Internet Shutdowns: The Irony of a Digital Nation?
Between January to May (2018) alone, the Indian government imposed 55 internet shutdowns. An internet shutdown disrupts all electronic communications and services within a geographical location. Often, neither the reason...
Governance Gaps Lead to the Displacement of People Living in Rural Communities in Zambia
In Zambia, gaps in governance are allowing commercial farmers to contravene the law. This has resulted in the physical displacement and dispossession of native rural communities as well as the...
New Legislation Promoting the Right to Health in Karnataka, India
After a long standoff between private doctors and the Government of Karnataka, India, The Karnataka Medical Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was passed to amend The Karnataka Medical Establishment Act, 2007...
The Sexist Intestacy Laws Governing Hindu Women In India: Grounds for a successful constitutional challenge?
The vast Hindu population of India of 95 million is subject to sexist and unconstitutional inheritance norms under the Hindu Succession Act of 1956. Several of its provisions are vulnerable...
Recent Legislative Progress on Healthcare Law in China: Establishing “Right to Health” as a Basic Right
In Chinese law, a “right to health” has long existed as a negative civil right in Civil Law. For the first time in the legislative draft of the Basic Healthcare...
The Australian Legal Assistance Sector and the Critical Importance of Justice to Human Lives
In February 2017, I was invited to be an ‘expert adviser’ for the Law Council of Australia’s (LCA) ‘Justice Project’. I was initially reticent. Senate Inquiries (2004; 2009; 2015), reviews,...
The Second Generation Challenges of the Right to Development (II): Is there an International Duty to Cooperate towards the Realization of the Right to Development?
In my previous post, I noted that the right to development should be rejuvenated by building on recent advances of international human rights law, which strengthened the international obligations of...
The Second Generation Challenges of the Right to Development (I): Can the Right to Development be Rescued?
More than thirty years have passed since the UN General Assembly proclaimed the right to development, but its promise remains largely unfulfilled. The right to development was intended to contribute...
Gaining More from Human Rights: Access to Health Care and Surviving Childbirth is not Enough
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 seeks to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all, at all ages. Within the maternity care context this requires a reduction in maternal mortality...
Homeless at Home: Forced Internal Displacement In India
In September 2017, the Prime Minister of India inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSP), which was designated as the second largest dam in the world. Most of the Indian media...
Taking the backseat? Strategic utilisation of human rights in the implementation of SDGs
Human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are closely entwined. The text of the Agenda declares that human rights constitute the foundation and the aim of development. It states...
Proposal to make ‘disadvantaged socio-economic status’ a prohibited ground of discrimination under Irish law
The Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017, was introduced in the lower house of the Irish Parliament at the end of last year and is currently working its way through the...
