Unwritten Constitutional Norms and Principles Project
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ucnpproject.bsky.social
Unwritten Constitutional Norms and Principles Project
@ucnpproject.bsky.social
A comparative, interdisciplinary research project examining the phenomenon of unwritten constitutionalism, focusing on Canada, the UK and Germany.
We conclude our conference with a fascinating panel on Unwrittenness and Informality in Regional and Global Constitutionalism looking at Democracy, the Rule of Law and Formalization.

Thank you again to @justinbrno.bsky.social for hosting us and organising these amazing and inspiring exchanges!
February 11, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Day Two of our conference on Unwritten Constitutionalism and Informality, co-organised with @justinbrno.bsky.social is off to a great start. After a very interesting panel on Informal Constitutional Bodies and Practices we are now looking at Constitutional Culture in Kenya, England, and Canada.
February 11, 2026 at 10:57 AM
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We kicked of the Unwritten Constitutionalism & Informality Conference today in Brno bettween JUSTIN and the UCNP project @ucnpproject.bsky.social organized also with Durham, EUI & uOttawa, within the ERC INFINITY & UCNP projects at Masaryk University.
February 10, 2026 at 5:23 PM
Our afternoon sessions are going great here in Brno! After a very interesting panel on the conceptual differences between Unwrittenness and Informality we are finishing up the day with a look at Constitutional Conventions. Thank you so much to @justinbrno.bsky.social for hosting this first day!
February 10, 2026 at 3:21 PM
The conference on Unwritten Constitutionalism and Informality, co organised by the UCNP Project and MUNI in Brno is off to a great start! After a very interesting panel on Constitutional Culture we are now reflecting on how the Unwritten Constitution might facilitate Constitutional Resilience.
February 10, 2026 at 10:25 AM
🎉 Our team member Thomas Wischmeyer has started his new position as Professor of Public Law at @humboldtuni.bsky.social. Congratulations Thomas, and a great start to your time in Berlin! 🎉
October 15, 2025 at 12:29 PM
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New at Debating Canadian Defence:

How many defence ministers does Canada have?

open.substack.com/pub/philippe...
October 15, 2025 at 11:52 AM
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A selection of papers will be published in a special issue of the Review of Constitutional Studies, co-edited by @richardmailey.bsky.social, @vanessamacdonnell.bsky.social, @plagasse.bsky.social and @seanaglennon.bsky.social 📚
August 27, 2025 at 4:37 PM
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On 19 Sept, @centreconststud.bsky.social, @uodroitpublaw.bsky.social, the Barton Chair held by @plagasse.bsky.social & @ucnpproject.bsky.social will host a symposium exploring Canada’s unwritten Constitution, incl constitutional principles, norms & conventions & the workings of the machinery of govt
August 27, 2025 at 4:37 PM
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Sebastian Payne and I have a new article out in King's Law Journal.

The article examines why the royal prerogative has been displaced for intelligence, but not international military deployments.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Statutory intelligence, prerogative deployments: Explaining varying legal authorities for national security in Westminster states
Published in King's Law Journal (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
September 12, 2025 at 11:32 AM
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Wrote a piece - with Matt Nicholson - on whether dualism provides an effective guide to, or description of, the UK's relationship with international laws (tl;dr summary: not really). It will be coming out in the CLJ in due course, but you can read it *now* here: www.cambridge.org/core/service...
www.cambridge.org
August 11, 2025 at 11:47 AM
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🗓️📣 Save the Date!

The ICON•S 2026 Annual Conference will be hosted by
University College Dublin in Dubin, Ireland 🇮🇪

📅 June 29 – July 1, 2026

Stay tuned—the CfP and further details will be shared soon!
September 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM
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$37.50 for a comparative study of fifteen legislatures and how well they hold the executive to account.

