No Animal Left Behind: Kiwi’s Call to Change New Zealand Disaster Law
New Zealand’s efforts to reform its emergency management law have highlighted a persistent gap between public sentiment and legislative action, particularly regarding the protection of animals during disasters. Despite robust...
Pouring Fuel on the Fire: Implications of Trump’s Executive Actions for Human Trafficking Victimization and Vulnerability
The second Trump administration has just passed the “first-100-days” benchmark, and there is deep concern about the devastating impact of President Trump’s executive actions on efforts to combat human trafficking....
Finding the Essence of Non-Retrogression: A Path to Stronger Social Rights Accountability
Time and again, States have been warned by courts, UN bodies, and NGOs against taking retrogressive steps in economic and social rights. For instance, cuts to essential healthcare funding or...
Protecting Refugees After Repatriation: The Ongoing Role of International Human Rights Bodies
There are currently tens of thousands of people living in life-threatening conditions in detention camps in Syria. In March 2023, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres praised Iraq for repatriating...
Individualised Risk Assessments and the Principle of Non-Refoulement: Why States Cannot Rush to Return Refugees and Asylum Seekers Back to Syria
The principle of non-refoulement – a principle of international law in the Refugee Convention, the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, and several other treaties – prohibits States from...
Human Rights Under the New Syrian Government: Progress or Peril?
The rise of a new government in Syria following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024 has brought promises of reform, yet the reality for human rights...
The International Criminal Court’s Pursuit of Accountability for Gender Persecution in Afghanistan: A Landmark Step for Justice (Part II)
On January 23, 2025, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a formal statement concluding that the Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and the Chief Justice...
The International Criminal Court’s Pursuit of Accountability for Gender Persecution in Afghanistan: A Landmark Step for Justice (Part I)
On January 23, 2025, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a formal statement concluding that the Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and the Chief Justice...
The Best Interest of the Child should still be ‘Paramount’ for Migrants
The ‘Best Interest of the Child’ principle is the cornerstone of children’s rights; however, the Courts are less willing to uphold this when it comes to cases concerning migrant children....
The Effect of the U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement: Future of Global Climate Policy
The US is one of the largest greenhouse gas (GHGs) emitters historically. Nevertheless, President Donald Trump, on beginning his second term of office, signed a series of executive orders which...
Should Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Be Based on Social Expectations?
A key tenet of business and human rights has become the introduction of mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD), a process that attempts to introduce the essentials of due diligence...
Human Rights or Hegemony? From Colonies to Accountability
The critical turning point of the 20th century is marked by the shift from absolute state sovereignty to international accountability. This transformation weakened the power of states to act with...
