Search Results for: sex offenders

Uganda’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld most provisions of controversial legislation that imposes a sentence of death by hanging against individuals convicted of “aggravated homosexuality.” In upholding the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the court maintained that though the country’s penal code is “undoubtedly … considered to be a relic from the country’s colonial past,” the bill’s overwhelming [...]

Scotland’s controversial Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 came into force on Monday. The law intends to unite existing hate crime laws, along with creating several new offenses, most notably criminalizing “threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred.” Stirring up racial hatred has been an offense since 1986. However, [...]

Recently, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC or Red Cross) has been accused of facilitating payments to accused terrorists captured and held by Israel in the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict. The ICRC denies this claim. The ICRC has a blemished record, disturbingly far from its professed humanitarian mandate. A journalistic investigation conducted by ProPublica [...]

This piece has been corrected to reflect the fact that Russia only attempted to issue Red Notices against Bill Browder eight times. An erroneous claim that Russia accounts for 33 percent of all Red Notices was also removed, along with one that stated INTERPOL’s data processing policy for refugees is new. An INTERPOL spokesperson reached [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against the state of Tennessee on Thursday seeking the invalidation of a law criminalizing “aggravated” prostitution citing the discriminatory impacts of its elevated penalties on those convicted of prostitution if they are HIV positive. The lawsuit also seeks expungement of state registries related to the law’s enforcement [...]

Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor on Friday began an investigation into the alleged spread of “LGBT propaganda” by the language learning application Duolingo, as reported by state-run news organization TASS. Specifically, Duolingo is suspected of running afoul of Article 5 of Russia’s law “On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development,” [...]

Singapore passed a bill on Monday that allows for the indefinite holding of “dangerous offenders” even after they complete their jail sentences. Under the Sentence for Enhanced Public Protection (SEPP) law, individuals convicted of serious violent offenses, like culpable homicide and attempted murder or serious sexual offenses such as rape and sexual penetration of a [...]

An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIGA) and the International Transfer of Offenders Act (ITOA) received Royal Assent on Thursday in Canada, thereby becoming law. The amendment seeks to strengthen the enforcement of the national sexual offender registry and comply with the Supreme Court’s judgment for the SOIGA’s [...]

Law students and law graduates in Pakistan are reporting for JURIST on events in that country impacting its legal system. Mashal Asim Khan is an LLB student in the University of London  External Programme at The Institute of Legal Studies (TILS). She files this from Islamabad.  On Thursday last week, July 20th, there was yet [...]

Natasha Kahungi is JURIST’s Africa Bureau Chief. She files this from Nairobi.  Many voices are being raised as Kenya braces for the anticipated introduction of an anti-LGBT bill in parliament, creating a cacophony of both support and opposition to the planned legislation. This vibrant outpouring of viewpoints highlights the complexity of this pressing social issue [...]