A Human Rights Perspective of the Supreme Court Verdict on the Basic Structure Doctrine
In a recent verdict by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (“SCP”), the constitutionality of, inter alia, the 21st amendment—whereby the Federal Government can transfer the trial of certain terrorism-related offences...
Another first: Reparations Awarded to Victims at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
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...
Constitutional Reasoning About Same-Sex Marriage
By including same-sex couples within the constitutional right to marry, the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges (26th June 2015) is of great practical significance. It...
Enforcing a ‘Universal’ Declaration: UN Efforts to hold Non-State Actors Accountable for Human Rights
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...
A Supreme Court at the Centre of a Deeply Divided Society
From January 01 to April 01 2015 I worked as a Foreign Law Clerk at the Supreme Court of Israel. This internship was generously funded by Oxford Pro Bono Publico...
Imprisoning Children: Against Lowering the Age of Criminal Responsibility in Brazil
The Brazilian House of Representatives is on a fast track to adopt a constitutional amendment (PEC 171/1993) by the end of this month to lower the age of criminal responsibility...
Bram Fischer: Dissent and Challenge From Within
Bram Fischer’s courage entailed a radical challenge to his own heritage, to his family’s history and connections, and to the establishment of his time. We admire him. But too easily...
The Future of Human Rights in the UK
Adam Wagner (One Crown Office Row and founder of RightsInfo.org) gave a very timely seminar on 12 May 2015 for the OxHRH and the Oxford Martin School Human Rights for...
The Future of the HRA 1998 Under the Conservative Party
2015, much like 1992, will go down as a General Election for the UK pollsters to forget. After months of predicting that no single party would win an outright majority,...
The Legal Implications of a Repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 and Withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights
The return of a majority Conservative government in last week’s general election in the UK has made the Conservative Party’s plans for reforming human rights law in the United Kingdom...
New EU Human Rights and Democracy Action Plan – What Changes Does it Bring?
The European Commission and the European External Action Service adopted on 28 April 2015 a new Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy for 2015-2019. It builds on the experience...
Britain’s Human Rights Agenda – Bringing Rights into the Home
In a speech to the UN in 1958, Eleanor Roosevelt famously remarked, “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home… they are the world...
