To submit a blog, please read the OxHRH Blog guidelines.
- 17th August 2020
In times of crisis, the protection of human rights is fundamental. Covid-19 presents unprecedented challenges for any government. However, for a government in a post-conflict setting, such as Northern Ireland, there has never been a greater need for a human rights approach, and urgency about reflecting on the unfulfilled promises of the peace process. A […]
- 13th August 2020
Human rights depend on a well-functioning administrative state. If the administrative state is dysfunctional, it will not be able to realise the promise of human rights. While obvious in some developed countries, it is not so in Latin America where the relationship between human rights law and the region’s long-standing problems of corruption, poverty, insecurity […]
- 8th July 2020
The Brazilian Senate approved a bill to fight fake news on 30 June 2020. The bill now goes to the lower house and will need the President’s approval afterwards. This comes in the context of the alleged existence of a ‘bureau of hate’ led by President Bolsonaro’s allies, which supposedly coordinates virtual attacks against dissidents […]
Alvin Attalo - 23rd June 2020
The Rafiki case concerns the alleged violation of the right to freedom of expression due to the censorship of a film with scenes depicting women in a same-sex relationship. Upholding the censorship, the Kenyan High Court failed to apply a proportionality analysis – – sanctioning an unjustified limitation of the right to freedom of expression […]
Adhira Menon - 14th June 2020
On 5th March 2020, the Appeals Chamber at International Criminal Court, (ICC) overturned the earlier decision of the Pre- Trial Chamber and unanimously authorized investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan. This article discusses the jurisdiction of ICC in this specific matter, the flawed decision of the Pre- Trial Chamber and the […]
- 12th June 2020
These are complex and painful times in the United States. There has never been a greater need for a human rights approach to address systemic racial inequality and racism. Police brutality and barriers to adequately access health services are two pressing byproducts of past and persisting racial discrimination in the United States. While sidelined in […]
- 1st June 2020
Measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in Kosovo have been subject to political contest and legal challenge. In a press conference on March 17, 2020, the President of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi, announced his intention to issue a decree declaring a state of emergency to deal with the COVID 19 pandemic. The Prime Minister of Kosovo, […]
Juan Alonso Tello Mendoza - 13th May 2020
Since 2006, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) has developed the “Conventionality Control”doctrine. Similar to “Constitutional Review”, which seeks to establish the prevalence of the Constitution of each state over other domestic rules, the conventionality control doctrine aims to strengthen the supremacy of human rights treaties over domestic law – constitutions included – of […]
Hannah Taylor - 1st May 2020
As 1/3 of the global population faces some form of lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has issued a statement reiterating the ‘imperative of respect for civil and political rights…an emergency situation is not a blank check to disregard human rights obligations’. This came as a […]
Thiago Feital - 9th April 2020
The coronavirus outbreak hit Brazil at a particularly difficult moment. Since 2016, Constitutional Amendment (EC) nº. 95 is in force. The provision, dubbed the “mother of all austerity plans“, limits spending on public services and investments by the inflationary variation, over 20 years. The key effect of EC/95, which has been strongly condemned by civil […]
Javiera Arce-Riffo - 4th April 2020
Recently, on March 4, 2020, the two chambers of the Chilean Congress approved gender parity for the election of the Constitutional Convention that will shape the new Chilean Constitution. What is the importance of this? Why did Chilean women fight to obtain gender parity? Since October 18, 2019, Chile has been traversing the most important […]
Katharine Young - 13th February 2020
It is a common and very productive exercise, within contemporary philosophical or anthropological inquires, to examine the foundations and content of human rights. What’s more unusual is for a nation-state to singlehandedly pursue that effort. This may be happening now with the Trump Administration’s new Commission on Unalienable Rights. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in […]