Note: This story is part of a series of coverage from the first week of the 2026 UN Women’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70). Read Day 1. Day two of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) on March 10 prominently included discussion about how, despite the world [...]

Peruvian law students from the Facultad de Derecho, Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco (UNSAAC), are reporting for JURIST on law-related events in and affecting Perú. All of them are from Centro de Investigación de los Estudiantes de Derecho (CIED), a research center in UNSAAC’s Faculty of Law dedicated to spreading legal information [...]

The 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) opened at the United Nations headquarters in New York in March 9, bringing together global leaders, diplomats, judges, advocates, and civil society organizations under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For All Women and Girls.” The day’s proceedings made clear that while progress on [...]

In January, Romania passed controversial amendments to its anti-extremism legislation, sparking protests over free speech concerns that remain unresolved today.  In January, protests took place in Bucharest and several other Romanian cities after lawmakers proposed amendments to the country’s anti-extremism legislation. Demonstrators gathered in central Bucharest raising concerns that the amendments could restrict freedom of [...]

On March 19, Justice Lawrence Mugambi of the High Court of Kenya delivered a landmark judgment affirming that mobile phone numbers form an integral part of an individual’s digital identity and are protected under the constitutional right to privacy. The decision arose from a petition filed by Erastus Ngura Odhiambo, an inmate who challenged the [...]

For years, the debate over school choice in Kentucky state has simmered beneath the surface. That tension came to a head again this month, as a familiar conflict between the governor’s office and the state legislature unfolded in real time, placing voters and federal incentives at the center of the dispute.  On March 13, Kentucky [...]

A recent discussion among legal and human rights experts has exposed the alarming scale of obstetric violence in Africa, a crisis that contributes to the continent’s disproportionately high maternal mortality rates. The findings, shared during a virtual panel, underscore the urgent need for systemic reforms in maternal healthcare. This dispatch was co-authored by Divyabharthi Baradhan [...]

January 2026 marks the end of British Columbia’s three-year pilot program to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs, a move intended to address the west coast Canadian province’s worsening toxic drug crisis. The policy was meant to remove the stigma attached to drug-related crimes and encourage people who use drugs (PWUD) to seek assistance [...]

The legislative path forward for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) has hit a roadblock in the US Senate. On February 26, Senate Majority Leader John Thune declared that a talking filibuster—a rare, prolonged debate tactic where senators speak continuously to block a vote—was not possible, effectively halting the bill’s progress in the [...]

In February, Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor released long-awaited guidelines to help businesses prevent forced labor—a response to US trade enforcement actions and mounting international criticism of labor abuses against the country’s 870,000 migrant workers. While the guidelines offer tools for self-assessment, critics argue they fail to address systemic issues, such as debt bondage and the [...]