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 [...]

Mihai Coca-Constantinescu, who holds an International and European Law LLB from the University of Groningen and an International Trade and Investment Law LLM from the University of Amsterdam, is a PhD candidate in Transboundary Legal Studies at the University of Groningen, based in the Netherlands, where he covers legal developments in Romania as a JURIST [...]

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 [...]

Since January, Pakistan’s Tirah Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has remained the focal point of an ongoing humanitarian and political crisis. Rumors of a counterterrorism operation against the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) escalated into one of the country’s most severe winter emergencies, with tens of thousands of civilians still displaced as of late February. [...]

The landscape of American late-night television is undergoing significant change amid tensions between TV networks, program producers and federal regulators, fueling debate over the future of political satire on broadcast television. In recent months, several high-profile shifts have occurred across the industry, including ABC’s temporary removal of Jimmy Kimmel from TV show Jimmy Kimmel Live! [...]