India’s Model Beggary Bill: Towards Rehabilitating the Beggars
The practice of beggary is rampant in India and currently, over 4 lakh (400,000) people are involved in it. Some practice beggary because of their religious beliefs while for some...
Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression
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...
Kenya Enacts Contempt of Court Act to Uphold the Right to a Fair Trial
For a long time, the law on contempt of court in Kenya was outdated and quite unsatisfactory. However, Kenya recently enacted the Contempt of Court Act, Act No 46 of...
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...
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...
Taking Some Human Rights Back: The Case of Ildar Dadin
Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees a right of peaceful assembly, has recently clashed with the Russian Criminal Code which, as of 2014, has criminalised repeated participation in...
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...
Pihl v Sweden: the ECtHR’s Unhelpful Preoccupation with Hate Speech
On 9 March 2017, the Third Section of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) declared inadmissible a complaint by the applicant, Mr Pihl, that his right to respect for...
A Win For The Freedom Of Expression In Kenya: Criminal Libel Is Unconstitutional
The Kenyan High court has, in a recent decision, struck a blow for freedom of expression. The case, Jacqueline Okuta& another v Attorney General & 2 others , sought to...
Courts and contempt powers in India: The case of Jolly LLB-2
Although the Legislature and the Executive are the subject of regular political satire in India, last month the courts showed that contempt powers can be used to create a hitherto-unknown...
Derogating from Fundamental Human Rights under the Turkish State of Emergency
Five days after the coup failed on 15 July 2016 in Turkey, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency from 21 July 2016 for a period of ninety days,...
France Risks Violating the Right to Freedom of Expression with New Abortion Law Proposals
France is set to introduce a controversial new law which criminalizes the online ‘obstruction’ of abortion. The legislation will extend existing provisions that have made it a criminal offence in...
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