'The Politics of Constitution-Making after the Arab Spring': Hughes Hall Hat Club

On 16th May 2012, the Hughes Hall Hat Club at the University of Cambridge held a special public seminar which comprised a panel discussion based on the central topic of "The Politics of Constitution-Making after the Arab Spring”. The panel addressed whether re-constitutionalisation in the post-authoritarian era can embody the aspirations of the popular uprisings that swept across many parts of the Middle East and North Africa and the ways in which ongoing debates around constitutionalisation indicate that the Arab Spring is far from over. Among the topics highlighted was the discernible pertinence of the idea of constitutional change in the aftermath of the unprecedented political transitions. Presentations focused specifically on the limited extent to which constitutions have mattered in the past, focusing particularly on the eastern Arab world, the historical mismatch between the textual content of constitutions and how governments have actually behaved in practice—and to what extent that has changed over the last few years since the uprisings. Specific case studies examined the implications of the centralized planning system in Egypt, the obstacles to reform and the challenges presented to decentralization and regional planning initiatives currently underway; the referendum and recent constitutional reforms in Morocco; and recent debates in Bahrain. The speakers were Dr. Glen Rangwala, University Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Studies and a Fellow of Trinity College; Professor John Loughlin, Affiliated Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Studies and a Fellow of St Edmund’s College; Professor Marc Weller, the Director of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law in the Faculty of Law; and Mr. Mohammad Ahnouch, business professional specializing on the MENA region, founding member of MarocObs, an association of Young Moroccans promoting free speech, monitoring and commenting political events in the Moroccan scene. Dr. John Barker, Chairman of the UK Foreign Compensation Commission, a Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law and a Law Fellow of Hughes Hall chaired the panel. Mr. Abduljalil Khalil, a leading figure in Bahrain's largest opposition party, Al Wefaq, contributed to the discussion.