The workshop is organised in collaboration with the ELTE Centre for Social Sciences (CSS/TK) in Budapest and took place in person in Budapest and online. 

An audio recording of the event's closing discussion is available here on Youtube.

Stellenausschreibung (PDF)

The fourth edition of Justice Delayed and Justice Denied focusing on 2025 is now available online. 

The 2025 report

Program poster (PDF)

Individual seminar sessions

Stellenausschreibung PDF

We apologize for the inconveniences and will closely monitor the system until the end of the application period. 

The working paper „Turning Outward to Protect Within: The EU’s Legal Arsenal Against Foreign Interference“, published by the CEU Democracy Institute, starts from the premise that EU actions to safeguard the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU have so far focused on internal backsliding by Member States, although recent developments show that external actors from across the globe in both state and non-state form also threaten democracy and rule of law within the EU. Jacquelyn Veraldi investigates two external relations legal measures, namely the Common Foreign and Security Policy sanctions and the Anti-Coercion Instrument, to appropriately respond to foreign interference.

The working paper is freely available here on the website of the CEU DI.

Working Paper

So how can democracies engage with electorally successful illiberal movements without compromising core democratic values? As part of our re:constitution programme, we will be disecting this question and many more at a seminar co-hosted with Social Contract Incubator:

The article examines Italian criminal proceedings concerning crimes committed against migrants in Libya and along the Central Mediterranean route. It situates these cases within broader international accountability efforts, including investigations by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and asks whether Italian practice reflects the wider trend of prosecuting core international crimes before domestic courts.

After a quick summary of the main elements of the Fellowship, there will be plenty of time to ask us anything you would like to know about the Fellowships. The session wil be joined by two alumni, who will also share their expereinces and answer your questions.

We are happy to respond to any of your questions!

Register via email: reconstitution(at)trafo-berlin.de

Based on a unique concept centred around Europe-wide mobility for collaboration combined with opportunities of exchange and a European Alumni Network, the Fellowship programme provides the opportunity for early- to mid-career scholars and practitioners to work and publish on an issue related to democracy and the rule of law in Europe.

Calls for Applications

TRACK 1
TRACK 2

FAQ

The series featues the following episodes and a general interview with Nurçin İleri: “Electricity Skepticism”, “Istanbuls First Urban-Scale Power Plant”, “Technology and Nature”, “A Story of Nationalism”, “Expansion of the City Grid”, and “New Tensions, New Fears”. 

Link to first episode

The relationship between law and democracy is continuously evolving and increasingly tested in a European context marked by institutional, societal, political, normative and discursive contestations and transformations. How do legal frameworks, scholarship and practice both respond to and potentially reinforce political or societal polarization? What does current deterioration of and contestations over international law reveal about the limits and possibilities of transregional solidarity and accountability? In which ways can legal scholarship and practice adapt to continuous and fast technological and communicative transformations? This meeting will provide a space for the Fellows to reflect on these dynamics through multiple perspectives, combining academic debate, practical training and peer exchange.

The report assesses the scale and causes of enforced disappearances of migrants at the Polish-Belarusian border in the context of the UN International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in relation to the instrumentalization of migration and law.

It is freely available in English and Polish on the website of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.

Report in English (PDF)

Report in Polish (PDF)

For Postdoctoral and Advanced Scholars - “Imagining Futures: Dealing with Disparity”

The Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) invites applications for eight residential fellowships for postdoctoral and advanced researchers in the humanities and social sciences for the period from September 2026 to April 2027. Under the overall theme “Imagining Futures: Dealing with Disparity” MECAM is dedicated to a research agenda framed by five interrelated ‘Interdisciplinary Research Fields’ (IRFs): Aesthetics & Cultural Practice, Inequality & Mobility, Memory & Justice, Resources & Sustainability, and Identities & Beliefs. Applications should be related to the main theme and at least one of the IRFs. This call for applications is open to researchers from all countries, including Tunisia. 

Deadline 02.03.2026; 12.30h CEST (afternoon).

Please find the call for applications and FAQ here (PDF)  

Apply here:  https://application.trafo-berlin.de/

In his article “On Sanctions and the Enforcement of International Law. A Rule of Law Analysis” published by the Nordic Journal of International Law, James develops a rule of law framework to look at sanctions practice. He shows that sanctions often do not meet rule of law standards, which ultimately undermines the legal authority that is aimed to be invoked by the use of sanctions as a tool for the enforcement of international law.

The rule of law framework advanced in this article also encourages policy-makers to consider sanctions in compliance with international law and how rule of law considerations affect sanctions and their authority.

The article is published as an open access publication and can be accessed here.