Weaponized Legalism and the Promise-Performance Gap: Press Suppression in Transitional Democracies: Part 1 – Bangladesh
This two-part blog examines how transitional governments in the Global South systematically suppress press freedom through “weaponized legalism”—the use of formally legal procedures to violate fundamental rights while maintaining constitutional...
Timidly Groundbreaking: The Indian Supreme Court’s Judgement on the Right to Menstrual Health
“We wish to communicate to every girl child who might have become a victim of absenteeism because her body was perceived as a burden, that the fault is not hers.”...
The Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025 & International Human Rights Law
On 5th December 2025, a Member of the Indian Parliament (Lower House) introduced the Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025 (‘the Bill’). The Bill aims to introduce pivotal changes in the...
Pakistan’s New Constitutional Court and the Importance of Institutional Independence
Typically, specialised constitutional courts are regarded as effective institutional protectors of democracy and human rights because of their increased efficiency, specialised knowledge and positive impact on constitutional culture. However, this...
Transgender Rights in Employment after Jane Kaushik v. Union of India: A Socio-Legal Analysis of the Supreme Court’s Ruling
In October 2025, in Jane Kaushik v Union of India, the Indian Supreme Court confronted a form of exclusion that has become routine rather than exceptional. A transgender teacher was...
Beyond Procedural Relief: The Case for Systemic Constitutional Review of India’s Anti-Conversion Laws
On 17 October 2025, the Supreme Court of India in Rajendra Bihari Lal v. State of Uttar Pradesh, quashed multiple FIRs under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of...
The Indian Supreme Court’s New Report on Caste: What Is It About and Why It Matters?
The Indian Supreme Court’s in-house think tank, the Centre for Research and Planning, recently released its ‘Report on Judicial Conceptions of Caste’ in November this year. This first-of-its-kind study examines...
Chirinos Salamanca v. Venezuela: A Legal Analysis of Retroactive Human Rights Law Application
On 21 August 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) delivered its judgment on preliminary objections in Chirinos Salamanca y otros v. Venezuela, later made public on 26 August....
Chirinos Salamanca vs. Venezuela: Un análisis jurídico de la aplicación retroactiva de la legislación de derechos humanos
El 21 de agosto de 2025, la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (Corte IDH) dictó sentencia sobre excepciones preliminares en Chirinos Salamanca y otros vs. Venezuela, que luego se hizo...
Maharashtra’s Special Public Security Bill: Vague Law, Clear Danger
The Maharashtra State Assembly in India recently passed the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill (MSPS) with the stated objective of combating left-wing extremism, including what it terms the urban “frontal...
Invisible Deaths: The Case for a National Disability Mortality Registry in India
In July 2024, Delhi witnessed the death of 14 residents at Asha Kiran Shelter, a state-run residential institution for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These deaths, linked to anaemia,...
Mob Justice, State Failure: The Right to Life Betrayed in Bangladesh
On 18 September 2024, a man named Tofazzal Hossain was seized inside Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall at the University of Dhaka, beaten repeatedly by a group of students who accused...
