US President Joe Biden announced Monday that he will expel Gabon, Niger, Uganda and the Central African Republic (CAR) from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade program due to their records on human rights and the rule of law. In a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Biden outlined his [...]
Search Results for: homosexual
Hong Kong appeals court upholds homosexual couple's equal inheritance rights
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal upheld homosexual couples’ right to inheritance by dismissing on Tuesday an appeal from the Secretary for Justice. The appeal sought to establish that homosexual and heterosexual couples are not entitled to the same rights under Hong Kong’s inheritance laws. The case centered around Edgar Ng and Li Yik Ho’s concern [...]
Hong Kong Court rules in favor of homosexual couples inclusion in public housing policies
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed two appeals from the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) Tuesday, which sought to uphold the constitutionality of excluding same-sex couples from enjoying the Public Rental Housing (PRH) policy and Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) as married couples. Two applicants lodged a judicial review in 2020 against the HA’s [...]
Mauritius Supreme Court decriminalizes sodomy in landmark decision
The Supreme Court of Mauritius declared on Wednesday that a law criminalizing sodomy is “unconstitutional.” The court found that the provision of the country’s criminal code criminalizing sodomy discriminated against gay men on the basis of sex. The court ruled on claims brought forth by “Collectif-Arc-en-Ciel” (CAEC), on behalf of an individual named Abdool Ridwan [...]
Kenya Supreme Court reaffirms LGBTQIA+ organizations' right to registration
The Supreme Court of Kenya (SCORK) upheld its earlier decision Tuesday that the LGBTQIA+ community has the freedom to associate, which extends to the formation of associations. This case began when an application was made to the court by George Kaluma, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, seeking the review and setting aside [...]
Ongoing EU assistance to Uganda sparks criticisms among LGBTQ+ activists
In June, the European Union (EU) announced its decision to continue funding Uganda despite the nation’s recent adoption of a highly controversial anti-LGBTQ+ law in May, which has garnered significant international attention due to its prescription of the death penalty for specific same-sex acts. This move has ignited a massive outcry and backlash from the global [...]
India dispatch: proposed criminal law reforms have their benefits, but some terms raise questions
Indian law students are reporting for JURIST on law-related developments in and affecting India. This dispatch is from Samar Veer, a third-year law student at National Law University, Delhi and JURIST’s Dispatches Managing Editor. Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three new bills in the Lok Sabha (lower house of Indian Parliament) Friday that are [...]
UN rights chief closes office in Uganda, expresses concern over human rights violations
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk announced the closure of the UN Human Rights office in Uganda on Thursday after the East African country decided not to renew an agreement that allowing the office to operate. Türk expressed his concern about the condition of human rights in Uganda ahead of the 2026 elections, and [...]
Nepal’s Interim Verdict on Same-Sex Marriage—a Clarion Call for India?
The Nepal Supreme Court’s June 28 ruling requiring the government to register same-sex relationships follows an arduous struggle to achieve marriage equality in the South Asian nation. This historic order is expected to have an impact on an upcoming verdict regarding a similar plea at the Supreme Court of India. Despite India’s decriminalization of queer [...]
Russia President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed into law a bill that bans transgender people from obtaining gender-affirming surgeries in the country. The Russia Duma previously unanimously passed the bill on July 14. The new law prohibits surgery and hormone therapy for transgender individuals as well as any gender changes on official Russian documentation. The [...]