How can you resist?
End of summer sale at Stanford University Press, which means the Dave/ @plagasse.bsky.social and Steve book is now just $37.50. And it is thick, so the $/page is low, kind of like how Estonia's defence spending is high since their GDP is low. Woot!! www.sup.org/books/politi...
September 4, 2025 at 9:11 PM
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New season of TriCON seminars begins with Prof Hannah Birkenkötter @hbirk.bsky.social speaking about her new co-authored book The Rule of Law in Germany, with Prof Niels Kirst commenting, chaired by Prof Christiane Ahlborn @tcddublin.bsky.social
September 10, 2025 at 6:22 AM
On 19 Sept, @centreconststud.bsky.social, @uodroitpublaw.bsky.social, the Barton Chair held by @plagasse.bsky.social & @ucnpproject.bsky.social will host a symposium exploring Canada’s unwritten Constitution, incl constitutional principles, norms & conventions & the workings of the machinery of govt
August 27, 2025 at 4:37 PM
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In her new article for Constitutional Studies, Silvia Suteu analyzes varied constitutional diagnoses and solutions for #democraticbacksliding in #Europe, asserting the centrality of #gender.

Read more at tinyurl.com/2sevjkmb. Read our full issue on the State of the Field at tinyurl.com/bdd99zh8!
July 10, 2025 at 8:52 PM
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Roger Masterman and Matthew Nicholson, "The Dissolution of Dualism" (Cambridge Law Journal, Ahead of Print)

Link: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
THE DISSOLUTION OF DUALISM | The Cambridge Law Journal | Cambridge Core
THE DISSOLUTION OF DUALISM
www.cambridge.org
August 13, 2025 at 9:24 AM
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The next Public Law Conference will be held at University of Cape Town, 1-4 July 2026. The theme is Public Law and the Future of Constitutional Democracy. 2026 marks the 30 year anniversary since the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. More details coming soon.
August 9, 2025 at 12:57 AM
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New by Patrick Lennox and me in The Hub:

thehub.ca/2025/08/25/p...
Patrick Lennox and Philippe Lagassé: What is the price of Canadian sovereignty?
thehub.ca
August 25, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Our team members @vanessamacdonnell.bsky.social and @plagasse.bsky.social have been cited in Saskatchewan (Minister of Education) v UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity 2025 SKCA 74 on the evolution of the Canadian constitution ⬇️
August 11, 2025 at 11:05 PM
🚨 Exciting news for public law scholars: @icon-s.bsky.social ICON•S Annual Conference 2026 will be hosted in Dublin @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social Centre for Constitutional Studies ⬇️
Exciting news: @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social Centre for Constitutional Studies will host the 2026 @icon-s.bsky.social International Society of Public Law conference- this will be the largest public law conference ever held in Ireland and will gather over 2000 scholars from around the globe 🌍
August 1, 2025 at 6:39 PM
🎉 The ICON-S 2025 Annual Conference kicks off today-we’re excited to see so many important conversations in public law taking place! Best of luck to our project members who will be attending & presenting their research.
Wishing everyone a great week of ideas, exchange & collaboration! 🌍📚
#ICONS2025
July 28, 2025 at 8:46 PM
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Our Summer 2025 Newsletter is out and you can check it on the link below: lnkd.in/dFJze_Ew

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Notre Infolettre d'été 2025 est sortie et vous pouvez la consulter au lien ci-dessous: lnkd.in/dFJze_Ew

@vanessamacdonnell.bsky.social @ucnpproject.bsky.social
July 24, 2025 at 2:05 PM
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A write-up of our June event (with some photos) on the relevance of unwritten norms for parliamentarians is now available on the UCL Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism website. I think it is fair to say the event was a success, thank you to all involved!

www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/parliam...
June 30, 2025 at 9:49 AM
This month, our project, in collab with the UK Parliament’s Public Administration and Constitution Hub & UCL’s Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism, held a workshop exploring the role of politicians & key parliamentary personnel in sustaining the unwritten dimension of constitutionalism
June 24, 2025 at 8:52 PM