| Constitutional Adjudication in Caeserist Polities : Theory, Practice and Comparitive Studies

Course overview and prerequisites: This elective course seeks to focus on the theory and practice of constitutional adjudication in nations that have a tradition of strong constitutional courts, but have nevertheless experienced ‘Caesarist’ forms of politics, (also referred to as populism, authoritarianism or illiberalism). The primary focus is the record of the Indian Supreme Court, both in the ‘long 1970s’ under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and in the contemporary period since 2014 under Prime Minister Modi. Comparisons will be drawn to the record of the US Supreme Court, both in the era of President Trump and during the New Deal era under President Roosevelt. The course will focus on specific constitutional issues that came up for adjudication during these pivotal times, with a focus on recent and continuing battles over issues such as the limits of the executive power of President Trump, and the legality of the Waqf Amendment Act in India. Where necessary, examples from other jurisdictions will also be focused upon – especially in the research papers – but the primary focus is on contemporary India and the US.

The course is reading-heavy and expects students to prepare in advance of each class. Students will engage with historical analyses of judicial decisions as well as other contextual factors. The course will focus on specific landmark decisions, such as the Roe and Dobbs decision in the US, and the Ayodhya and Kashmir decisions in India. Reference may also be made to other jurisdictions where relevant.

The main output will be a research paper written across the term, where each student will be able to choose an issue/case and develop it to pursue an argument. This requires some experience with constitutional litigation and/or prior training in writing a research paper on a constitutional issue. For this reason, this course will have a separate selection process.

The course is designed for B.A., LL.B, LLB, and LLM students. Pre-requisites for this course include core courses on constitutional and administrative law. This is a course designed for those who want to write a good research paper. The assessment modes are therefore suitably designed for this purpose.

Since the readings are a pre-requisite for grasping the content of each class, they have been carefully pruned. The hope is that they are accessible, provocative and yet capable of stimulating reflection and debate. Class participation starts before you come to class, with having done the readings and having thought about what seems illuminating and insightful, what seems wrong, and where the authors’ arguments are simply unclear.