Berlin/Brussels. The Rule of Law as a fundamental principle of the European Union is increasingly under pressure in some European Member States. It is against this background that the German Bar Association (DAV) and Verfassungsblog are jointly launching the podcast “We need to talk about the Rule of Law” today, on 23 September 2020. The date could have not been chosen better, since the European Commission is aiming to publish its first annual Rule of law report next week. The podcast series will cover 12 episodes in 12 weeks and will highlight this important topic from all different angles. In each episode, one particular aspect will be debated in English with 3-4 political and/or legal actors and experts from Germany and abroad.
The fact that the rule of law is coming under increasing pressure is by no means a national problem, but a European problem with concrete effects for citizens and legal actors in the respective Member State. To illustrate this European dimension DAV President Kindermann together with more 50 Lawyers’ Organisations had called for a March of European Robes in Brussels in February. The Covid-19 pandemic has not only made it impossible to hold such an event in the foreseeable future. It has also overshadowed the difficulties the rule of law faces in parts of Europe, as Verfassungsblog has reported in “Corona Constitutional” since the beginning of the Corona crisis. Verfassungsblog and DAV want to take a stand on this very important topic in this special time and put the rule of law into public focus.
To kick off the podcast, the first episode on 23 September 2020 discusses the topic “Constitutional Courts”. Participants will be Stanisław Biernat, former Vice-President of the Polish Constitutional Court, Pedro Cruz Villalón, former President of the Spanish Constitutional Court and former Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union and the constitutional law professor Michaela Hailbronner, together with Max Steinbeis, editor of Verfassungsblog.
The podcast will be available on all major platforms (Spotify, Deezer, I-Tunes (to follow)) and podcatchers as well as on the websites of DAV and Verfassungsblog.