To submit a blog, please read the OxHRH Blog guidelines.
Serdar Reşat Bakır - 17th October 2018
In Western academia, few efforts have been made to portray the status of the Turkish jurisdiction and its stance against what happened following to the so-called coup attempt in Turkey that took place on 15th of July 2016, which provided the impetus for a huge crackdown on civil liberties. Over the last couple of years […]
Alexandra Tompson - 26th September 2018
Since coming into power, Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) has introduced controversial sweeping changes to the judiciary. Accusing Poland of undermining EU values and democratic principles, the EU Commission has been threatening to trigger Article 7 of the European Union Treaty: a process which would strip Poland of its voting rights. This week, the Commission […]
Anne Marie Lofaso - 24th September 2018
Anthony McLeod Kennedy, born on January 23, 1936, to Irish Catholic parents, announced his retirement on June 27, 2018, after thirty years on the United States Supreme Court. Known as the “swing vote” after Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired in 2006, Justice Kennedy’s retirement twelve years later, while not unexpected, has created political division in […]
Joris Bertrand - 19th September 2018
On 25 July 2018 the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled in Minister for Justice and Equality v LM that a judicial authority called upon to execute a European arrest warrant (“EAW”) must refrain from giving effect to it if it considers that there is a real risk […]
David Hofisi - 11th September 2018
On 5 September 2018, renowned scholar Alex Magaisa published a piece on the standard of proof in Zimbabwe’s presidential petition. He argued that the ruling of the Constitutional Court led to uncertainty regarding the standard of proof to void elections in Zimbabwe. This response investigates the extent to which such uncertainty exists. On 24 August […]
Alex T. Magaisa - 5th September 2018
The Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe (the Court) last week upheld the election of Emmerson Mnangagwa as the duly elected president of Zimbabwe. The decision came after a legal challenge by Nelson Chamisa of the MDC Alliance. I focus here on the crucial issue of the standard of proof in election challenges. The main parties were […]
Jason Brickhill - 24th August 2018
Today, the Constitutional Court dismissed a legal challenge to Zimbabwe’s presidential elections. In my previous post, I reported on the conduct of the elections and the ensuing military crackdown. Information in the public domain indicated that the results were not credible – in particular, the increase in turnout after close of voting, reaching extraordinary levels […]
Patrick Burfitt - 20th August 2018
On 2 July 2018, the High Court handed down judgment in Dulgheriu v London Boroughof Ealing [2018] EWHC 1667 (Admin). The case provides crucial insight into the ever lowering threshold at which freedom of expression can be curtailed in the United Kingdom. The judgment rejected a challenge to an Ealing Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which […]
Jason Brickhill - 7th August 2018
In November 2017, Robert Mugabe’s 38-year rule ended. At the time, I called this what it was – a coup – though popular among many Zimbabweans who thronged the streets alongside the tanks. In an attempt to legitimise the coup, parliamentary impeachment proceedings began. As the vote approached – with tanks in the streets and […]
Lee-Anne Germanos - 1st August 2018
In the wake of public hearings taking place around South Africa concerning the Parliamentary motion to review and amend the compensation provisions for the lawful expropriation of land contained in section 25 of the 1996 Constitution, the legal barriers to removing such a requirement seem to have been simplified to a mere amendment of wording. […]
Mihika Poddar and Shardha Rajam - 5th July 2018
Between January to May (2018) alone, the Indian government imposed 55 internet shutdowns. An internet shutdown disrupts all electronic communications and services within a geographical location. Often, neither the reason for, nor the duration of these shutdowns is made transparent. In a digital age, these shutdowns interfere with much more than just free speech because they hinder […]
Jonathan Cooper - 20th June 2018
On Monday in the House of Lords, Lord Pannick withdrew his amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill retaining the EU Charter as part of the UK’s post-Brexit settlement. With this, the Charter’s fate in UK law post Brexit was sealed. When the UK leaves the EU, the EU Charter will cease to apply. The status […]