To submit a blog, please read the OxHRH Blog guidelines.
Rongeet Poddar - 17th February 2021
On February 11, 2021, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India in Vikash Kumar v. Union Public Service Commission (Vikash Kumar) held that that an individual suffering from Writer’s Cramp or dysgraphia is entitled to a scribe in India’s Civil Services’ Examination (CSE). The judgement is a significant step towards ensuring inclusivity for […]
Nalinaksha Singh and Nayoleeka Purty - 4th February 2021
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights on 4 December 2020, delivered a historic Advisory Opinion against vagrancy laws (laws which criminalize the status of individuals as being poor, homeless etc. as opposed to specific wrongful acts) and decriminalized these offences. At present, the penal codes of at least 18 African countries define a “vagrant” […]
Barbara Havelková & Terezie Boková - 29th January 2021
The recent decision of the Czech Constitutional Court (‘CCC’), Pl. ÚS 6/20, against allowing recognition of foreign adoption decisions in Czechia is harmful in outcome and evasive and formalistic in its reasoning. The case was brought by a same-sex couple who are civil partners and adoptive parents to two children under the law of New […]
Nicholas Bamforth - 18th January 2021
Editor’s Note: The Oxford Law Faculty’s Equality and Diversity Lecture 2020 was delivered by Professor Kendall Thomas on 4 November 2020. This post, originally an introduction to Professor Thomas during the lecture, reflects on his contribution to critical race theory and critical theory as applied to sexuality and law. The introduction was made in Bamforth’s capacity as […]
- 9th January 2021
In G.L. v. Italy, the European Court of Human Rights found that Italy’s failure to provide special assistance to a pupil with autism constituted a discriminatory violation of her right to education. Marie Spinoy and Kurt Willems analyse the Court’s reasoning and discuss why this judgement forms a welcome reiteration of the CRPD’s importance in […]
- 28th December 2020
In Bernard Odero Okello & another v Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, the petitioners challenged the appointment of the interested parties as members of the Business Premises and Rent Tribunal on several grounds, inter alia, that the appointment was in violation of Article 27 of the Kenyan Constitution. Article 27 requires the […]
Tatiana Kazim - 15th December 2020
If you are a transgender child living in England and Wales, what treatment can the NHS offer you? Until recently, one of the main options was a prescription of puberty blocking drugs (PBs), available through the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. PBs suspend the maturation of the gonads […]
- 14th December 2020
On 24th November 2020, the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh promulgated a new ordinance which shocked the nation. The Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 requires religious conversion to be scrutinised and certified by the State. Conversion to a different faith without the state’s approval would lead to imprisonment and fines. While on […]
- 10th December 2020
On 17 November 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) delivered B and C v. Switzerland, a case concerning the deportation of a homosexual Gambian national. While the Court noted that the mere existence of laws criminalising homosexual acts did not render deportation contrary to Article 3 ECHR, it concluded that the Swiss […]
Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler - 10th December 2020
In an article criticising the notion that the government will be determining the scope of permissible private gatherings this Christmas, Lord Jonathan Sumption claimed that ‘For Christians, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of a redeemer. For everyone, it is a celebration of life.’ This is not an uncommon attempt to universalise and, in the process, secularise […]
Phoebe Woo - 10th December 2020
In the judgment handed down by the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (‘CFA’) on 27 November 2020 (Leung Kwok Hung v Commissioner of Correctional Services [2020] HKCFA 37), it was held that the Commissioner of Correctional Service (‘the Commissioner’) has acted discriminatorily against the Applicant by requiring him to have his hair cut while […]
Geoffrey Allsop - 9th December 2020
On 20 November 2020, the South African Constitutional Court delivered judgment in Mahlangu v Minister of Labour (“Mahlangu”). This case concerned the constitutionality of barring private domestic workers (or their dependents) from instituting compensation claims for workplace related injury, disease or death under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (“COIDA”). COIDA creates […]