Professor of Law, Dean of @UCDLawSchool, co-director @goodlobbyprofs, senior research fellow @CEUDemInst. Usual disclaimers.

Dublin
Joined August 2014
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
The new issue of The Tocqueville Review: out now 🎉 Articles from leading experts about the rise of democratic illiberalism across Europe and the West @utpjournals 📚 tocqueville21.com/the-tocque…
12
20
2,924
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
For those following Hungary, here's a flashing red light. Hungarian 'sovereignty' is now in debt to China in a deal protected by state secrets.
Instead of obtaining free EU loans, Orbán has chosen to take out an expensive loan worth 1 billion euros from the PRC, pushing Hungary into Chinese debt slavery, with the details of the deal and the interest rate being kept a secret. 🧵 (1/5)
1
18
1
29
3,021
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
🗞️ Hot off the press: The EU Commission fails to unlock the Rule of Law Report’s full potential The @EU_Commission's fifth annual Rule of Law report is out. Here's our immediate take on it, with a detailed gap analysis coming in September. #ROLReport24 #EU #RuleofLaw 1/7
1
5
1
6
1,761
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
NEW: "Autocracy vs. Democracy?" The latest issue of The Tocqueville Review | La revue Tocqueville is available online! 📚@utpjournals It builds upon last year's conference in Paris with Jan-Werner-Müller, Pascal Ory and many more ⬇️ tocqueville21.com/the-tocque…
8
1
13
6,412
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
I am aware that being the sole & only true representative of THE PEOPLE is a hard work, but actually it is interesting to see the two, perhaps most #populist EU politicians in power, 🇭🇺 PM #ViktorOrbán & 🇸🇰 PM #RobertFico, being the least egalitarian EU leaders & earning the most in comparison to the average wage in their respective countries.
🤑🇭🇺Viktor Orbán seems far removed from the average citizen when it comes to his salary. Among EU heads of government, Hungary's leader receives the highest pay relative to the country's average gross salary. Read @Atlatszo's analysis on @VSquare_Project: vsquare.org/viktor-orban-rob…
7
9
1,329
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
Yeah, sure, but the rise of the AfD is partially self-inflicted harm. The system should have screened out the head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, who was supposed to go after extremists, but turned out to be an extremist (enabler). bbc.com/news/world-europe-68…
German Justice Minister: changes are due to the "erosion of the rule of law in countries such as Poland and Hungary and the strengthening of the AfD" Good example of stress-testing one's legal system & making design changes to prevent autocratic capture insofar as possible
3
1
835
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
Viktor Orbán is building a quasi-dictatorship in a place where most people believe in democracy, @zackbeauchamp writes: “This is the playbook to watch for when Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and many other prominent Republicans cite Hungary as a ‘model.’” theatlantic.com/internationa…
14
34
1
57
17,107
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
Great opportunity for PhD candidates and early career researchers interested in the rule of law protection in the EU: autumn school in Gdańsk. I will be speaking there. Do join me! bpb.de/veranstaltungen/veran…
1
14
35
2,705
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
🎓👩‍⚖️ The Government of Ireland has nominated UCD alum Ms Justice Caroline Costello to become the new President of the Court of Appeal. President Michael D Higgins will be formally advised of the nomination, as judicial appointments are made by the President acting on the advice of the government. The vacancy at the Court of Appeal arose due to the forthcoming retirement of the current president, Mr Justice George Birmingham, who has served in the position since 2018. Ms Justice Costello was educated at University College Dublin, the University of Oxford, and King’s Inns and was called to the Bar in 1988. She became Senior Counsel in 2010 and was appointed as a judge of the High Court in 2014; she joined the Court of Appeal in 2018. On her nomination, Minister for Justice Helen praised her as an “experienced judge… with valuable expertise across all areas of law.” “I would like to congratulate Ms Justice Costello and wish her every success in her new role.” She added: “I would also like to thank Mr Justice Birmingham for his many years of distinguished service and wish him well.”
2
3
1
8
4,043
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
Now, for my major takeaways in #ICJ #Israel #Palestine Advisory opinion: 1. This was a whole rebuke of Israel & the USA's political positions regarding the impact of the Oslo Accords. The Court is clear that the Oslo Accords must be read in line with other parts of int'l law,
The relevant part of the judgment begins with assessing the jurisdiction of the Court. The jurisdiction of the Court is decided by the ICJ's Statute and as the Court emphasises the Court can only issue opinions on *legal* questions. The Court recognises that the questions posed
9
185
30
493
90,273
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
Great thread on @vonderleyen's weak plans for defending rule of law in her second mandate
This Post is from an account that no longer exists. Learn more
4
5
2,727
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
How can anybody take @vonderleyen seriously in her promise to protect the rule of law when last December she handed over €10bn to Hungary after Orban extorted the EU successfully?
1
5
17
1,631
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
Here’s von der Leyen’s proposed Political Guidelines 2024-2029, which reflect the EU’s turn to the right while striving to secure the legacy of more progressive outgoing Commission and Parliament. A bit for everyone and no one, to the right (deregulation & defense), the far-right (fortress Europe) and left (soft anti-poverty plan, social rights, Future generations) and greens (a bit of climate adaptation no more). Timid attempt at revamping old promises on enlargement, democratic reform, EP right of initiative, rule of law and enforcement… little enthusiasm for a tick-box exercise commission.europa.eu/about-e… #vonderLeyen
6
6
13
2,767
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
The Commission is using the court case brought against it by the European Parliament as a reason for not disclosing documents concerning the assessment of judicial independence in Hungary. Full story on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/feed/update/urn…
1
2
2
584
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
How democracy becomes autocracy: a transactional law-breaker runs for president, and billionaires think buying him is a good deal. Which it is; they make hundreds of billions just by corrupting the tax code and paying no taxes. forbes.com/sites/brianbushar…
1,345
5,695
367
11,661
645,084
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
"Today Hungary is in the grips of a near-perfect system of subtle authoritarianism. Elections do not need to be nakedly rigged, in the sense of falsifying vote counts, because the deck is so stacked against the opposition that winning is functionally impossible."
Viktor Orbán is building a quasi-dictatorship in a place where most people believe in democracy, @zackbeauchamp writes: “This is the playbook to watch for when Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and many other prominent Republicans cite Hungary as a ‘model.’” theatlantic.com/internationa…
48
50
5
145
12,707
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 retweeted
Viktor Orbán is building a quasi-dictatorship in a place where most people believe in democracy, @zackbeauchamp writes: “This is the playbook to watch for when Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and many other prominent Republicans cite Hungary as a ‘model.’” theatlantic.com/internationa…
43
310
25
516
75,256