A Conference on Law-Making in multi-level settings: federalism, Europe, and beyond will be held in September 20-21 2018, at the University of Antwerp.
Law making is a difficult task in itself, even in a simple national setting. Multi-level settings complicate matters still further. At the central or upper level, laws must respect the autonomy and diversity of the component units, yet be effective, coherent, simple and accessible.
At the decentralized or lower level, law makers must implement external laws, drafted at the central level, within a given time-frame and integrate them in their own legislative framework. There are problems of principles and theory as well as practical and technical problems. How to secure the autonomy of subnational entities or Member States? How to ensure that law making is effective, both at the central level and the decentralized level? In the specific context of the European Union (EU), how to ensure timely transposition of EU directives, reduce red tape and avoid bureaucracy? How to include the practical knowledge of the “lower” level in legislative process of the upper level? How to balance the legal drafting traditions and practices of the “lower” and “upper levels”?
In this conference, the challenges and solutions are discussed from three angles, each of which is explored within three consecutive sessions. The first session takes a systemic approach, looking at the coherence and effectiveness of legislation at all legislative levels in federal and supra-national systems. The second session focuses on the quality of EU legislation in particular, looking at the challenges of effective law-making both at the EU level and at the national level. The third session takes the perspective of Member States that have to comply with EU and other regional legislation.
The Conference is co-organised by:
- International Association of Legislation (IAL)
- Interuniversitair Centrum voor Wetgeving (ICW)
- University of Antwerp
- University of Zürich
- Institute for Legal and Political Sciences/Lisbon Centre for Research in Public Law of Lisbon
- Law School/University of Lisbon
- Actore – Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence
Programme: here.
Registrations: here.
