644 articles
Equality before the law
Equality before the law: the principle that all persons, including the state, are subject to the same laws; rooted in Magna Carta (1215), guaranteed by UDHR Article 7, and analyzed through formal versus substantive equality.
Erika Bachiochi
Erika Bachiochi is an American legal scholar and pro-life feminist, author of The Rights of Women (2021), who argues the Equal Protection Clause should not include a right to abortion.
Estonian Constitution of 1920
The Estonian Constitution of 1920 (Eesti Vabariigi põhiseadus) was the first constitution of independent Estonia, adopted in 1920 and establishing a democratic parliamentary republic with a 100-member Riigikogu.
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), in Strasbourg, is the Council of Europe's court under the European Convention on Human Rights, hearing individual applications against its member states; reformed by Protocols 11, 14, 15, and 16, with judgments supervised by the Committee of Ministers.
European Union Aviation Safety Agency
European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), EU decentralised aviation safety regulator in Cologne, Germany, established 2002. Certifies aircraft, engines, and parts, oversees Member States, and validates FAA certifications under bilateral agreements.
Executive Office of the President of the United States
The Executive Office of the President (EOP), created by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 under the Reorganization Act of 1939, is the group of staff agencies, including the White House Office and OMB, that supports the President.
Executive Order 11110
Executive Order 11110, signed by John F. Kennedy on June 4, 1963, amended EO 10289 to let the Treasury Secretary issue silver certificates during the phase-out of silver-backed currency; it never targeted the Federal Reserve and was superseded by EO 12608 in 1987.
Executive Order 13769
Executive Order 13769, the first Trump travel ban, was signed January 27, 2017, suspending entry of nationals of seven countries before courts blocked it and Trump revoked it.
Executive privilege
Executive privilege, also known as presidential privilege, lets the US President withhold confidential communications from Congress and courts; it is grounded in separation of powers, not the Constitution's text.
Executive Schedule
Executive Schedule (EX): five-level U.S. federal pay system (EX-I to EX-V) for top presidentially appointed officials such as cabinet secretaries; 2026 official rates $184,900–$253,100, with frozen payable rates through January 2026.
Exit bans in China
Exit bans in China are government orders barring Chinese or foreign nationals from leaving the PRC, imposed under the 2012 Exit and Entry Administration Law, Civil Procedure Law, and 2023 Counterespionage Law for criminal, civil, and national security grounds.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, also called the Buckley Amendment, is the 1974 U.S. federal law (20 U.S.C. 1232g) giving parents and eligible students rights to inspect, amend, and control disclosure of education records, enforced by loss of federal funding.
Federal pardons in the United States
Federal pardons are presidential acts of clemency under Article II, Section 2 for federal offenses except impeachment, covering pardon, amnesty, commutation, remission, and reprieve, administered through the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney.
Federalism in India
Federalism in India: the constitutional division of power between the Union and India's 28 states, also called quasi-federal or centralized federalism. Article 1's "Union of States", Seventh Schedule lists, Article 356, Finance Commission, and debates over simultaneous elections.
Federalism in the Philippines
Federalism in the Philippines: the Duterte-era proposal to replace the unitary 1987 Constitution with a federal system of states or federated regions, via the 22-member ConCom draft of 2018, which was never ratified.
Federalism in the United States
Federalism in the United States: constitutional division of power between the federal government and the 50 states, from enumerated powers and the Tenth Amendment through dual, cooperative, and New Federalism eras, Spending Clause limits, and current Supreme Court trends.
Federalist No. 51
Federalist No. 51, "The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments," is a February 6, 1788 Publius essay, attributed to James Madison, famous for "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition" and the compound republic's double security.
Federated state
A federated state is a constituent unit of a federation, such as a state or canton, whose authority the central government cannot unilaterally revoke.
Federation
Federation: a state in which constitutional law divides power between a central government and constituent units such as states, provinces, or cantons, each constitutionally protected from unilateral abolition, unlike a unitary state.
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) bars denying or abridging the vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude; ratified February 3, 1870, enforced by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights ratified in 1791, guarantees due process, grand jury indictment, and the privilege against self-incrimination.
Firearm Owners Protection Act
Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA), Public Law 99-308 of May 19, 1986, amended the Gun Control Act of 1968: it barred a national gun registry, limited ATF inspections, added safe interstate passage, and banned post-1986 civilian machineguns via the Hughes Amendment.
Firearms regulation in Finland
Firearms regulation in Finland rests on the Firearms Act (1/1998, in force 1 March 1998): per-firearm police permits, strict storage rules, secure cabinets for dangerous firearms or over five guns, and EU Firearms Directive-driven amendments.
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1791): bars Congress from establishing religion, abridging speech, press, assembly, or petition; first of ten Bill of Rights amendments, applied to states via the Fourteenth Amendment since 1925.
For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers
For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, also called the FWS case: UK Supreme Court ruling of 16 April 2025 that "woman" and "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 mean biological sex, excluding GRC holders.
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), 50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq., is the 1978 U.S. law governing foreign intelligence surveillance through the FISA court; Section 702 (2008) permits warrantless collection on foreign targets abroad and faced a 2026 reauthorization standoff.
Form 4473
Form 4473 (ATF Form 5300.9), the Firearms Transaction Record, is the federal form completed for firearm transfers from licensed dealers to non-licensees, recording buyer eligibility, NICS background-check details, and firearm descriptions; revised August 2023 with a 2026 proposed overhaul.
Former Presidents Act
Former Presidents Act (FPA), 3 U.S.C. §102 note, Public Law 85-745 of August 25, 1958: US law giving ex-presidents a lifetime Cabinet-level pension, GSA-funded office and staff, travel funds, and mailing privileges, prompted by Harry Truman's post-presidency finances.
Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India
Forty-second Amendment Act, 1976: Emergency-era Indian constitutional amendment, the "mini-Constitution", that added socialist, secular and integrity to the Preamble, inserted Fundamental Duties, and had its judicial-review clauses struck down in Minerva Mills (1980).
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) is a Reconstruction amendment establishing birthright citizenship and barring states from denying due process and equal protection; basis of Brown v. Board, incorporation, and the 2026 Trump v. Barbara birthright ruling.