Sir Keir Starmer’s Blackstone Lecture: “Human Rights: Can Britain go it Alone? And Should We?”
On 21st November, the annual Blackstone Lecture at Pembroke College was delivered by Sir Keir Starmer, the well known human rights barrister and former Director of Public Prosecutions turned Labour...
Dominic Grieve on the Human Rights Act: St Hugh’s College, Oxford—13 November 2015
The Human Rights Act (HRA) is one of the most significant pieces of constitutional reform in Britain. Certain sections of the Conservative Party, though, enthusiastically encouraged by parts of the...
The Chinese Human Rights Roundup
Human rights lawyers are internationally perceived as crusaders, advocating for basic human rights for all mankind. But what happens when the lawyers themselves, not the clients, are the ones subject...
Rule of Law in Hong Kong’s Brave New World
Hong Kong must have thought to itself, “O brave new world, that has such people in it”, as it listened to a speech by the Director of Beijing’s Liaison Office...
The Role of Parliaments in the Protection and Realisation of the Rule of Law and Human Rights
What is the role of parliaments in the protection and realisation of the rule of law and human rights? Should there be a set of internationally agreed principles and guidelines...
Queensland Parliament Lights Up the Night for Human Rights
Monday 14th September 2015 saw an exciting development on the legislative human rights front in Australia, as a coalition of NGOs, community groups and community members hosted a public launch...
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...
