Role of the Judiciary

Learning Lessons from Litigators: Deciding to Go to Court

Learning Lessons from Litigators: Deciding to Go to Court

It is crucial at the beginning stages to develop a sophisticated and context-sensitive strategy on how to develop and litigate the case for achieving a right to education. So in...
Kenya Enacts Contempt of Court Act to Uphold the Right to a Fair Trial

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For a long time, the law on contempt of court in Kenya was outdated and quite unsatisfactory.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...
Limitations on the Remedial Powers of the Inter-American System of Human Rights

Limitations on the Remedial Powers of the Inter-American System of Human Rights

In 2001, the Supreme Court of Argentina gave a judgment against Jorge Fontevecchia and Héctor D’Amico for publishing news relating to an unrecognised son of Carlos Menem (the former President...
Treaty Amendments and Access to Justice at the East African Court

Treaty Amendments and Access to Justice at the East African Court

On 31 March 2017 the East African Court of Justice (‘the Court’) handed down its judgment in the case of Steven Deniss v The Attorney General of Burundi et al.....
Courts and contempt powers in India: The case of Jolly LLB-2

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...
The Religious Views of Judges and Human Rights Adjudication: A Reply to Bamforth and Barber

The Religious Views of Judges and Human Rights Adjudication: A Reply to Bamforth and Barber

Two blog contributions have recently discussed the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the US Supreme Court and what should be made of his conservative and theologically-derived views supported by...
Judge Neil Gorsuch: A Reply to Nicholas Bamforth

Judge Neil Gorsuch: A Reply to Nicholas Bamforth

At the start of March, Nick Bamforth wrote a blog post for this site examining Judge Neil Gorsuch’s ‘Academic Pedigree’. With the hearings on Gorsuch underway, I thought it might...
Judge Gorsuch’s Academic Pedigree

Judge Gorsuch’s Academic Pedigree

In articles published on 4th February 2017, the Times and Guardian newspapers drew attention to the intellectual influence of Oxford legal theorist John Finnis on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge...
China’s New Circuit Tribunals Allow Tighter Control of Judiciary

China’s New Circuit Tribunals Allow Tighter Control of Judiciary

China’s new system of circuit tribunals makes access to the justice system more convenient for ordinary citizens. But the new tribunals also make sure that the Communist Party retains firm...
The U.S. Constitution, Constitutional Conventions, and President Trump

The U.S. Constitution, Constitutional Conventions, and President Trump

What is most concerning about the conduct of Donald Trump during and since the 2016 presidential campaign is not any potential violations of the U.S. Constitution. Most concerning are his...
Triggering Article 50: R (Miller and others) v Secretary of State for the Exiting of the European Union

Triggering Article 50: R (Miller and others) v Secretary of State for the Exiting of the European Union

The High Court in London is currently hearing a challenge to the position of the UK Government that it can trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union...
Judging Abortion in Northern Ireland: Facing the Challenges, Taking the Opportunities

Judging Abortion in Northern Ireland: Facing the Challenges, Taking the Opportunities

The Northern Ireland legal system and, more specifically, Northern Irish courts have been thrust into the national spotlight this week following the prosecution of a 21 year old woman who...

Become A Contributor To The Blog