ECOWAS Court Overlooked Nigeria’s Due Diligence Obligations in #ENDSARS Decision
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Court) delivered an important decision in the Obianuju Catherine Ude & 2 Others v Federal Republic of Nigeria case on July 10,...
Student Movements, the Right to Protest, and Bangladesh’s Human Rights Obligations
In June 2024, students in Bangladesh protested against the reinstatement of the quota system by the High Court division that reserved, among others, 30% of the total public posts for...
The ECtHR in Podchasov v. Russia – Preserving Encryption And Denying Backdoors
On 13th February 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) pronounced the seminal judgment of Podchasov v. Russia, holding that the weakening of end-to-end encryption (“E2EE”) or creating backdoors...
A Missed Opportunity: Indian Supreme Court’s Limited Innovation in Balancing Free Speech and Disability Rights
On 8 July 2024, the Supreme Court of India in Nipun Malhotra v Sony Pictures Films India addressed the issue of representation and portrayal of persons with disabilities in media...
Testing the Limits of the Right to Peaceful Demonstration under the 2010 Constitution: Kenya’s 2024 Finance Bill
Kenya has for the past three weeks been thrust into the international scene due to demonstrations under the hashtags #RejectFinanceBill2024 and #Rutomustgo. The demonstrations advocated for the rejection of the...
The Ahmadiyya in Pakistan: Religious Persecution, Human Rights, and Islam
The Ahmadiyya are a religious minority who suffer persecution in Pakistan and many other Muslim-majority countries. In 2023, for example, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that at least...
Proportionality in theory, not practice: Internet Rights in Indian Courts
Although Indian Courts have adopted a structured five-prong proportionality test in cases such as Modern Dental College [2016] and KS Puttaswamy [2017] to determine the validity of the State’s restriction...
UK Court Safeguards Fundamental Right to Protest: Liberty v Secretary of State for the Home Department
The UK Divisional Court has found that the Home Secretary acted unlawfully when introducing Regulations which lowered the threshold for the use of police powers to impose conditions on public...
For the Inaugural UN International Day of Play: A Framework for Implementing the Right to Play
The 11th June marks the first International Day of Play. This is an important moment for recognising that all children, from all backgrounds, and of all ages, have a right...
University Campuses and the Right to Protest Under the ECHR
The recent spread of student protest relating to Israel’s war in Gaza calls for a refresher on the scope of the right to protest on university campuses. This post considers...
Gendered Dimensions: A Critical Look at the Online Safety Act of Sri Lanka
Amidst public protests, Sri Lanka passed the Online Safety Act (‘OSA’) on 24 January 2024. The passing of the Act drew much criticism for having the potential to stifle freedom...
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...