Month: December 2013

Thank you for following the Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog in 2013!

Thank you for following the Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog in 2013!

The Editorial Team at the Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog is taking a break for the festive season. We have escaped the Oxford winter to sunnier (or snowier!) climes. But...
Lord Sumption on ‘The Limits of Law’

Lord Sumption on ‘The Limits of Law’

In the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Lecture, given in Kuala Lumpur on 20th November, Lord Sumption, Justice of the UK Supreme Court, again stepped into the debate over the appropriate...
Malaysia’s Dangerous Path Towards “Allah”

Malaysia’s Dangerous Path Towards “Allah”

The Malaysian Court of Appeal has ruled recently that the word “Allah” falls unreservedly within the Muslim faith, precluding the Catholic Church in the country from using the term in...
Children’s Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Children’s Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

On 4 December 2013, Dr Nicolás Espejo-Yaksic, Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, UNICEF consultant in Latin America and Director of Research and Postgraduate Studies at Universidad Central de Chile, addressed...
A Form of Child Trafficking in Haiti: The Orphanage Business

A Form of Child Trafficking in Haiti: The Orphanage Business

In the next few weeks, the Haitian senate will vote, for the first time, on anti-trafficking legislation. The legislation would make the movement of children and adults for the purpose...
The Crime of “Homosexuality” under Cameroon Criminal Law

The Crime of “Homosexuality” under Cameroon Criminal Law

According to Human Rights Watch there are 76 countries in the world that prosecute people for having consensual sexual relations with a person of the same sex. In Cameroon, the...
The Mandela I Knew by Professor Bob Hepple QC, FBA

The Mandela I Knew by Professor Bob Hepple QC, FBA

I hesitated when asked to say something on the sad occasion of the death of Nelson Mandela, because so many carpetbagging celebrities who had only a slight connection with him...
Naz Foundation: Reading Down the Supreme Court

Naz Foundation: Reading Down the Supreme Court

There is no doubt that the Supreme Court in Suresh Kumar v Naz Foundation held that section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes ‘carnal intercourse against the order...
The Commonwealth v The Australian Capital Territory: Marriage Equality in the High Court

The Commonwealth v The Australian Capital Territory: Marriage Equality in the High Court

On Thursday the High Court of Australia effectively struck down the nation’s first same-sex marriage laws. But there was a silver lining for marriage equality activists: in striking down marriage...
Of Koushal v NAZ Foundation’s Several Travesties: Discrimination and Democracy

Of Koushal v NAZ Foundation’s Several Travesties: Discrimination and Democracy

There are many things wrong about the 98 page decision of the Indian Supreme Court in Suresh Kumar Koushal v NAZ Foundation. The Court’s extensive quoting but tenacious refusal to...
XYZ or HJ: How do EU and UK refugee law stack up on identity issues?

XYZ or HJ: How do EU and UK refugee law stack up on identity issues?

The purpose of refugee law is to give sanctuary to people fleeing persecution because of some aspect of their identity. But to what extent, if at all, should people be...
A Step Closer to Secret Justice?

A Step Closer to Secret Justice?

The recent case of CF v Security Service provides an early indication of how the courts will treat the newly-implemented Justice and Security Act 2013. The claimants in this case...

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