The UK Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that heterosexual couples may now enter into a civil partnership rather than marriage. Prior to this decision, civil partnerships were held exclusive to same-sex couples. In 2004, marriage was not an option for same-sex couples, and so the Civil Partnership Act was passed. This gave these couples the option [...]

The General Court of the EU held Tuesday that the privately owned website “france.com” cannot be registered as a private trademark. The court found that the “conceptual similarity” with a French trademark of the same name prohibited the domain name from being considered a valid trademark. The decision comes after the private domain owner appealed [...]

Amnesty International (AI) called on the Libyan government on Monday to protect women human rights defenders in the country. The call comes four years after Libyan human rights lawyer and activist Salwa Bugaighis was assassinated in the country. AI has found “an escalation of gender-based violence against women who continue to fight for political inclusion,” [...]

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that no atrocity crimes, including genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, are inevitable and that all can be prevented. General Assembly President Miroslav Lajčák stated that “Prevention can save people from experiencing the horrors of atrocity crimes. And more pragmatically, [...]

The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday rejected an appeal by Norwegian mass murderer Fjotolf Hansen, previously known as Anders Behring Breivik. Hansen was convicted of killing 77 people and wounding 42 others at a political youth camp and was sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention. In his appeal, he challenged the conditions [...]

International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda delivered a statement to the UN Security Council on Wednesday criticizing the UN for not taking action against states that did not turn suspects in to the ICC. The Security Council referred the alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur, Sudan by the military [...]

UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Thursday condemned the Hungarian Parliament for passing legislation that criminalizes residents helping asylum-seekers, refugees and undocumented immigrants. The new legislation criminalizes numerous activities, “including distributing information on migration-related matters, providing advice to migrants and refugees, and conducting human rights monitoring at borders.” The authorities [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday overturned the contempt conviction of a Marine general. Judge Royce Lamberth overturned the contempt conviction of Marine Brigadier General John Baker, chief defense counsel at the Guantánamo Bay military tribunals. Baker was convicted in November by Air Force Col. Vance Spath [...]

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that the news service had uncovered regular instances of rape and other forms of sexual violence against Yemeni detainees by prison officials in secret prisons controlled by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The abuse has been reported in at least five prisons. The UAE has arrested “hundreds” of Yemeni [...]

To commemorate World Refugee Day on Wednesday the charity Plan International released a 44-page report detailing the adversity and hardship that adolescent Rohingya girls experience in refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. While the majority of adolescent girls report feeling safer in the refugee camps than in Myanmar, there remains a substantial fear of [...]