Verfassungsblog () is an academic

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

published in German and English, which focuses on the

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

of Germany and Europe in general. It was founded on 30 July 2009 by and is now published in cooperation with the

Berlin Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (german: Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) is an interdisciplinary institute founded in 1981 in Grunewald, Berlin, Germany, dedicated to research projects in the natural and social sciences. It is modeled ...

and

Humboldt University Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of ...

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Content

, a Berlin-based lawyer and journalist, opened the blog on 30 July 2009, stating that his blog was the first German-language blog on

. Beginning as a personal blog, Steinbeis soon invited others to publish their contributions on the website. The blog initially focused on

German law The law of Germany (german: das Recht Deutschlands), that being the modern German legal system (german: Deutsches Rechtssystem), is a system of civil law which is founded on the principles laid out by the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of G ...

, eventually broadening its focus to constitutional law in Europe. In 2011, it began to cooperate with the

. Verfassungsblog publishes content in four categories: blog posts, debates between multiple scholars, podcasts, and an editorial section. It is

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...

and all content published on the website receives a DOI for long-time archival. More than 1,000 people have published on the blog; contributors include

Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas (, ; ; born 18 June 1929) is a German social theorist in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. His work addresses communicative rationality and the public sphere. Associated with the Frankfurt School, Habermas's wor ...

, Pedro Cruz Villalón,

Giuliano Amato Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Later, he was Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted t ...

, and

Yuval Shany Yuval Shany is an Israel academic. He holds the Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in Public International Law at Hebrew University. An expert on humanitarian law and human rights, in 2018 Shany was elected Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Committe ...

. As of 2020, Steinbeis is still the chief editor of the blog.

Reception

The "Recht im Kontext" research association's external evaluation described the blog as "one of the most interesting and most widely read forums for constitutional law and policy" and a "must read" for legal scholars who research constitutional law in Europe. The School of Transnational Governance at the

European University Institute The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral teaching and research institute and an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established by the member states to contribu ...

described the blog as "one of the leading blogs on constitutional law in Europe". ''

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, s ...

'' described it as "an important discourse platform for European law". The 2020

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

rule of law report stated that Verfassungsblog is "A widely read platform for discussions on rule of law related topics

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

has gained in importance over recent years and has become a forum for both domestic as well as European discussions on the rule of law." Verfassungsblog has been cited in

case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a l ...

, including by Germany's

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...

and the

Supreme Court of Poland The Supreme Court ( pl, Sąd Najwyższy) is the highest court in the Republic of Poland. It is located in the Krasiński Square, Warsaw. One of the chambers of the Supreme Court, the Disciplinary Chamber, was suspended by a judgment of the C ...

References

External links

*{{url, https://verfassungsblog.de/ German-language websites English-language websites 2009 establishments in Germany Constitutional law journals European law journals Internet properties established in 2009