Privacy International: Reaffirming the Rule of Law
On Wednesday, the UK Supreme Court delivered its judgment in Privacy International. The issue was whether the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), a body set up to review state surveillance decisions,...
Standard of Proof in Zimbabwe’s Presidential Petition: A Response
On 5 September 2018, renowned scholar Alex Magaisa published a piece on the standard of proof in Zimbabwe’s presidential petition. He argued that the ruling of the Constitutional Court led...
Zimbabwe’s Presidential Petition: The Standard of Proof
The Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe (the Court) last week upheld the election of Emmerson Mnangagwa as the duly elected president of Zimbabwe. The decision came after a legal challenge by...
Defining the Right to Privacy in India in light of Justice KS Puttaswamy & Anr. v. Union of India (2017)
A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India on August 24 ruled that right to privacy is a fundamental right and is ‘intrinsic to life and liberty’ which is...
Selling Arms to Saudi Arabia: Part 2
Yesterday, I discussed the High Court’s decision in Campaign Against the Arms Trade’s unsuccessful judicial review of the Secretary of State for International Trade’s granting of arms export licences to...
Selling Arms to Saudi Arabia: Part 1
Yemen’s devastating conflict has inflicted an egregious toll on civilians, catalysing, in the words of the UN Secretary General, a tragedy of ‘almost unprecedented proportions’. Last month the ICRC took...
Human Rights and Counterterrorism
Last week Theresa May argued that human rights laws that impede effective counter-terrorism should be changed. Keir Starmer disagrees, arguing that human rights and effective counterterrorism are complementary. Who is...
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...
Administrative Decisions and Terrorist Suspects: The UK Supreme Court’s Decision in Youssef v SSFC
The month of January witnessed an important UK Supreme Court decision in Youssef v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (“Youssef”) pertaining to civil rights. It considered a...
Journalism, Detention and Anti-Terrorism Powers
Few would dispute that journalistic sources and material deserve special legal protection in a liberal democracy. But few would suggest that this protection should confer a licence to damage national...
Striking a Fine Balance: A Welcome Judicial Review of Executive Discretion in MM
On 3 December 2015, the High Court (Administrative Division) of England and Wales rendered an important decision in MM & GY & TY v Secretary of State (“MM”) with respect...
The US Constitutional Status of Same-Sex Marriage – An Issue that Can No Longer be Avoided
This week the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral argument in what will no doubt be considered one of the most important civil rights cases of our...
