Law does not exist only in statutes, regulations, and court decisions. Before law reaches courts, it already exists in society through the decisions people make every day. Legal scholars have long recognized this social dimension of law. Law is not experienced only through courts and legal institutions; it is also shaped by how ordinary people [...]

On July 29, the Malaysian government announced that around 5,000 Rohingya refugees will be repatriated to Myanmar, where they face an obvious risk of persecution or torture. The government later clarified that the refugees will not be repatriated if they face a risk of persecution or torture. Earlier in June, a petition calling for the [...]

Romania’s last operational nuclear reactor was shut down on August 13 after record-low water levels in the Danube threatened the availability of cooling water at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant. The shutdown has left Romania temporarily without nuclear power generation and prompted the government to take emergency measures to maintain electricity supplies. Nuclearelectrica, the state-owned [...]

A Russian court sentenced politician Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in a penal colony on charges of repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian military and spreading “false information” about it, Amnesty International said on Monday. Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director, called the sentencing “blatant reprisals for exercising his right [...]

The US National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced on Monday that it joined the legal team involved with the family of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old Black man whose body was found last month on a Mississippi barrier island while on a Fourth of July outing with some friends. The case has [...]

Latin American and Caribbean governments convened Tuesday for a three-day UN conference on population and development, meeting amid what Amnesty International described as a regional rollback of protections for women, girls and adolescents. The Regional Conference on Population and Development (CRPD) will be held in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo on August 18-20. Ahead of [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday again declined to hear President Donald Trump’s petition to appeal the sexual assault and defamation case brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll. The denial comes a month and a half after the court’s initial refusal to grant the president’s appeal of the $5 million jury trial judgment [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday announced that it has opened an investigation into the College of William & Mary (W&M) scholarship and student benefit policies to determine if they include criteria favoring minority applicants. This is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to crack down on diversity and inclusivity initiatives in [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Thai authorities on Monday to halt the deportation of ethnic Karen villagers from Thailand’s Phetchaburi province to Myanmar, citing fears of grave risks to their safety if returned and urging their immediate release from immigration detention. HRW reported that Thai security forces on Aug. 10 raided the Karen community [...]