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OxHRH

A Timely Intervention: Dutch Court declares that the State has Positive Duties under the European Convention on Human Rights to tackle Climate Change

Jamie McLoughlin - 23rd October 2018

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

The Court of Appeal in the Netherlands has just issued a landmark judgment concerning environmental human rights and climate change. It has found the Dutch State to be in breach of its positive obligations under Articles 2 and 8 of the ECHR by failing to adopt a more ambitious plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The judgment […]

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OxHRH

Discrimination in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Arindrajit Basu - 23rd October 2018

Equality and Non-Discrimination

The dawn of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been celebrated by both government and industry across the globe. AI offers the potential to augment many existing bureaucratic processes and improve human capacity, if implemented in accordance with principles of the rule of law and international human rights norms. Unfortunately, AI-powered solutions have often been implemented in […]

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OxHRH

Lessons for the Future: the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Childhood Abuse

Liz Curran - 22nd October 2018

Children's Rights

Australia’s inquiry into childhood institutional abuse has lessons for other jurisdictions, especially the UK. International human rights provisions for children in institutional care include Article 13 of the Convention on the Rights or the Child (CROC) (1989), alongside protections for children with a disability (CROC Article 23), children in the care and protection system (CROC […]

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OxHRH

2018: A year of international judicial progress in LBGT+ rights

Schona Jolly QC and Nathan Roberts - 21st October 2018

Equality and Non-Discrimination

2018 has seen a flurry of activity in the advancement and development of LGBT+ rights in the international sphere. An exhaustive review of international LGBT+ rights would be beyond the scope of any single piece: the international landscape is far from homogenous; different countries and regions operate with different legal and social starting points. This […]

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OxHRH

Indian Gay Rights Case opens gateways for Article 15 and Intersectionality

Gautam Bhatia - 19th October 2018

Equality and Non-Discrimination

In a landmark judgment on 6th September, 2018, a five judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court of India in Navtej Johar v Union of India decriminalised same-sex relations. In a unanimous verdict, the Supreme Court held that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, in so far as it criminalises consensual sexual conduct between […]

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OxHRH

Deporting Rohingya Refugees: Indian Supreme Court Violates Principle of Non-refoulement

Sanya Samtani - 18th October 2018

Access to Justice| Migration Asylum and Trafficking

On 4 October 2018, a three judge bench of the Supreme Court of India refused to stay the deportation of seven Rohingya refugees from India to Myanmar. These men were arrested and incarcerated in 2012 for the offence of entering the country without valid documentation. After having served their three-month sentence, they were detained for […]

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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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OxHRH

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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OxHRH

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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OxHRH

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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