Gene patenting overruled but leaves lasting repercussions for minorities
Last month, Angelina Jolie penned an op-ed piece in The New York Times about her decision to undergo genetic testing for BRCA mutations (breast cancer susceptibility genes 1 and 2),...
US National Security Agency Surveillance: A Problem of “Allegality”
The recent revelations about the surveillance activities of the US National Security Agency are an excellent example of one of the most intractable challenges facing legal systems and human rights...
Drone Strikes and Domestic Crimes?
As Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, has recently pointed out, international human rights and humanitarian law would not necessarily seem to require the wholesale abolition of...
Silencing Rape on U.S. College Campuses: Evaluating the Clery Act
The Steubenville rape verdict a few months ago has sparked a broader conversation about the United States’ endemic “rape culture”, and the responsibility of innocent bystanders and institutions to report...
Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum and the Future of Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Violations Committed Abroad
By Kate Mitchell – On 17 April 2013, the United States Supreme Court delivered judgment in Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum. The Court held that the Alien Torts Statute (ATS)...
Education suspended, rights infringed
By Jadine Johnson – On Monday, March 25th, ninety-seven students at Leflore High School in Mobile, Alabama were suspended. These students were not suspended for drugs or weapons. They were...
The Case on Everybody’s Lips – How arguments in Windsor v US have been received by the commentators
It has been a week since the hearing in Windsor v United States. Karl Laird provides an interesting analysis of how commentators elsewhere are evaluating the arguments put before the...
Could the outcome in Windsor v US be a hollow victory?
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court heard argument in Windsor v United States. We have been closely following this case on the OxHRH Blog. Today’s post will analyze the transcript...
US Congress Reauthorizes Violence Against Women Act
By Chelsea Purvis – The United States Congress has for many months been debating the future of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). As I explained in my previous post,...
Weakening Protections for Victims of Gender-Based Violence in the United States?
By Chelsea Purvis – The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is the principle federal law addressing gender-based violence in the United States. But for the first time since its enactment...
A Quick Overview
Blog posts have been coming in thick and fast over the last month. To help you get up to speed, the editorial team has put together a quick summary of...
The ‘War Against Terrorism’ and the Decade of Exceptionalism
Ben Emmerson QC, UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, spoke at the Wadham Human Rights Forum on Thursday February 7th 2013. One question lay at the heart of...
