Safety of Sex-Workers Again at the Centre in Canada (Attorney General) v Bedford
Earlier this year, I argued that the ONCA gave a comprehensive and nuanced assessment of Canada’s criminal provisions on prostitution. The Supreme Court of Canada in a unanimous decision upheld...
Over to you, Parliament – The significance of the Australian High Court’s judgment on same-sex marriage
A striking feature of Australian High Court jurisprudence in recent years is the Court’s use of orthodox judicial analysis to decide issues of deep political controversy and high significance for...
Naz and Reclaiming Counter-Majoritarianism
The term “counter-majoritarian” has, more often than not, been used in a derogatory fashion – especially when it is used to describe an institution like the Supreme Court. However, after...
Stereotyping as Direct Discrimination?
The Hungarian Equal Treatment Authority (ETA) found that the entrance policy of a music club violated anti-discrimination legislation. The club in Budapest only charged men for entrance but not women....
The Crime of “Homosexuality” under Cameroon Criminal Law
According to Human Rights Watch there are 76 countries in the world that prosecute people for having consensual sexual relations with a person of the same sex. In Cameroon, the...
Naz Foundation: Reading Down the Supreme Court
There is no doubt that the Supreme Court in Suresh Kumar v Naz Foundation held that section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes ‘carnal intercourse against the order...
The Commonwealth v The Australian Capital Territory: Marriage Equality in the High Court
On Thursday the High Court of Australia effectively struck down the nation’s first same-sex marriage laws. But there was a silver lining for marriage equality activists: in striking down marriage...
Of Koushal v NAZ Foundation’s Several Travesties: Discrimination and Democracy
There are many things wrong about the 98 page decision of the Indian Supreme Court in Suresh Kumar Koushal v NAZ Foundation. The Court’s extensive quoting but tenacious refusal to...
Taking Conscience Seriously
Ladele (see previous posts) exemplifies an important public debate: has the embrace of gay equality by the liberal state become oppressive towards free conscience rights? The legalization of gay marriage...
Fundamental Human Rights and the Community Law of CARICOM
In 1973, pursuant to the Treaty of Chaguaramas (ToC), the independent countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean and Montserrat (at the time a British Crown colony) established the Caribbean Community and...
True Reconciliation Requires a Treaty
Treaties are accepted around the world as the means of reaching a settlement between Indigenous peoples and those who have settled their lands. Australia is the only Commonwealth nation that...
European Court of Human Rights Rules on Same-Sex Civil Partnerships
In the case of Vallianatos and Others v. Greece, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that the legal recognition of different-sex civil partnerships to the...
