Blog

Select a blog category

Fighting for fair representation for women through dissolution of the Kenyan Parliament

Alvin Attalo - 27th October 2020

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building| Equality and Non-Discrimination

In the Chief Justice’s advice to the President, Kenya’s current Chief Justice David Kenani Maraga has advised the President to dissolve parliament for failing to enact legislation that ensures gender equality as guaranteed under the Kenyan Constitution. Constitutional bases for the petition Article 27(8) of the Kenyan Constitution requires the State to take legislative and […]

Read full article »

Kenya’s Constitutional Court Certifies Structural Interdict as an Interlocutory Remedy

Godfrey Mwango - 9th October 2020

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building| Socio-Economic Rights

Kenya’s constitutional court has demonstrated its flexibility in facilitating the progressive realisation of the constitutional aspirations through the rapidly evolving jurisprudence on Article 43 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010. As envisaged by the drafters, the transformative Constitution invited a plethora of jurisprudence that would revolutionise the legal niche by including socio-economic rights in its […]

Read full article »

OxHRH

Human Rights, International Law and The United Kingdom Internal Market Bill 2020

Tristan Cummings - 17th September 2020

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

The recently published United Kingdom Internal Market Bill 2020 has caused – to put it mildly – quite a stir upon its arrival. Partly due to the Government’s admission that the Bill would seek to ‘redefine’ international obligations entered into upon ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement – a binding Treaty made between the UK and […]

Read full article »

OxHRH

Advancing a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland

- 17th August 2020

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

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 […]

Read full article »

OxHRH

Human Rights Law Should Meet the Administrative State

- 13th August 2020

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

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 […]

Read full article »

OxHRH

Brazil’s ‘fake news’ bill threatens to harm internet freedom and individual rights

- 8th July 2020

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building| Media Privacy and Communications

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 […]

Read full article »

OxHRH

Kenyan High Court’s Rafiki Judgment fails to Apply Proportionality Analysis

Alvin Attalo - 23rd June 2020

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building| Equality and Non-Discrimination

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 […]

Read full article »

OxHRH

The ICC’s Investigation of Crimes in Afghanistan

Adhira Menon - 14th June 2020

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

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 […]

Read full article »

OxHRH

The Conventionality Control Doctrine of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: a Critical Approach

Juan Alonso Tello Mendoza - 13th May 2020

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

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 […]

Read full article »

OxHRH

Freedom of Expression and Information in the Coronavirus Era

Hannah Taylor - 1st May 2020

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

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 […]

Read full article »