What does it mean for a supreme court to ‘make law?' When is it possible to say that its decisions are ‘precedents?' To what extent should a supreme court's pronouncements be taken into account by others – lower courts and political branches? And how should these other actors reason with...

Commentary and analysis of the Supreme Court decision in Ortiz v. Fibreboard Corp., and reversing two decisions from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In Ortiz, a 7-2 decision, the Court reversed the Fifth Circuit's affirmation of a Rule 23(b)(1)(B) mandatory global settlement of asbestos...

This paper deals with judicial departures in consolidating democracies. It investigates to what extent and under what conditions judges in those contexts are not able to decide on their departures themselves but are rather forced to leave due to pressure from the elected branches. We undertook a...

Several countries practice a system where laymen, who lack legal education, participate in the judicial decision making. Yet, little is known about their potential influence on the court rulings. In Sweden lay judges (namndeman) are affiliated with the political parties and appointed in...

In TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods, the United States Supreme Court construed the venue provision in the patent statute, limiting the filing of lawsuits against defendant corporations to the districts in which they are incorporated. Chief Justice Roberts' opinion ostensibly frames the issue as one...

This paper aims at analyzing the so-called judicialization of politics, showing that it is not just a Brazilian experience, but a common one in several western countries. This movement has been very criticized on the grounds of its political legitimacy and of the exhaustion of the political...