are an indispensable tool for studying politics in Southeast Asia. But publicly available data are often in short supply in the region. To this end, we introduce SIKAP, a harmonized and open-access dataset of 58 weekly surveys ( N = 95, 923) conducted in advance of, during, and in the aftermath of the 2024 Indonesian general election. We describe the data collection procedures and assess the quality of the sample. We demonstrate its utility by analyzing the effects of two political events on Indonesian voters’ attitudes in almost real time. First, we show that a constitutional crisis in August 2024 where the coalition of then President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) defied the Constitutional Court’s rulings led to a sharp but ultimately temporary decline in the public’s approval of Jokowi. Second, we show that voters who supported candidates other than Prabowo Subianto in the general election report large and persistent declines in support for democracy in the aftermath.

General elections are the primary mechanism for realizing popular sovereignty under the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Constitutional Court Decision No. 135/PUU-XXII/2024 marks a major shift in electoral design by separating national and regional elections, departing from the simultaneous model affirmed in Decision No. 55/PUU-XVII/2019. Although final and binding, the ruling creates a normative void due to the absence of transitional provisions. This study analyzes the constitutional implications of this paradigm shift, examines its consistency with prior jurisprudence, and evaluates regulatory transition options to preserve legal certainty and democratic legitimacy. Using a normative juridical method with conceptual and statutory approaches, the research finds that the divergence between the two decisions weakens legal certainty and risks institutional disruption, electoral disputes, and declining public trust ahead of the 2029 election. The case highlights tensions in the Court’s evolving role and underscores the urgent need for legislative action to establish clear transitional regulations to safeguard electoral stability and democratic legitimacy.

The article analyzes the institution of citizenship in federal states using the example of the RussianFederation. Despite the federal structure, which involves the distribution of power, most countries (includingthe Russian Federation) adhere to a model of unified federal citizenship as a key consolidating factor. Specialattention is given to the evolution of legal regulation in the Russian Federation, where the initial constitutionaldualism has been consistently replaced by a monistic model. The article consistently reveals the role of the1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation, the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the RussianFederation, and the extensive work on harmonizing regional legislation, which resulted in the exclusion ofprovisions on republican citizenship from the basic laws of all constituent entities of the Federation. The articleconcludes that a unified citizenship serves as a fundamental basis for the integrity, stability, and consolidationof a multinational federal state.

The article provides an overview of the legal, political, and social framework conditions and developments relating to euthanasia in selected countries. It has been demonstrated that the practice of euthanasia was initially subject to certain narrowly defined conditions (e.g., incurable or terminal illnesses) in many countries and was expanded within arelatively short period of time, both in terms of legal access requirements and practical application. In countries such as the Netherlands and Canada, active euthanasia was also permitted from the outset and accounts for the vast majority of documented cases there.In contrast to the international developments described above, Germany is still in the process of legal and social reorientation following the 2020 ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court. Despite the ruling's establishment of the fundamental admissibility of assisted suicide, apaucity of procedural and institutional regulations exists to facilitate uniform practice.At this time, acomparison of developments in Germany with those in other countries is not possible, due to the absence of separate statistics on assisted suicide cases. The Federal Statistical Office continues to record and report both "regular" and assisted suicides in the same category of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The figures published by euthanasia organizations have not been officially verified, but they do indicate asignificant increase in documented cases since 2020.

This study examines the constitutional validity of the Sekolah Rakyat program as a state mechanism for fulfilling the right to education under Articles 31 and 34 of the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia. Despite the formal guarantee of tuition-free education, structural barriers—including subsistence costs, transportation expenses, and opportunity loss—continue to prevent economically marginalized groups from accessing education. This research employs a qualitative descriptive-analytical method using a constitutional law approach, supported by statutory, doctrinal, and jurisprudential analysis, including Constitutional Court Decision Number 3/PUU-XXII/2024. The findings reveal that Sekolah Rakyat, through its fully funded boarding school model, transforms abstract constitutional guarantees into substantive educational access by eliminating structural resource barriers that conventional free education policies fail to address. This study advances constitutional law scholarship by conceptualizing state-funded boarding education as an enforceable constitutional obligation rather than a discretionary social policy. However, the research also identifies critical risks related to institutional fragmentation, governance incoherence, and fiscal sustainability, which may undermine its constitutional function. Therefore, the study argues that comprehensive legal institutionalization, integrated governance, and sustainable public financing are essential to ensure the program’s permanence and effectiveness. This research provides theoretical and policy contributions by strengthening the legal framework for socio-economic rights protection and offering a model for embedding transformative education policies within binding constitutional obligations to achieve substantive equality and sustainable human capital development.