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OxHRH

Coronavirus: States Derogating to Suspend Human Rights Obligations

Natasha Holcroft-Emmess - 27th March 2020

Conflict and Security| Jurisdiction and Scope| Socio-Economic Rights

Governments around the world are taking decisive action to contain the spread of a novel coronavirus, (COVID-19), with heavy implications for human rights. Commentators have assessed containment measures in blogs on preventive duties, State responsibility, and the UK’s draft emergency legislation. Several States have now derogated from the ECHR to address COVID-19. This blog post […]

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OxHRH

Partial U.S. sanctions on Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Ligia De Jesús Castaldi - 2nd August 2019

Jurisdiction and Scope

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), one of two major human rights bodies of the Organization of American states (OAS), has been subject to some political controversy lately over its involvment in controversial human rights issues, such as the creation of abortion rights. Headquartered in Washington D.C. and deriving about half of its budget […]

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OxHRH

Draft Copenhagen Declaration – Diluting European Supervision by ‘Robust Subsidiarity’

Clara Wong - 17th April 2018

Jurisdiction and Scope

As a prelude to the High Level Conference to be held in Copenhagen in April 2018, the Danish chairmanship of the Council of Europe recently issued the Draft Copenhagen Declaration. Whilst the Draft welcomed the ECtHR’s more robust application of the subsidiarity principle and the margin of appreciation, it is open to question whether it […]

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OxHRH

Fact-Finding and the Rohingya Community

Praharsh Johorey - 8th September 2017

Jurisdiction and Scope

In March of this year, the Human Rights Council (HRC) unanimously adopted a resolution concerning the Myanmar Government’s treatment  of its Rohingya minority, which declared an imminent need to dispatch an ‘independent fact-finding mission’ to ascertain and study the facts and circumstances relating to the escalating human rights violations the State is accused of perpetrating […]

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OxHRH

Limitations on the Remedial Powers of the Inter-American System of Human Rights

Florencia Bohl - 3rd July 2017

Jurisdiction and Scope

In 2001, the Supreme Court of Argentina gave a judgment against Jorge Fontevecchia and Héctor D’Amico for publishing news relating to an unrecognised son of Carlos Menem (the former President of Argentina). The Court decided that the diffusion of news related to the unrecognised son had infringed the right to privacy. That same year, Jorge […]

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OxHRH

A Commentary on Recent Developments in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ Advisory Opinion on the Standing of Legal Entities

Florencia Bohl - 30th November 2016

Jurisdiction and Scope

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) Advisory Opinion OC-22/16 examined the question of whether legal entities have standing before the Inter-American System of Human Rights. It addressed issues surrounding the interpretation of Article 1.2 of the American Convention of Human Rights (ACHR) in a literal, teleological, systemic, and evolutionary approach. The eventual conclusion–that legal […]

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OxHRH

The Cyprus Problem and EU Law: Ships Passing in the Night?

Louis Karaolis - 11th November 2016

Conflict and Security| Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building| Jurisdiction and Scope

Stripped to its core, the Cyprus Problem pertains to the illegal invasion of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkish forces in 1974 and the displacement of 180,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes. The invasion was followed by the establishment of a Turkish-Pseudo State and the stationing of 43,000 Turkish troops.  To this day, 37 per […]

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OxHRH

Whole Women’s Health: A Call for Evidence-Based Regulation of Abortion

Reva Siegel - 19th July 2016

Jurisdiction and Scope

Decades ago, the medical profession helped build the public-health case for decriminalising abortion, and the Supreme Court of the United States appealed to medical science in deciding Roe v Wade. In its most recent decision, Whole Women’s Health v Hellerstedt, the Court has again turned to the medical profession to evaluate claims of fact said […]

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OxHRH

Papa Don’t Preach (You May be Found Guilty of Hate Speech)

Claire Overman and Andrew Wheelhouse - 22nd March 2016

Jurisdiction and Scope

Rare is the day when the lowly District Judge sitting in the Magistrates’ Court gets the distinction of having one of his judgments reported. Kudos then to District Judge McNally for his thought-provoking decision on hate speech in the Northern Irish case of DPP v McConnell. The case concerned a sermon by evangelical Protestant preacher […]

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OxHRH

Brexit, Rights, and the (Potential) Scrapping of the HRA

Brian Christopher Jones - 18th March 2016

Jurisdiction and Scope

The relationship between Brexit (British exit from the European Union) and human (and other) rights depends on what “rights” are under discussion. Although some in the media have incorrectly conflated Brexit with the scrapping of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), the Tories are largely responsible for much of the confusion over what will happen […]

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OxHRH

Another first: Reparations Awarded to Victims at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Oliver Windridge - 13th August 2015

Jurisdiction and Scope

The recent award of reparations by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to the applicants in Zongo and others v Burkina Faso cements the case as a landmark for both the Court and for human rights in Africa. The case, which concerns the murder of an investigative journalist and his three work companions, […]

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OxHRH

Enforcing a ‘Universal’ Declaration: UN Efforts to hold Non-State Actors Accountable for Human Rights

Matt Edbrooke - 20th July 2015

Jurisdiction and Scope

The UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 as an expression of universally binding human rights, applicable to “all members of the human family”. Whilst the UN is made up of states, the declaration’s universality pertains to the individual. The UN Charter similarly begins “We the peoples of the United […]

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