Beyond State Responsibility: The Trafigura Case and Corporate Accountability in Africa
Over the last few decades, there has been global recognition that corporations yield considerable social, economic and political power. This recognition has been accompanied by the question of how to...
Resisting the Legal Assault on Transgender and Gender Non-Binary Students
Since the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v Hodges striking down same-sex marriage bans across the United States, conservative States and localities—perhaps motivated by the politics of resentment stemming...
Empathy and Justice: Abortion Rights for Minor Rape Victims in India
Otherwise viewed as a laudable step in addressing rights to abort, India’s Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 (MTP) inadvertently leaves minor rape victims vulnerable. A recent decision of the...
How flexible are South African courts’ remedial powers? A closer look at the Constitutional Court’s shifting approach to constitutional damages
In two 2021 judgments, Residents of Industry House and Thubakgale, the Constitutional Court of South Africa refused to award damages for human rights violations (‘constitutional damages’). The implications for the...
The Judicialisation of Party Politics: Pakistan’s Supreme Court confirms the Election Commission can review Intra-Party Elections
On 25 January 2024, the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) held that political parties have a duty to hold intra-party elections. The SCP upheld an order of the Election Commission...
Empty Seats, Silenced Voices: Looming Shadow of Democratic Erosion in India’s Mass Suspensions
Recently, during the Winter Session of the Indian Parliament, more than 140 opposition members of Parliament (MPs) were suspended, sparking concerns about the freedom of speech and expression in the...
Nepal registers First Same-Sex Marriage: A Glimmer of Hope for Global LGBTQIA+
On 29 November 2023, Nepal became the second Asian Country to register a same-sex marriage after Taiwan. This represents a significant development in the struggle for marriage equality for the...
A Regression of Rights? The Exclusion of LGBTQI+ Individuals from the Supreme Court of India’s Sexual Harassment Regulations
On 7 November 2023, the Supreme Court of India declined a petition seeking to amend the Gender Sensitization and Sexual Harassment of Women at the Supreme Court of India (Prevention,...
Mainstreaming Merits Review: Kenya’s Court of Appeal Further Clarifies the Scope of Judicial Review Law
On 10 November 2023, the Kenyan Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in Patrick Kabundu & Another v County Government of Mombasa, offering additional clarity on considerations guiding the court’s...
The Intersection of Human Rights and Finance: A Legal Exploration of the UDHR’s Continuing Impact
This post marks International Human Rights Day, which occurred earlier this week on the 10 December. This is the day that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed, which...
The Decriminalisation of Marital Rape: How India Continues to Refuse Justice to its Married Women
India is disappointingly one of the fewest countries in the world today that explicitly decriminalises marital rape, despite being a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Exception...
Museums and Missiles: Russia’s Attack on Ukrainian Heritage Highlights the Need to Protect Cultural Rights
Since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, they have bombed, defaced, and looted sites of cultural significance to the Ukrainian people. UNESCO recently confirmed that 295 sites have been...