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profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦
@profpech.bsky.social
6.1K followers 1.4K following 1.4K posts

Professor of Law, Dean of @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social, Senior Research Fellow at the CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest, and co-director of @goodlobbyprofs.bsky.social. Usual disclaimers.

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Political science 77%
Law 13%
Posts Replies Media Videos

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 2h
Lawlessness enabled and tolerated by the corrupt and lawless Roberts SCOTUS
kyledcheney.bsky.social Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 2h
NEW: Federal judges are increasingly furious at what they see as a pattern / playbook of defiance by the Trump administration to court orders in immigration cases — in Minnesota and around the country.

Here’s a look at what they’re seeing: www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
How the Trump administration skirts — and defies — court rulings on ICE detentions
A POLITICO review of hundreds of cases brought by ICE detainees shows a pattern of noncompliance that has frustrated judges across the country.
www.politico.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Steve Peers, Laurent Pech

kyledcheney.bsky.social
Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 2h
NEW: Federal judges are increasingly furious at what they see as a pattern / playbook of defiance by the Trump administration to court orders in immigration cases — in Minnesota and around the country.

Here’s a look at what they’re seeing: www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
How the Trump administration skirts — and defies — court rulings on ICE detentions
A POLITICO review of hundreds of cases brought by ICE detainees shows a pattern of noncompliance that has frustrated judges across the country.
www.politico.com

Reposted by Laurent Pech

melissakchan.bsky.social
Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 4h
A tale of two billionaires. Jeff Bezos was at fashion week in Europe while he pulled a let-them-eat-cake firing of 30% of Washington Post journalists. Jimmy Lai stood by his newsroom and he will now likely die in a Hong Kong prison. Tell everyone you know about Jimmy Lai.

Reposted by Laurent Pech

nvondarza.bsky.social
Nicolai von Ondarza @nvondarza.bsky.social · 5h
Unhelpful mixture of different debates. The question of Ukraine's EU accession will not be solved by using Art. 7 against Hungary.

This kind of pretense, that the other member states could take away Hungary's voting rights and then force through Ukraine accession, plays only into Orban's arguments
politico.eu POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 5h
The EU is hatching an unprecedented plan that could give Ukraine partial membership in the bloc as early as next year.

Based on conversations with 10 officials and diplomats, we have identified five steps that could make it happen 👇
5 steps to get Ukraine into the EU in 2027  
Plans to bring Kyiv into the tent before it has completed all reforms and to remove Hungary’s veto signal a sense of urgency in Brussels.
www.politico.eu

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 6h
🧐 Article 7(1) procedure was triggered in Sep 2018 by the @europarl.europa.eu but granted, @consilium.europa.eu has proactively sabotaged procedure making it as toothless as possible. EUMS won’t have spine & numbers to trigger sanctioning branch of Art 7

democracyinstitute.ceu.edu/articles/lau...

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 6h
Hungary and Bulgaria at bottom of the list and yet @ec.europa.eu has been busy unlocking eu funding since Dec 2022 and in the case of 🇧🇬 busy doing absolutely nothing but rewarding authorities in face of systemic violations and deteriorating rule of law situation

verfassungsblog.de/bulgaria-chi...

Reposted by Mor Naaman, Laurent Pech

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 10h
Endless legal calvinball making a mockery of the rule of law and the human rights of those being detained
thecity.nyc THE CITY @thecity.nyc · 12h
ICE officials under a judge’s order to clean up squalid conditions on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza detained migrants on a secret floor where they decided that ruling didn’t apply, attorneys for the Trump administration said Monday.

www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/09/2...
ICE Moved Detainees to Previously Undisclosed Floor of 26 Federal Plaza
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reduce overcrowding and squalid conditions at a Manhattan holding room. Months later, he finds ICE merely shifted floors.
www.thecity.nyc

