The Great Balancing Act: Countering Online Hate Speech While Protecting Freedom of Expression
German lawmakers have recently passed a controversial law, ‘Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz’ (Network Enforcement Act or NetzDG), which, in part, aims to counter online hate speech. Under the Act, social media companies operating...
Asylum Seekers Gain the Right to Work in Ireland
Asylum seekers arriving in Ireland are prohibited from seeking employment until a determination of their application for asylum has been made. In the meantime, asylum seekers are required to stay...
Iran’s Presidential Charade: Women Out or In?
The controversy over whether a woman can be President in Iran rises every four years during the presidential election. Every women who has registered has been found “unqualified” by the...
Penalising Anti-Semitism in Poland: Creating “Free Speech Martyrs”?
On a November night in 2015, an effigy of a Jew was burnt in the main market square in Wrocław, Poland, as part of a protest against accepting refugees into...
Trinity Lutheran v. Comer: Does The U.S. Supreme Court Now See Separation of Church and State as a Kind of Religious Discrimination?
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trinity Lutheran v. Comer seems modest on its facts, but it moves the Court one step closer to a complete reversal of the “separation...
First in Asia – Taiwan’s Marriage Equality Ruling in Comparative and Queer Perspectives
On 24 May 2017, the Constitutional Court of Taiwan issued a ruling in favour of same-sex marriage (full text in Chinese; press summary in English). The ruling gave two years...
The UK Government’s Promised Review of Counter-Terror Law and Strategy
In less than three months, the UK has suffered from four major terror attacks. As the UK is recovering after the attacks in London Bridge and Borough Market, and in...
Australia’s Bid for the UN Human Rights Council and the Domestic Politics of Race
Australia has identified five priorities to support its candidacy for a seat on the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. They are ‘gender equality, good governance, freedom of expression, the rights...
Abortion, Autonomy And The Deep Blue Sea: The Supreme Court’s Decision In R (On The Application Of A And B) v Secretary Of State For Health
The question in this case was whether the Secretary of State, who had power to make provision for the functioning of the NHS in England, was legally obliged to make...
A New Ground Of Discrimination: Rural Remoteness?
The latest intended use of the notwithstanding clause in Good Spirit School Division v Christ the Teacher Roman Catholic Separate School Division No. 212 and The Government of Saskatchewan on...
Transforming the Law-Transgender Rights in the US (with Corey Stoughton)
In May of 2016, the Obama administration issued federal guidance that stated transgender people are protected according to United States civil rights law preventing sex discrimination in schools. It was...
Freedom of Speech or Enabling a Right to Insult? The Australian Debate over Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975
With a rise in the Neo-Right worldwide, we see the fear of the foreigner and the blaming of refugees and welfare recipients for ills that often flow from structural inequality...
