A wonderful academic experience: I was at the World Congress of Constitutional Law at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa this week – together with about seven hundred constitutional scholars from over a hundred different countries. For the first time in its history, the World Congress is being held on the African continent. It was about time! The pride of the organizing team led by David Bilchitz is palpable. Congratulations on a great Conference!
I gave two presentations: A talk on “The Non-Bindingness of Ombuds” in the Workshop on “The Fourth Branch: Design and Practice” that systematically and theoretically explores the significance of the lack of binding remedial powers for ombuds institutions, and another talk titled “Comparative and Empirical Insights into Judicial Practice: Towards an Integrative Model of Proportionality” in the Workshop on “Proportionality Principle in Constitutional Law – New Challenges to a Conventional Judicial Construction.” Based on an empirical and comparative exploration of the judicial practice of proportionality in Germany, Canada, South Africa, Israel, Poland and India, the presentation argues that courts often use the different stages of proportionality – worthy purpose, suitability, necessity, strict proportionality – in an integrative manner to reach an overall judgement.