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Mor Naaman, Laurent Pech , and 2 more

thecity.nyc
THE CITY @thecity.nyc · 12h
ICE officials under a judge’s order to clean up squalid conditions on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza detained migrants on a secret floor where they decided that ruling didn’t apply, attorneys for the Trump administration said Monday.

www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/09/2...
ICE Moved Detainees to Previously Undisclosed Floor of 26 Federal Plaza
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reduce overcrowding and squalid conditions at a Manhattan holding room. Months later, he finds ICE merely shifted floors.
www.thecity.nyc

Reposted by Laurent Pech

charlottegarden.bsky.social
Charlotte Garden @charlottegarden.bsky.social · 14h
Very much appreciate this statement by Seton Hall law profs, condemning (still ongoing) federal lawlessness in Minnesota: www.nj.com/news/2026/02...
More than 30 legal scholars in N.J. condemn federal civil rights violations
In rare collective statement, 35 faculty members document First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment breaches, calling attacks on protesters and warrantless raids 'hallmarks of authoritarianism'
www.nj.com

Reposted by Laurent Pech

tinekestrik.bsky.social
Tineke Strik @tinekestrik.bsky.social · 19h
After the charges against Gergely Karacsony for having organised the Budapest Pride, now Géza Buzás-Hábel is charged for having organised the Pécs Pride. He even risks one year imprisonment. Orbán’s crack down on citizens’ rights is reaching a new low every day.

helsinki.hu/en/where-ass...
Where assembly is a crime: charges brought against the organizer of Pécs Pride
The prosecutor’s office has turned to the Pécs District Court for violation of the freedom of association and assembly, which could impose up to one year of imprisonment.
helsinki.hu

Reposted by Steve Peers, Rosemary A. Joyce, Joseph Schafer , and 2 more

chrisgeidner.bsky.social
Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 3d
So, first of all, of course it was Trump.

But even if they were telling the truth, "We give staffers who post videos of the Obamas as apes access to the agenda-setting, decree-sending, market-moving account of the president of the United States" is not the exculpatory statement they think it is.

Reposted by Laurent Pech

jenrubin.bsky.social
Jen Rubin @jenrubin.bsky.social · 3d
WaPo has nothing on front page online on racist video. They are enablers.

Reposted by Laurent Pech, Scott A. Imberman

donmoyn.bsky.social
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 3d
We all shit on the Times about headlines, but this is top of the home page and is admirably clear.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/u...
Trump Posts Video Portraying Obamas as Apes
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Laurent Pech

blakeprof.bsky.social
Blake Emerson @blakeprof.bsky.social · 3d
You’ve got to see the video and the “immigration enforcement” as one picture: gutter racism, running the government, symbolically and practically.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Jamie Morgan, Laurent Pech , and 1 more

victorerikray.bsky.social
Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 4d
Those are the hardest working scare quotes in the business.

What is the goddamn bar for calling something racist without qualification if monkey videos don’t make the cut?
carlquintanilla.bsky.social Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 4d
“.. while the song ‘The Lions Sleeps Tonight’ plays in the background.”

@lbc.co.uk
www.lbc.co.uk/article/trum...

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 4d
Acc to my own records, this is the 15th ruling on the merits re Poland's rule of law "deforms" finding against Poland consecutively since the ECtHR issued its first rule of law crisis related ruling in Xero Flor in May 2021.

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 4d
Very good judgment which takes full account of all relevant CJEU rulings, including one issued before Christmas re 🦘 "constitutional court" analysed here with @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social, in response to previous gov's nonsense about constitutional identity etc

verfassungsblog.de/commission-v...

Reposted by Steve Peers

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 4d
Poland's #ruleoflaw crisis (2015-23): Latest (excellent) ECtHR ruling finding in this instance several violations (access to court; privacy; free speech) on account of several arbitrary measures targeting Judge Morawiec with view of intimidating/silencing her. Her illegal suspension lasted 238 days
echr.coe.int European Court of Human Rights @echr.coe.int · 4d
⚖️Morawiec v. Poland
➡️Decision suspending judge from duties discouraged her, and other judges, from speaking out against judicial reforms
🔗 tinyurl.com/25xftf8h

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Richard E. Lenski, Will Jennings , and 9 more

acyn.bsky.social
Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 4d
Luttig: It doesn’t matter what the Supreme Court does from this point forward. For two years, the Supreme Court has authorized the absolute lawlessness and unconstitutional activity of this president.

