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Recent Trends in Climate Change Litigation: Colombia’s Amazon and Juliana v U.S   

Everaldo Lamprea and Daniela García - 13th April 2018

On April 4, 2018, the Colombian Supreme Court handed down an important ruling (Tutela, a rights-based injunction) on climate change. The plaintiffs in the case are twenty-five children who argued that the rapid deforestation of the Amazonian basin, which comprises 35% of Colombia’s territory, is contributing to global warming and affecting their rights, as well […]

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Moving towards the recognition and protection of climate change refugees under international human rights law

Patruni Srilakshmi - 9th April 2018

The recent hurricanes that hit the coast of the Caribbean have renewed the fears of a global climate refugee crisis. However, there is a lack of clarity on who exactly constitutes a climate refugee and what human rights protections they are entitled to. The UNHRC has stated that almost 36 million people have been displaced by […]

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Gaining More from Human Rights: Access to Health Care and Surviving Childbirth is not Enough

Camilla Pickles - 5th April 2018

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 seeks to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all, at all ages. Within the maternity care context this requires a reduction in maternal mortality rates by securing universal access to facility-based care and skilled attendance during labour and childbirth. However, research focused on obstetric violence, humanisation of birth, mistreatment, […]

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U.N. Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment: A Catalyst for Grassroots-Centered U.S. Reform?

Nicholas Stump - 4th April 2018

John H. Knox, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, recently issued a final report to the U.N. Human Rights Council. The report, which contains 16 Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment, summarizes international environmental human rights obligations. These principles outline state obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, […]

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CRPD Committee Adopts New General Comment on Equality and Non-Discrimination

Shreya Atrey - 2nd April 2018

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities released its advance unedited version of the General Comment No. 6 on Equality and Non-Discrimination on 9 March 2018. The Committee’s position closely charts the principal suggestions made by the Oxford Human Rights Hub on the draft General Comment published last year. The General Comment’s most […]

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The Human Rights Implications of Xi Jingping’s Limitless Presidential Term

Stephanie Tai - 28th March 2018

China’s National People’s Congress recently passed a constitutional change to remove the two-term presidential term limit with a 99.8% passing rate. Whilst the official reason for the removal is to ensure that Xi can keep his trinity leadership, as Xi’s tenure as military chairman and secretary general of the Communist Party is unlimited, this announcement […]

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Homeless at Home: Forced Internal Displacement In India

Adhil Saifudheen and Pranav Tanwar - 26th March 2018

In September 2017, the Prime Minister of India inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSP), which was designated as the second largest dam in the world. Most of the Indian media projected it as a new boost to development. However, they systematically forgot the victims of forced displacement during the construction of SSP. SSP displaced 40,000 […]

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Developments from the 48th Ordinary Session of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Ndjodi Ndeunyema - 23rd March 2018

In the last week of February 2018, Africa’s principal human and peoples’ rights judicial organ, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, commenced its 48th session at its seat in Arusha, Tanzania. Having started its operations in 2008 when its interim rules were finalised, the African Court is a relatively young institution when compared […]

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Fascination with Kenya’s Presidency has Overlooked the Real Changes Happening Locally  

Dominic Burbidge and Thomas Raji - 22nd March 2018

Kenya’s 2010 constitution replaced the country’s centralised governance structure with one of the world’s most radical experiments in devolution. Yet to look at current commentary of Kenya’s political crisis is to see a debate that has remained stuck in the past. The 2010 constitution devolved 14 key government functions to the county level, with each […]

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Tackling FGM In India: Is It Time For A New Law?

Tarika Jain - 20th March 2018

According to a study conducted on members of the Bohra community in India, a startling 75% of the daughters of the 94 participants were subjected to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) around the age of seven to nine years, in accordance with their religious customs. A majority of the reported cases were of Type 1 FGM/C […]

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