World Legal News

The European Union Monday joined an outcry of international criticism over the execution of nine men by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen. In a statement,  the EU said it “strongly opposes the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. It is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a [...]

The Republic of Armenia on Thursday initiated proceedings against the Republic of Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ top judicial organ, over alleged violations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) by Azerbaijani authorities. In its application, Armenia contended that “for decades, Azerbaijan has [...]

Nona Gaprindashvili, the first woman in history to be granted the title of Grandmaster, has filed a defamation suit against Netflix on Thursday for misrepresentation in the hugely popular series “The Queen’s Gambit.” Gaprindashvili is seeking US $5 million in damages in the US District Court for the Central District of California (Western Division) and [...]

Several European organizations on Thursday called upon Poland to make changes to the legal definition of rape and condemned attacks on media and the free press. The Council of Europe praised recent reforms allowing law enforcement to temporarily evict domestic abusers, but said that Poland should “align” its definition of rape with the requirements of [...]

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in extraordinary session on Thursday to consider the situation in the West African nations of Guinea and Mali, imposing sanctions on individuals from both countries. Both nations have experienced coups—Mali in May and Guinea earlier this month. The heads of state and other ministers who were [...]

The US District Court for the District of Columbia issued Thursday a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden administration from using Title 42 public health protections to expel migrant families at the border.  Title 42 allows US Border Patrol and Customs to prohibit individuals who potentially pose a health risk from entering the country. Both the [...]

Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday approved a formal investigation into crimes allegedly committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, as part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs.” Human rights experts called on the UN in 2019 to launch an independent investigation into human rights violations [...]

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office announced Wednesday that it has fined We Buy Any Car, Saga and Sports Direct £495,000 for sending more than 354 million nuisance messages. ICO Head of Investigations Andy Curry said, “getting a ping on your phone or constant unwanted messages on our laptop from a company you don’t want to [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called Wednesday for a moratorium on artificial intelligence (AI) systems that threaten human rights until enough safeguards are in place. Bachelet said in a press release: “Given the rapid and continuous growth of AI, filling the immense accountability gap in how data is collected, stored, shared and [...]

LGBTQIA+ youth in South Korea are threatened by the country’s failure to enact non-discrimination provisions, according to a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday. The report, entitled “I Thought of Myself as Defective”: Neglecting the Rights of LGBT Youth in South Korean Schools, interviewed students in the country who identify as LGBTQIA+ [...]