Reposted by Steve Peers, Laurent Pech

echr.coe.int
European Court of Human Rights @echr.coe.int · 4d
⚖️Morawiec v. Poland
➡️Decision suspending judge from duties discouraged her, and other judges, from speaking out against judicial reforms
🔗 tinyurl.com/25xftf8h

Reposted by Laurent Pech

verfassungsblog.de
Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · 5d
Immunising the Venice Commission against autocratic contamination.

ADAM BODNAR and LAURENT PECH (@profpech.bsky.social) on compromised appointments and missing accountability mechanisms in a rule-of-law institution – and why urgent institutional reform is needed.

verfassungsblog.de/immunising-t...
Quote: It is at the very least inconsistent to warn against rule of law regression and violations while failing to police one’s own membership.

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 5d
What fresh (rule of law) hell is this?

@tinekestrik.bsky.social
@michaelmcgratheu.bsky.social
@verfassungsblog.de
eublogo.bsky.social Katalin Halmai @eublogo.bsky.social · 5d
In Hungary, the government has cited the Ukraine war emergency to issue a decree halting lawsuits against it. This means that ongoing court cases can now be shut down by decree.
Elections are coming.
Judge for yourself.
#ruleoflaw 👋

Reposted by Laurent Pech

jwmueller-pu.bsky.social
Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 5d
"It is at the very least inconsistent to warn against rule of law regression and violations while failing to police one’s own membership. We are where we are because too many in senior positions who had and have the power to act have failed to do so."

Important piece by Bodnar and Pech:
Immunising the Venice Commission Against Autocratic Contamination
verfassungsblog.de

Reposted by Laurent Pech

eublogo.bsky.social
Katalin Halmai @eublogo.bsky.social · 5d
In Hungary, the government has cited the Ukraine war emergency to issue a decree halting lawsuits against it. This means that ongoing court cases can now be shut down by decree.
Elections are coming.
Judge for yourself.
#ruleoflaw 👋

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 5d
My latest @verfassungsblog.de post co-authored this time with Adam Bodnar and for once, dedicated to a non-EU body: The European Commission for Democracy through Law - better known as the Venice Commission

verfassungsblog.de/immunising-t...
Immunising the Venice Commission Against Autocratic Contamination
verfassungsblog.de

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 6d
Keep up the excellent work! 💪

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 6d
NGOs are being blacklisted in the open by Orban's Soviet-style "SPO" and yet the @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu @ec.europa.eu has repeatedly - and irresponsibly IMO - failed to apply for interim measures in its pending infringement action

@tinekestrik.bsky.social @michaelmcgratheu.bsky.social
jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social Jakub Jaraczewski @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social · 6d
🇭🇺⚖️ Our court case against X attracted the most predictable attention possible - of the Hungarian Sovereignty Protection Office, the institution of Hungarian authorities entrusted with "defending Hungarian state", but if you ask me, it's actually about going after NGOs critical of Orban. 1/

Reposted by Steve Peers, Laurent Pech

jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social
Jakub Jaraczewski @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social · 6d
🇭🇺⚖️ Our court case against X attracted the most predictable attention possible - of the Hungarian Sovereignty Protection Office, the institution of Hungarian authorities entrusted with "defending Hungarian state", but if you ask me, it's actually about going after NGOs critical of Orban. 1/

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 6d
💯

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 6d
Remember US VP Vance attacking European Commissars? Meanwhile, in the real world, Trump regime's "free speech" champions are embracing administrative subpoenas to silence critics...

www.aclu.org/press-releas...