In recent months, more than a dozen American states have sought to restrict or ban drag performances, with many framing these legislative moves as aimed at protecting minors. In this explainer, JURIST unpacks the trend and highlights its worrying implications for free speech. What is drag? Drag is an art form, wherein individuals dressed in [...]

Last week, the Supreme Court of India delivered a judgment that altered the appointment process for members of the Election Commission of India, the institution responsible for the integrity of the electoral process. The Commission consists of one Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), and since 1993, two additional Election Commissioners. Prior to this judgment, the executive [...]

The Organization of American States’ (OAS) was presented with a crucial opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to democracy last month, as its Permanent Council turned its attention towards Haiti. The nation’s current crisis is one that is directly connected to the actions taken by members of its ruling Tèt Kale party (PHTK), which for the [...]

February 24, 2022 will be forever etched in the minds of every Ukrainian. On that day, Russia launched a brazen attack, violating not only myriad international laws — but also the basic principles of human decency. One year on, the people of Ukraine continue to fight against Russian cruelty. And as the war drags on, [...]

Australian First Nations group the Gomeroi people are preparing to file their native title appeal against the Santos Narrabri Gas Project, a multi-billion-dollar project aiming to build up to 850 gas wells in the state of New South Wales. The National Native Title Tribunal ruled in December that the public benefit of the project outweighed [...]

The Afghanistan Independent Bar Association (AIBA) was established under Afghanistan’s 2007 Advocates Law. Prior to the establishment of the AIBA, legal practice in Afghanistan was administered by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The AIBA was established in compliance with international standards and the legal profession’s principles. For instance, the establishment of the AIBA itself was [...]

Many experts believe that corruption in Ukraine has a systemic nature and negatively affects the internal and external processes of the country’s development and, as a result, its position in the geopolitical environment. Since gaining independence, Ukraine has created various mechanisms to prevent corruption. Calls for the need to use lustration as one of the [...]

The unconstitutional state of affairs doctrine, having its roots in a 1998 judgement of the Colombian Constitutional Court (CCC), has gained immense popularity due to the systemic, policy-based, manifestly illegal acts of executive branches of governments worldwide. Calls for recognizing the existence of an unconstitutional state of affairs have persistently been made in the Latin [...]

Water scarcity is a growing problem. It can be demand-driven, typically caused by population growth, and supply-driven, typically caused by decreasing amounts of fresh water often resulting from climate change or a result of societal factors such as poverty. If it is allowed to reach dangerous levels, water scarcity has the potential to trigger conflicts. [...]

The most important consequence of the protests in Iran for the Iranian diaspora, a diaspora that has been largely unorganized and passive until now, is the opening of a new arena for it in socio-political life as part of Iranian society, even if it has not yet found its appropriate representation and organizational structures. The [...]