Uganda’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld most provisions of controversial legislation that imposes a sentence of death by hanging against individuals convicted of “aggravated homosexuality.” In upholding the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the court maintained that though the country’s penal code is “undoubtedly … considered to be a relic from the country’s colonial past,” the bill’s overwhelming [...]
Search Results for: 2014-01-09
India dispatch: SCI Bilkis Bano ruling invites reconsideration of remission and parole processes
Indian law students are reporting for JURIST on law-related developments in and affecting India. This dispatch is from Sunidhi Das, a JURIST Assistant Editor and a second-year student at National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. On February 27, 2002, a tragic incident unfolded at the Godhra station in Gujarat, India, when a train [...]
Thailand mulls prosecuting former premier under royal insult law
Thailand’s attorney general’s office announced that it is still considering prosecuting former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra over an alleged insult to the monarchy, an official said on Tuesday. This comes just as Shinawatra is considered for release under parole. The announcement relates to a 2015 interview he gave while in South Korea. Shinawatra suggested that [...]
Shared Struggles, Shared Strength: Women Around the World Must Unite for Peace Amid Global Conflict
“It has been such a nightmare. You just feel powerless; you can’t comprehend any way to survive it … I long for the return of my calm and tranquil country — a country where children can live in peace.” “Air strikes have been indiscriminately killing people — all kinds of people: children, babies, doctors, journalists; [...]
Russia designates author Boris Akunin as 'foreign agent' amidst dissent crackdown
Russia’s Ministry of Justice designated popular fiction writer Grigori Chkhartishvili (pen name Boris Akunin) a “foreign agent” for his criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The ministry said Friday that Chkhartishvili “opposed the special military operation in Ukraine.” Chkhartishvili’s cited opposition was a Facebook post written the day Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in [...]
Jimmy Lai lawyers appeal to UN torture rapporteur over China witness treatment
Detained Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai’s international legal team filed an urgent appeal on Thursday with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The team alleged that the Chinese authorities tortured a key prosecution witness to coerce him into providing incriminating evidence [...]
US House of Representatives formalizes Biden impeachment inquiry along party lines
The US House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The vote passed along party lines, with all 221 Republican lawmakers voting in favor of the resolution and 212 Democratic lawmakers voting against. Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) previously opened an impeachment inquiry into Biden [...]
ECHR hears oral arguments from Ukraine in case over Russian occupation of Crimea
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) heard oral arguments on Wednesday in a case concerning potential human rights violations committed by Russia via its occupation of Crimea. Though Russia is a party to the case of Ukraine v. Russia (re Crimea), no Russian representative was present at the Wednesday arguments since Russia left the [...]
War Crimes in the Israel-Hamas Conflict: A Case for the International Criminal Tribunal
Editors’ note: Amid surging violence between Hamas and Israeli forces, JURIST is seeking perspectives from law students, law professors and lawyers around the world. Neither this nor other commentaries constitute JURIST editorial policy, nor do they necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial team. Scholars of genocide argue that Israel’s siege of Gaza, which involved [...]
Sexual Assault in the US Coast Guard: A Coverup and a Call for Justice
Sexual assault in the US Armed Forces is a very real and prescient issue for all service members. In April 2023, the US Department of Defense (DoD) reported that in 2022 there had been “a roughly 1% increase in overall reports of sexual assaults” with all the service branches having seen an increase in reported [...]