When I Use a Word, It Means Just What I Want It to Mean: Two Examples of the Separation of Powers Under Threat
The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024 quashes hundreds of convictions including those of a factually guilty minority. The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 declares ‘conclusively’...
Mapping the global crackdown on LGBTIQ rights
On 17 May 1990, the World Health Organisation (WHO) removed homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), thereby taking an important first step towards addressing and removing the stigma...
Military Justice in the Spotlight (Again): R v Edwards in the Supreme Court of Canada
Military justice is in the spotlight again with the Supreme Court of Canada’s judgment in R v Edwards [2024] SCC 15, where the majority upheld the constitutionality of Canada’s military...
Reconciliation and the Northern Ireland Legacy Act: A Human Rights Perspective – Part 2
The first part of this blog drew on academic literature and international case law to examine the key components of a human rights centred concept of reconciliation. Here, we argue...
Reconciliation and the Northern Ireland Legacy Act: A Human Rights Perspective – Part 1
In February 2024, the High Court in Belfast declared in Dillon and others that fundamental aspects of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 are unlawful and should...
The dark side of amnesty laws: impunity guaranteed. The case of Nicaragua
Amnesty laws can, in principle, be an acceptable transitional justice mechanism. It is sometimes the case that, due to lack of resources or political instability, criminal prosecutions are not a...
El lado oscuro de las leyes de amnistía: impunidad garantizada. El caso de Nicaragua
Las leyes de amnistía son, en principio, herramientas de justicia transicional perfectamente aceptables. En ocasiones, debido a factores tales como escasez de recursos o inestabilidad política, no es posible juzgar...
Tanzania’s Colonial Relic: A Thread of Capital Punishment
The death penalty (capital punishment) is abolished in many African countries and applied under exceptional circumstances in 16 of the 30 African countries where it is retained. However, Tanzania still...
One year on, US journalist Evan Gershkovich remains a state hostage in Russia
For the past twelve months, US journalist Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, has been held in a Moscow prison awaiting trial. Arrested by security services on...
How Texas’ Proposed Criminalisation of Immigration Jeopardises Human Rights Commitments
Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) —which is currently blocked from taking effect— is the latest in a long line of repressive strategies that the state of Texas is using to...
La Belgique criminalise l’écocide: une (imparfaite) première européenne
Le 22 février 2024, la Belgique a marqué l’histoire en adoptant un nouveau code pénal criminalisant l’écocide dans son droit interne. Il s’agit de la première fois qu’une telle interdiction...
Belgium Recognises the Crime of Ecocide: A (Lukewarm) European First
On 22 February 2024, Belgium made history by adopting a new penal code that criminalises ‘ecocide’ at the national level. This marks the first time that such a domestic prohibition...
