The continuing importance of the study of comparative constitutional law – A European perspective – The Venice Commission and international monitoring of national constitutional systems – Authoritarian tendencies and the European Constitutional Heritage – Interpretation and application of constitutional provisions depends on the context – Comparative law as a common endeavour of judges, lawyers, and scholars

Gap between the EU’s normative commitments to socio-economic justice and the practical workings of its integration project -- Potential for strengthening the social EU by recourse to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Charter normatively commits EU to a constitutionally conditioned Internal Market – Charter curbs property rights and entrepreneurial freedom specifically for the sake of social rights guarantees – Constructive response to legitimacy dilemmas emerging from cases such as Laval, Viking and AGET Iraklis – Reinstating socially embedded constitutionalism at EU levels as an alternative to relegating social integration to national levels

European Ombudsman – Free access to information in the EU – Regulation No 1049/2001– Standard of assessment used by European Ombudsman – Legal norms versus norms of good administration and whether good administration can be understood outside legality – European Code of Good Administrative Behaviour and the rather ambiguous concept of maladministration – European Ombudsman as developer of norms of good administration in the area of free access to information – A rather limited role as developer of norms of good administration for the European Ombudsman in individual decisions – Role in ‘translating’ the case law into somewhat more accessible jargon and explaining how existing principles and norms of good governance apply to the circumstances of a specific case – Own inquiries as a policy instrument for advising EU institutions and agencies on how to deal with certain aspects pertaining to access to documents and transparency – Interesting interplay between European Ombudsman and the courts

EU external relations law – Court of Justice of the European Union – Common Foreign and Security Policy – Judicial actors – International courts – Jurisdiction – EU law – Primacy – Damages – Infringements – Direct actions – Preliminary references – the Opinion procedure – Staffing – Future scenarios

Danish constitutional limitations – Entrusting executive power to private entities – Executive power involving coercive measures – A previous assumption – Use of physical force – Private prisons – Constitutional interpretation – Binding constitutional assumptions – Substantive limitations – Organisational limitations – External delegation under Danish administrative law – American constitutional law – Private entities’ fundamental self-interest – Conflicts of interest – Pecuniary or other personal interest – Healthcare legislation – The ministerial system – Democratic and legal liability – Judicial review – Ombudsman supervision – Constitutional organisation of state – The bulk of state executive power – Citizens’ constitutional rights and freedoms