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Alexandra Fowler - 6th April 2020
On 18 March 2020, the UK Minister for Defence introduced into the UK Parliament his promised package of new legislation designed to ‘protect veterans’. Entitled the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill, the proposed laws would amend the UK’s Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) in ways that impact on its human rights obligations, including […]
Jessica Anania - 6th March 2020
Since August 2017, at least 10,000 Rohingya – a Muslim minority group in Myanmar’s Rakhine state – have been killed and 700,000 have fled to neighboring Bangladesh amidst a brutal army crackdown and clearing operation. Widespread sexual violence with “genocidal intent” was also documented, including rape and gang rape perpetrated against women, girls, men, boys, […]
Amra Ismail - 15th February 2020
In the landmark judgement of Rathnayake Tharanga Lakmali v Niroshan Abeykoon, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka held that the extra-judicial killing of a suspect in police custody violated the right to life, despite the absence of an explicit right to life in the Constitution of Sri Lanka. The court directed the State to pay […]
Anant Agarwal - 10th February 2020
On January 23, the International Court of Justice announced the imposition of provisional measures against Myanmar. Myanmar is required to immediately cease all atrocities and human rights violations against Rohingyas, a Muslim ethnic minority group. In a suit instituted by The Gambia, Myanmar is alleged to have committed genocide and crimes against humanity, including mercilessly […]
Charlie Loudon - 23rd January 2020
The widespread and enduring problem of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers has been well documented over recent years. Many of the most disturbing cases have involved children, with peacekeepers from Sri Lanka, Uruguay, France, Pakistan and other countries implicated in crimes in Haiti, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere. […]
Keith Mundangepfupfu - 20th January 2020
On the 14th of November 2019, Judge Bere of the High Court of Zimbabwe ruled in favour of Ricky (Rikki) Nathanson, a transgender woman, who was suing the police for unlawful arrest, inhumane and malicious treatment while in custody. This is a landmark decision in the possibilities it opens up for future litigation in the […]
Jade Weiner - 10th January 2020
In 2014, 5-year old Michael Komape tragically drowned in a sludge of human excrement when the pit-latrine at his rural school in the Limpopo province collapsed. While the Supreme Court of Appeal(SCA) awarded damages for emotional shock and grief to the family, the judgement falls short in declining to develop the common law of damages […]
Daniel Grütters - 2nd January 2020
In November, two important judgments were handed down concerning the legal regime governing immigration detention under the Dublin III Regulation; one by the Supreme Court and one by the High Court. This two part blog summarises the key findings and considers the impact of these cases. Part II looks at the High Court judgment in […]
Daniel Grütters - 1st January 2020
In November, two important judgments were handed down concerning the legal regime governing immigration detention under the Dublin III Regulation; one by the Supreme Court and one by the High Court. This two part blog summarises the key findings and considers the impact of these cases. Part I considers the findings of the Supreme Court […]
Tonny Kirabira - 23rd December 2019
The Tanzanian government has withdrawn its special declaration to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court), and as a result, individuals and NGOs cannot directly file cases against it. In East Africa, it is the second country to withdraw from the African Court, after Rwanda’s withdrawal in 2016. This is a worrying […]
Abby Buttle - 20th November 2019
As the current Oxford Human Rights Hub/Rhodes University Travelling Fellow, I’ll be blogging about my experiences at the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) and the Rhodes University Law Faculty for the next five months. Hundreds of Makhanda residents are currently living with raw sewage periodically flooding homes, roads and grazing land. In some areas, children are having […]
Eva Rom - 14th November 2019
For the past few months, continental Europe has become increasingly aware of the intricacies surrounding Northern Ireland’s past. Yet, the perspective of the outsider, shaped by the Brexit negotiations, seems to only concentrate on the by now significantly softened Backstop. This post wants to draw attention to the wider debate taking place in the United […]