Last week, the Supreme Court of India delivered a judgment that altered the appointment process for members of the Election Commission of India, the institution responsible for the integrity of the electoral process. The Commission consists of one Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), and since 1993, two additional Election Commissioners. Prior to this judgment, the executive [...]

The unconstitutional state of affairs doctrine, having its roots in a 1998 judgement of the Colombian Constitutional Court (CCC), has gained immense popularity due to the systemic, policy-based, manifestly illegal acts of executive branches of governments worldwide. Calls for recognizing the existence of an unconstitutional state of affairs have persistently been made in the Latin [...]

The Supreme Court of India recently delivered a judgment in Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India upholding the Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019, creating a regime for income-based affirmative action in state-run educational institutions and state-sponsored employment programs. This explainer will illuminate the historical underpinnings of India’s affirmative action scheme and explain its legal evolution. [...]