This summer, Kellogg Dissertation Year Fellow Ángel Muñoz-Carpintero and Kellogg PhD Fellow Valentina Salazar, both Notre Dame Law JSD candidates, presented their work at the 2026 World Congress of Constitutional Law (WCCL) hosted by Externado University in Bogotá, Colombia. The WCCL brings together more than 2,000 academics, legal professionals, and government officials from around the world interested in discussing and analyzing issues related to the theory, philosophy, practical problems, and contemporary challenges of constitutional law and human rights. This event takes place every four years and is partly promoted by the International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL).
Additionally, Kellogg PhD fellow Juan Carlos Gazmuri, a Notre Dame Law doctoral candidate, participated in the International Society of Public Law (ICON-S) annual conference: “Reimagining Public Law for a Fractured World – Technology, Identity & Truth," held June 29 to July 1 at the University College Dublin’s Sutherland School of Law. Every year, this conference brings together some of the most prestigious academic work in the areas of constitutional, international, and public law.
World Congress of Constitutional Law
Through a grant from the Kellogg Institute, Muñoz-Carpintero traveled to Colombia to presente his work-in-progress paper titled “The Theseus Ship: The New Rule of Law in Nicaragua.” The paper explores the 2025 sweeping constitutional reforms of the Nicaraguan Constitution under the lens of the constitutional dismemberment framework, identifying the intersections of the rule of law, militarism, and constitutional dismemberment that the 2025 constitutional reforms in Nicaragua reveal. The paper was presented at the workshop "Constitution-Making and Constitutional Reform: Amendment, Dismemberment, and Replacement."
“After attending and presenting at the WCCL, I came back to Notre Dame with renewed energy to continue my research agenda, inspired by the amazing scholarship that is being produced world-wide in evermore important matters of constitutional and international law," said Muñoz-Carpintero. "I am grateful for the support that I received from the Kellogg Institute, which allowed me to go to Bogotá and present my work.”
Salazar presented her doctoral research in three different panels related to comparative law and new technologies. First, she shared her paper “From Ally to Enemy in a Click” on the use of artificial intelligence for judicial decision making at the international level in the panel “Rule of law, science, and technology.” She then participated in one of the Max Planck Institute for Public International Law workshops on “Regional comparative law,” showing how her project on a "Theory of Precedent for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights" could contribute to a better understanding of the Americas as a legal community. Finally, she presented her paper on the use of the role of the Colombian Constitutional Court in strengthening judicial reasoning in the panel “Contributions of Latin American constitutionalism to comparative law.”
“Attending and presenting my work at the WCCL was an exceptional opportunity to challenge my assumption with the questions and comments of experienced academics from all around the world," said Salazar. "It was also an amazing space for meaningful connections that I believe will lead to future projects related to international tribunals, new technologies, and human rights. I am grateful for the support that I received from the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights that allowed me to take part in this important event.”
International Society of Public Law (ICON-S) Annual Conference
Gazmuri presented on a workshop panel on the lessons and questions left by the two failed constitution-making processes that his home country, Chile, underwent between 2019 and 2023. The panel featured works in progress by four early-career Chilean scholars and generated great interest. Gazmuri presented a paper analyzing the influence of constituent power theory on both constitution-making processes.
In another workshop, Gazmuri presented his work on “Political parties, digitalization, and democratic backsliding,” providing evidence that the decline and desinstitutionalization of political parties are highly predictive of a country’s likelihood of experiencing democratic backsliding. From there, he discussed potential tools that constitutional and electoral design can use to address these challenges. His panel featured constitutional scholars from Greece, Brazil, and Belgium.
"Notre Dame Law School and the Kellogg Institute have given me a unique opportunity to engage with constitutional scholars from around the world, for which I am deeply grateful," said Gazmuri. "These conferences provide us with a valuable opportunity to learn from colleagues and to enrich our research.”
Adapted from an article that originally appeared at law.nd.edu.