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OxHRH

Courts and Climate Change II: Appeals Court Upholds Landmark Ruling in Dutch Climate Case

Anneloes Hoff - 18th October 2018

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

The Hague Court of Appeals has upheld its human rights-based landmark ruling in the historic Climate Case that orders the Dutch government to accelerate its reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The decision came one day after the world’s leading climate scientists called for “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society” in order […]

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The Prohibition of Torture 70 years after the UDHR

Natasa Mavronicola - 16th October 2018

Conflict and Security

Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is 70 this December, provides in unequivocal terms that ‘No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’. There is a duality to the shall: it carries the stipulation, but also the hope, that no one shall again […]

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Justice Kennedy on Healthcare

Jennifer Oliva - 15th October 2018

Socio-Economic Rights

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who long served as the swing vote on important healthcare-related decisions, retired from the United States Supreme Court on July 31, 2018. The press and pundits alike reacted to Kennedy’s retirement announcement with dire forecasts that the Court’s healthcare jurisprudence would veer to the right. In fact, Justice Kennedy’s record of healthcare […]

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Indian Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on Women’s Entry into Religious Temple

Raja Dandamudi - 11th October 2018

Gender Equality| Religion

Recently, a (4:1) majority of a five-judge bench of the Indian Supreme Court in Indian Lawyers Association v. State of Kerala upheld the right of women to worship in the famous Sabarimala temple, irrespective of their age. This judgement struck down a rule which banned the entry of women between the ages 10 to 50 years into the temple. The judgment has thereby sounded the death […]

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Religious symbols in schools: Passive and harmless or a powerful threat?

Olivia Rani Bessant - 9th October 2018

Equality and Non-Discrimination| Religion

In Lautsi v Italy (2012), the applicant argued that the presence of crucifixes in state school classrooms violated students’ Article 9 ECHR right to religious freedom, but the ECtHR deemed the cross a ‘passive symbol’ and Article 9 respected. Yet in Dahlab v Switzerland (2001),an earlier case the applicant cited, banning a teacher from wearing her hijab […]

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Persecution of rights activists and voices of dissent in India

Vedika Pareek and Manya Oberoi - 8th October 2018

Media Privacy and Communications

Recently, in a series of synchronized raids carried throughout India, various human rights activists and vocal critics of the ruling government were arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), an anti-terror law. These arrests have been widely criticized for being politically motivated as they are aimed at curbing the right of free speech and […]

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Tackling India’s Devadasi System –  A Matter of Policing and Public Order?

Srujana Bej - 5th October 2018

Gender Equality

In September 2017, India’s National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu about the dedication of young girls to the Devadasi system. However, this practice has continued. Most recently, in August 2018, a woman in Karnataka alleged initiation into the Devadasi system. Despite being outlawed for over 30 […]

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Gender Recognition Reform – The Current Debate is Misconceived

Rachel Bowyer - 4th October 2018

Equality and Non-Discrimination

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 (‘GRA’) allows transgender people in England and Wales to be legally recognised in their new gender. The government has acknowledged that the current process is problematic and is consulting on reforms. The debate around the reforms has been fraught and filled with tension. The Home Affairs Select Committee is investigating […]

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Justice Kennedy’s Gay Rights Legacy

Luke A. Boso - 3rd October 2018

Equality and Non-Discrimination

Justice Anthony Kennedy’s announced retirement left progressives reeling over what the Court’s inevitable rightward shift will mean for civil rights given Kennedy’s swing-vote status on cases implicating social issues.  Indeed, his presence was pivotal for gay rights.  Kennedy authored the Court’s most famous pro-gay decisions, many decided 5-4.  Kennedy’s gay rights legacy is complicated, however, […]

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South Africa decriminalises the private use, possession and cultivation of cannabis

Nabeelah Mia - 2nd October 2018

Criminal Justice

On 18 September 2018, after more than a decade of perseverance by Mr Gareth Prince, his efforts finally saw fruition:  the Constitutional Court of South Africa decriminalised the use, possession and cultivation of cannabis in private for personal consumption in Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others v Prince and Others.  The matter arose […]

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