ICON•S 2026 Conference, Dublin
Researchers from the Centre for Comparative Research on Democracy (CCRD) participated in the ICON•S 2026 Conference in Dublin, contributing to discussions on democratic resilience, gender governance, and judicial autonomy.
As part of the conference, Heleen Matton presented her paper, Rethinking Democratic Erosion through Gender Governance in Public Law, in the panel Gender Violence, Rights and Democratic Practice, examining the relationship between gender governance and processes of democratic erosion.
CCRD also organized the panel Safeguarding Judicial Autonomy in the 21st Century: Between Judicial Backsliding and Democratic Innovation within the framework of the VolkswagenStiftung-funded JuDem research project. Bringing together researchers from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and legal practitioners, the panel explored contemporary challenges and innovative approaches to protecting judicial autonomy.
The panel featured the following presentations:
Silvia von Steinsdorff (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin): Judicial Autonomy Safeguards in Europe: Introducing a New Measurement Tool
Leonie-Teresa Bohle (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin): Design Without Guarantees: Judicial Councils and Corruption in Electoral Democracies
Gülçin Balamir Coşkun and Friederike Augustin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin): Judges' Accountability and Judicial Autonomy: Institutional Design and Safeguards
Stefanie Otte (Higher Regional Court of Celle, Germany): Digital Justice in Transition: Germany as a Lens on Judicial Transformation
The conference provided an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas with scholars and practitioners working on democracy, constitutionalism, and the rule of law, while strengthening collaborations developed through the JuDem project.
