Cubans Monday voted to legalize same-sex marriage in a historic national referendum. Government officials announced that more than 3.9 million voters, or 66.9 percent, voted in favor of a new Family Code, and 1.95 million voters, 33 percent, opposed the ratification. The new code legalizes same-sex marriage and will allow same-sex couples to adopt. The [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Monday opened a trial against Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, alleged leader of the Séléka rebel group, for crimes humanity and war crimes in violation of the Rome Statute. Said allegedly committed these crimes in Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR) in 2013. Said pleaded not guilty to all charges. The ICC [...]

The UK Government Monday announced that every Crown Court in England and Wales will utilize new technology to allow victims and witnesses of crimes to have their cross-examination recorded instead of being cross-examined in person during trial. According to officials, the goal of pre-recorded testimony is “to boost rape convictions and ensure better support for [...]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Monday charged three men for their roles “in orchestrating fraudulent manipulative securities trading schemes” which resulted in a $100 million valuation for a New Jersey deli and a $120 million valuation for a separate shell company. The SEC’s complaint states that Peter L. Coker Sr., Peter L. Coker Jr. and [...]

Gaithe Alwahab is a JURIST staff correspondent in Iraq and a law graduate of Al Iraqia University. Here he reports from Baghdad. A version of this dispatch was originally filed as his first regular contribution from Iraq in late August, but circumstances he discusses at the end of this piece pre-empted it.   Iraq has been [...]

The Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) Monday warned that Russian activist Yulia Tsvetkova’s rights are in danger ahead of a September 27 hearing. Tsvetkova was charged with violating Russian laws by posting her drawings of the female body to social media. Tsvetkova was acquitted on July 15, and prosecutors appealed on July 22. Tsvetkova claims [...]

Voters in Switzerland Sunday rejected the Factory Farming Initiative, which would have banned factory farming for domestic and imported meat. 62.86 percent of voters decided against the proposal. Sentience, an animal activism group, launched an initiative against factory farming in 2016. The initiative primarily focuses on the suffering of animals on factory farms and the [...]

Law students from the European Union are reporting for JURIST on law-related events in and affecting the European Union and its member states. Ciara Dinneny is a trainee with the Law Society of Ireland. She files this dispatch from Dublin. Judge Siofra O’Leary, the Irish judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), has [...]

Amnesty International Friday called for meaningful action in response to the repression in Iran after a nationwide protest over the death of Mahsa Amini in custody. Iranian authorities restricted Internet usage on Wednesday for much of the nation. On September 13, Mahsa Amini was arrested and violently beaten in a police van in Tehran by Iran’s [...]

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine Friday updated the Human Rights Council that based on the evidence gathered, Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine. The Commission had been set up in March through Resolution 49/1 with a mandate to investigate the alleged violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes in [...]