Student Commentary

The ongoing battle over the proposed construction of a new airport in the Albanian city of Vlora has sparked fierce debate among environmentalists worldwide. As Prime Minister Edi Rama pushes forward with plans for the airport, hundreds of young Albanians have taken to the streets to protest what they see as an impending “environmental disaster.” [...]

Access to justice is a foundational principle of the rule of law and is often phrased as requiring “the right of equal access to justice for all” through governments providing “fair, transparent, effective, non-discriminatory and accountable services.” In Australia, this principle was described in Dietrich v. The Queen as “the equal justice for all principle.” [...]

The act of donating blood is often lauded as a benevolent and altruistic act with the potential to save countless lives. However, members of the LGBTQ+ community are routinely excluded from participation in this philanthropic endeavour. Recently, the Indian government, citing scientific data, defended its decision to forbid LGBTQ+ individuals from donating blood. This issue [...]

In November 2022, a petition was filed before the Supreme Court of India to allow legal recognition of marriages between same-sex couples under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (“SMA”). The petitioner in Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty v. Union of India (“Supriyo”) has been in a committed relationship for ten years and is living with his [...]

“t kind of makes you think people hate you because of the way you dress” an excerpt from an interview recorded in the article by Chris Allen titled, “‘People hate you because of the way you dress’: Understanding the invisible experience of veiled British Muslim women victims of Islamophobia.” Thomas Hammarberg, the Former Commissioner for [...]

The town of Alice Springs in Australia’s Northern Territory has faced unprecedented levels of crime in recent years. Alcohol-related crimes have increased by 55 percent in the town since 2020, and as a result, alcohol restrictions have now been introduced in Alice Springs. Concerns have arisen, however, due to the stereotyping of the large indigenous [...]

With New Zealand passing the Plain Language Act, bidding farewell to inexplicable jargon and complex language from its bureaucracy, it’s time India considers passing similar legislation. Indian laws have frequently been criticized for their poor and archaic drafting that makes them difficult to comprehend. The reluctance of Indian lawmakers to depart from traditional practises of [...]

Within the past 12 months, Jacinda Ardern has resigned as New Zealand’s prime minister, former Australian PM Julia Gillard’s famous “misogyny speech” celebrated its tenth anniversary, and the high-profile retrial against Australian Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann for the alleged rape of colleague Brittany Higgins was dropped for posing a “significant and unacceptable risk” to [...]

In 2017, 250 First Nations people gathered together from across Australia to draft and sign the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The Uluru Statement proposed a First Nations Voice to Parliament, a body to be enshrined in the Australian Constitution that would enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to provide advice to the Parliament [...]

The Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, has created a team to evaluate the “physical and functional access“ of the top court’s facilities to make them accessible to people with disabilities. The group will be chaired by Justice S. Ravindra Bhat of the Apex Court. The Supreme Court has charged its Supreme Court Committee on [...]