Dr Silvia Suteu wins International Society of Public Law Book of the Year

Dr Silvia Suteu (Associate Professor at UCL Laws) won this year’s ICON-S International Society of Public Law Book Prize for her monograph Eternity Clauses in Democratic Constitutionalism. Published by Oxford University Press, the book explores the role of eternity clauses in constitution-making, constitutional adjudication, and constitutional reform and provides a unique analysis of unamendability in democratic constitutionalism. The ICON-S Committee awarding the prize noted that Dr Suteu’s book “challenges the conventional wisdom in which eternity clauses may enshrine human rights and stabilise democracy”, and lauded its reasoning and findings as “insightful and illuminating.”

Dr Suteu commented:

"I am honoured to receive the 2023 ICON-S Book Prize. Writing the book was a labour of love over many years, started at Edinburgh Law School and completed in the wonderfully supportive research environment at UCL Laws. I benefited from the help of many mentors and peers along the way, learning from each and being challenged by many on answering the core question the book grapples with: is deepening constitutional entrenchment the answer to the ever more complex attacks on constitutional democracy? The book cautions constitutional scholars and practitioners not to ignore unamendability’s own risks and potential for backfiring and to recover the radical democratic potential of constitutional change. I am grateful to the ICON-S Committee for seeing the value in my approach. I am also thrilled to see my colleague, Berihun Gebeye, recognised for his excellent scholarship, which is bound to forge new paths in the study of African constitutionalism."

Dr Berihun Gebeye (Lecturer in Law at UCL Laws) was also given a Special Mention for A Theory of African Constitutionalism, published by Oxford University Press. The book asks and seeks to answer why we need a new theoretical framework for African constitutionalism and how this could offer us better theoretical and practical tools with which to understand, improve, and assess African constitutionalism on its own terms. The ICON-S Committee remarked that Dr Gebeye’s book is “an indispensable tool for comparative constitutional law scholars that wish to understand the origin and predicament of African constitutionalism.”

Dr Gebeye said:

“It is a great honor to receive such recognition from the leading learned society in public law in the world."

The annual Book Prize was established by ICON-S to recognise outstanding books in the field of public law. The winners of the prize, now in its sixth year, were announced on 5 July as part of the Society’s annual conference in Wellington, New Zealand.