Queensland’s Suspension of Human Rights Act for Youth Detention
The state government of Queensland in Australia has suspended its Human Rights Act, paving the way for the indefinite confinement of children, some as young as 10 years, in police...
Giving Voice to the Vulnerable: How Advisory Opinions Have the Potential to Advance Climate Justice through International Courts
In the context of the current climate crisis, climate change litigation has taken a new form over the past year. There have been increasing requests for advisory opinions from international...
Religious Freedom versus Free Speech: Sweden’s Legal Tightrope
The United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a resolution aimed at combating religious hatred and blasphemy in Sweden following two distressing incidents in which the Qur’an, the holy text...
Sri Lankan High Court Delivers a Landmark Order as a Bulwark for Freedom of Expression
Within Sri Lanka, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) enabling legislation – the ICCPR Act No. 56 of 2007 – has only ever been used to persecute,...
The Miseries of Juvenile Prisoners of Bangladesh
Juvenile prisons in Bangladesh are effectively torture cells for teenage offenders. Known as juvenile development centres (JDC), the facilities of these institutions are chronically insufficient: overcrowded and understaffed, with poor...
Ecocentrism and the Right to a Healthy Environment: To What Extent Can Human Rights Protect Non-Human Life?
In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the human right to a ‘clean, healthy, and sustainable environment’. Before the General Assembly resolution expressly recognized this right, other sources of...
Jus Cogens and the Lack of a Universal Gender Equality Norm
What is ‘Jus Cogens’? Within international law, the principle of jus cogens has been used to solidify certain human rights that are seen as universal. A highly protective form of...
OxHRH Publishes Workbook on the Right to Education
The Oxford Human Rights Hub has published its first Human Rights Workbook on the topic of the Right to Education. The OxHRH Workbook is designed to provide an introduction to...
Hostage Diplomacy: Russia’s Detention of a US journalist as State Hostage-taking
On 30 March, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest of the Wall Street Journal’s Moscow Correspondent, Evan Gershkovich, on “suspicion of espionage in the interests of the American...
The EU Artificial Intelligence Act and its Human Rights Limitations
At the end of 2022, the Council of the European Union adopted its common position or ‘general approach’ to the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), paving the way for...
Uganda’s Draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023
After an unsuccessful attempt to propagate the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014, the Ugandan Parliament yet again decided to reintroduce the Bill in March 2023. The Ugandan Parliament, led by...
Kenya’s Landmark Supreme Court Decision on Non-Discrimination for Sexual Minorities
Kenya’s Supreme Court has entrenched the right to non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in a landmark decision affirming freedom of association for LGBTIQ persons. This decision is particularly...