Lockstepping: A View From A Tiny North Atlantic Jurisdiction

During the spring semester of 2018, I taught a master’s level course at the University of the Faroe Islands entitled “Sub-state Constitutions.” The background for the course was that around this time Løgtingið [the Faroese parliament] was debating a proposal for a new Faroese Constitution.1 On the reading list for the course were several articles from American sub-state constitutional theorists that had been a source of inspiration for a long time, but the first and foremost of these was Professor Williams’s article, State Courts Adopting Federal Constitutional Doctrine: Case-by-Case Adoptionism or Prospective Lockstepping?2 This article was on the reading list and keeps reappearing in various courses because it has proven very helpful in shedding light on some aspects of Faroese legal practice, particularly given the Faroese position as a semiautonomous polity within a larger Danish state structure. As preparation for teaching this course, I contacted Professor Williams to inquire if he had any examples of “divergence” cases. He graciously sent me some cases that I was then able to assign as readings for my course.