Arab Association’s Constitutional Academy/CfP - Social and Economic Rights in Arab Constitutions, 19 November - 3 December 2017, Tunisia

The Third Session of the Arab Association’s Constitutional Law Academy

The Arab Association of Constitutional Law and International IDEA, with the support of the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice at Princeton University, announce the third edition of the Arab Association’s Constitutional Academy. The Academy is part of an effort to encourage a dynamic, continuous, and in-depth exchange of ideas within a new generation of scholars in the Arab region. Participants who are admitted to the Academy are required to identify trends in constitution-making across the region, and examine both how new constitutions were negotiated and drafted, and the ways they have been implemented. The Academy’s participants engage with each other on a selected number of substantive areas and provide the opportunity to explore whether possible solutions to their common problems exist. The Academy’s participants will be selected according to a competitive process (see below).

The Academy Proceedings

Academy participants will spend two weeks in Tunis, Tunisia.  During that period, they will work together to produce a number of joint policy papers on a specific and predetermined substantive areas (see below). Academy participants will work according to a research program and will be assisted by leading Tunisian, Arab and international scholars who will follow and contribute to their work on an ongoing basis.  

The PapersAcademy participants will be required to produce joint papers in Arabic. The papers will be published online and/or in the Arab Association of Constitutional Law’s printed publications.  The papers must:

(i)  Be critical and analytical. A purely descriptive and superficial approach will not be accepted;

(ii)  Be comparative in their approach. The papers must consider multiple constitutional systems from the Arab region, and must also consider multiple systems external to the region, with special emphasis on the global south;

(iii) Go beyond the constitutional text and consider implementation issues.  The Research QuestionAcademy participants will be required to research and publish a policy paper on “Social and Economic Rights in Arab Constitutions”.  Some research questions are:

• Social and Economic Rights in Arab Constitutions:

1. How are social and economic rights provided for in Arab constitutions? Do Arab constitutions subject social and economic rights to limitations?  Are there any meaningful differences between Arab constitutions on the issue of social and economic rights?  
2. Do the social and economic rights as provided in post-2011 constitutions satisfy popular demands relating to social justice?
3. How do Arab constitutions’ provisions and guarantees on social and economic rights compare to those contained in international covenants and to comparative constitutions in other parts of the world?

• The implementation of social and economic rights in practice:

1. What impact has the inclusion of social and economic rights in Arab constitutions had on living standards in the region?
2. Do Arab constitutions provide any guarantees that social and economic rights will be applied in practice, or are they intended to be purely aspirational or symbolic in nature?
3. How do Arab courts decide disputes that relate to the application of social and economic rights? Are there any developing trends in that regard? 
4. Apart from judicial action, are there any alternative methods that exist to ensure the implementation of social and economic rights in Arab constitutions? What legal and extra-legal methods exist in comparative jurisdictions? 

Logistics, Expenses and Fees

All of the Academy participants’ travel, accommodation and living expenses will be covered by the Arab Association of Constitutional Law. In addition, each Academy participant will be paid USD 2,000 honorarium upon completion of the research project and approval of the Academy’s scientific committee.

Requirements and Application Deadline

The Academy welcomes applications from around the world. Applicants must at least have a master degree in law or political science or in a related field. The participants will be selected according to a competitive process. Interested candidates are required to submit an application no later than 24 July 2017. Applications must be sent to academy@dustour.org by the application deadline.  Applications should include the following:

• An up to date version of the applicant’s CV;
• A 1,500-word proposal describing the manner in which the applicant would approach the research question while in residence at the Academy, and the importance of the proposed project within the context of the applicant’s own past work (if relevant) and other scholarly work;
• A writing sample (which must be in Arabic);
• Two letters of recommendation.

Please note that the Arab Association of Constitutional Law will only respond to short listed applicants.

For more information please click "Further Official Information" below.

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://dev.dustour.org/about-us/353-announcement-call-for-proposals-the-third-session-of-the-arab-association%E2%80%99s-constitutional-law-academy