Ireland enacted  the 36th Amendment of the Constitution  on Tuesday, repealing the country’s ban on abortions follwoing a May referendum. Specifically, the amendment states that “rovision may be made by law for the regulation of termination of pregnancy.” This repeals the 8th Amendment of the Constitution , which states that “he State acknowledges the right to [...]

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced on Tuesday that she will be opening a full preliminary investigation  into alleged crimes against the Rohingya population in Myanmar and their deportation to Bangladesh. Bensouda has already completed an initial preliminary examination, in which she has determined that the ICC has jurisdiction over the issue. Myanmar [...]

The Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR) on Monday approved a referendum scheduled for October 7 that will redefine the term “family” in the Romanian constitution, a move commentators argue may make same-sex legalization more difficult in the country. The referendum seeks to redefine the term “family” in Article 48 of the Romanian Constitution , which currently [...]

UN investigators on Tuesday renewed their call for charges against Myanmar military officials who allegedly committed genocide against the nation’s minority Rohingya population in the past year. The UN Office of Human Rights published an exhaustive list of atrocities and called “for the investigation and prosecution of Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and [...]

The Organized Crime and Corrupt Reporting Project (OCCRP) released materials on Tuesday detailing widespread corruption within the ranks of the Maldives government just days before a presidential election. The reports allege that members of the Maldives government fraudulently conveyed at least 50 of the country’s tropical islands to foreign investors and pocketed much of the proceeds. President Abdulla [...]

South Africa’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday decriminalized personal consumption of marijuana. The judgement, written by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, says that because “the population have been accustomed for hundreds of years to the use of dagga , both as an intoxicant and in the belief that it has medicinal properties,” it can be considered [...]

Former Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner  was indicted  Monday on charges of bribery in connection with construction companies receiving public works contracts. The allegations involve a complex network of politicians and businessmen alleged to have been involved in a bribery scheme during her two terms as president from 2007-2015. This latest set of charges stem [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday sentenced  former Vice President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Jean-Pierre Bemba  to 12 months in prison and issued a $350,000 fine for bribing witnesses during his war crimes trial in 2016. ICC Judge Bertram Schmitt reduced  his sentence to zero after factoring in the time he served [...]

Six UN Special Rapporteurs called  on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Monday to respond to a recent Egyptian court decision that condemned 75 protesters to death. The court sentenced another 47 protesters to life in prison. The protesters were charged with illegal gathering, involvement in violence, and incitement to break the law. The Special [...]

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Monday that he would enter a bid to end judicial immunity for politicians, in an effort to end corruption. One hundred days after replacing his Conservative predecessor, Sánchez announced the initiative in an attempt to restore peoples’ confidence in politics. “The challenge we have is for citizens to believe [...]