Last Friday, a group of approximately 150 Japanese fishermen from Fukushima Prefecture filed a lawsuit against the government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The lawsuit disputes the release of treated, but still radioactive, water from the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. Arguing that discharging the hazardous material infringes on their right to fish, the…
In June, the European Union (EU) declared its plan to persist funding Uganda, causing criticism among LGBTQ+ activists due to the country’s recent institution of a rigorously disputed anti-LGBTQ+ law. The law, which was adopted in May, is noted for its stern penalties including the death punishment for certain same-sex acts and has drawn vast…
Various academic lawyers from the UK and abroad, including Professor Helena Way, a migration law academic from the University of Exeter, have signed an open letter to Home Secretary Suella Braverman. The letter accuses the government of widely and consistently “attacking” immigration lawyers, particularly those representing clients seeking asylum. The letter, which has over 100…
The Supreme Court of India continues its oversight of the investigation into the ethnic violence in Manipur. The latest development involves ordering a progress report from the Manipur government on the recovery of weaponry “from all sources”. This follows a previous order issued on August 7 directing the former Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP),…
Human Rights Watch (HRW) made an announcement on Friday that Taliban authorities continue to perpetrate gender-based crimes against women and girls in Afghanistan. The announcement comes with a call from Elizabeth Evenson, the international justice director at HRW, for coordinated international community support to ensure that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has the necessary resources…
The Council of the European Union has announced fresh sanctions on six individuals, alleging their role in human rights violations in Crimea, primarily in the case pertaining to journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko. Identified for the sanctions are persons engaged in perpetrating what the EU views as legal encroachments against Yesypenko, a journalist known for his strong…
The Supreme Court of Ohio dismissed two challenges to the state’s congressional maps on Thursday, maintaining the use of maps that had previously been criticized as unconstitutional. The petitions, which contended the maps were unfairly partisan, had been submitted earlier that week. The court granted one dismissal in Neiman v. LaRose, and another dismissal in…
In a recent development, a US federal appeals court has ruled that Texas is permitted to keep the floating barrier in place in the Rio Grande, contradicting a previous decision by a district court which had demanded its removal just a day prior. The decision was made after an appeal by Texas Governor Greg Abbott…
The Sri Lankan government recently announced the establishment of a special parliamentary committee to investigate the involvement of top government officials in the tragic 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. These findings follow allegations by UK media outlet Channel 4 regarding the complicity of Sri Lanka’s top intelligence official in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, a horrific…
The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal denied leave to appeal for four pro-democracy protesters convicted for violating public gathering limits during a Labor Day protest in 2020. The denied appeal was for Kwok Wing-kin, Mak Tak-ching, Lee Cheuk-yan, and Stanley Ho Wai-hong. The original conviction was linked to a violation of Section 6 of…
The Canadian government recently announced that Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Marie-Josée Hogue will be heading a public inquiry into allegations of foreign interference in Canadian elections. Justice Hogue’s role will involve leading an independent examination into infiltration in the 2019 and 2021 elections by foreign states including China and Russia, along with other non-state…
Former Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro was convicted on Thursday of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress. The conviction follows Navarro’s refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, positioning him as the second senior official from the Trump administration to face legal repercussions for…
Former US president Donald Trump has indicated to a Georgia court that he might request to transfer the case against him, regarding alleged interference in the 2020 election, from the state court to a federal one. Trump, who has previously pleaded not guilty to all 13 state criminal charges, is not alone in this action,…
Noted for its robust defence of press freedom in India, the Editors Guild of India found support from a somewhat unexpected quarter recently, in a legal case that has far-reaching implications for journalism in the country. Taking serious note of the charges levelled against four members of the guild by Manipur Police, the India Supreme…
On Thursday, 13 presidential centers in the US jointly emphasized the importance of adherence to the rule of law and democratic principles in a newly released statement. In the wake of the many challenges confronting global democracy, the organizations underlined the need for peaceful civil discourse on political matters. The statement stressed, “We, the undersigned,…
At the heart of the ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and the European Union, lies Latvia – a small Eastern European nation which has become the epicentre of a burgeoning legal issue. Controversial amendments to Latvia’s Immigration Law, implemented on September 24, 2022, have generated both local and global scrutiny. At the crux of this…
The European General Court recently dismissed a claim made by a group of Syrian refugees against Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. The claimants sought to hold Frontex accountable for what they alleged to be the forcible transfer of the refugees from Greece to Turkey, even as they were in the process of…
In a far-reaching legal move, the Supreme Court of Mexico has determined that any federal regulations outlawing abortion are unconstitutional. This declaration takes place following the review of an injunction that a reproductive rights organization, GIRE, introduced. The injunction challenged the federal criminal code, specifically where it pertains to voluntary abortion. The court’s ruling posits…
A group of seminal voters in Colorado have launched a lawsuit against former US President Donald Trump in a bid to disqualify him from the state’s 2024 primary and general ballots. The detailed 100-page complaint accuses Trump of leading an extensive campaign to unlawfully overturn the 2020 election results by pressuring, coercing, and instigating state…
Lewis A. Kaplan, US District Judge for the Southern District of New York, on Wednesday ruled that former President Donald Trump was liable for both sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. The decision came as an outcome of an earlier ruling stating that the jury in an upcoming trial will only need to…
A panel of three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit delivered a ruling against environmentalists who disputed permits granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) for a Louisiana-based liquid natural gas terminal and pipeline, known as the Driftwood project. Sierra Club…
In recent legal news, the Oslo District Court ruled to uphold a ban against Meta Platforms (previously called Facebook) in favor of the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet). The court supported the decision of the authority to temporarily prevent behavioral marketing on Facebook and Instagram. The issue at the hub of this case concerns a…
In a recent ruling, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissed an appeal by Gennady Timchenko, a Russian billionaire and close ally of President Putin, to re-evaluate the sanctions placed against him. Timchenko landed on the European Union’s sanctions list following the 2022 Russian incursion into Ukraine. Known for his significant role in the energy…
On Tuesday, four Hong Kong university students’ attempt to overturn their riot convictions and sentences through appeal were collectively refused by the Hong Kong Court of Appeal. Judge Derek Pang Wai-cheong expressed the court’s constrained patience towards riot defendants who claim to be reporters or humanitarian workers, without providing testimonies at their trials. this was…
A US federal judge has instructed the state of Texas to shift its controversial floating barrier from the central waters of the Rio Grande to the riverbank. The judge’s orders come as a preliminary injunction document that was granted on Wednesday by US Senior District Judge David Alan Ezra, as a result of the US…