World Legal News

A Pakistani court on Saturday sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 17 years imprisonment for retaining and selling state gifts, marking the latest conviction against them. A special court in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, where Khan is incarcerated, delivered the verdict. The case, dubbed “Toshakhana 2,” relates to a 2021 [...]

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United States Department of State, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The US Department of State revoked visas for senior Honduran electoral officials on Friday, tying the sanctions-like immigration action to allegations that the officials impeded Honduras’ post-election vote count and thereby “undermin democracy in Honduras,” according to the Department’s public statement. In a warning that framed the dispute as a regional security issue, the Department [...]

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UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday urged Bangladeshi authorities and protesters to refrain from violence following the killing of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi. A prominent leader of the 2024 protests in Bangladesh, Hadi died from gunshot wounds sustained during an assassination attempt last week. Türk stated that his office is prepared to work [...]

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U.S. Department of State, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The US government on Friday announced sanctions on two judges from the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, due to their “illegitimate targeting of Israel.” The sanctions bar the named individuals from entry into the US, and extends to their family members. The measures also block [...]

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Joe Gratz, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Taiwan Constitutional Court ruled Friday that a 2024 amendment to the Constitutional Procedure Act is unconstitutional. The ruling allows the court to resume its operations after the amendment barred it for almost a year, as the number of sitting judges is not sufficient to constitute a quorum required by the amendment. In the ruling, [...]

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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Thursday that the Danish “ghetto law” may constitute both direct and indirect discrimination under Council Directive 2000/43/EC. Senior legal advisor at Amnesty International Denmark Dina Hashem commended the decision as an important step in protecting basic human rights. The ECJ noted that the law creates a disparity [...]

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The UN’s top political affairs official and the deputy emergency relief coordinator briefed ambassadors in the Security Council on Thursday, saying that Syrians have made tangible progress over the past year but warning that the country’s recovery remains fragile and uneven since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. Head of UN political [...]

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UN experts on Friday expressed concern over the eviction of more than 400 migrants from the Badalona 9 (B9) informal settlement in Catalonia on December 17, calling the move “a serious violation of the right to adequate housing” and warning it could amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Only around 30 residents were expected [...]

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Austria’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Meta’s personalized advertising model practices violate EU data protection law, which requires a company to obtain consent with “clear and plain language,” about how one’s personal information is used—something Meta has failed to do. The court held that Meta cannot rely on “contractual necessity” under the General Data Protection [...]

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A UN human rights expert on Wednesday welcomed the recent release of several prisoners convicted in connection with protests following Belarus’ disputed 2020 presidential election.  They also cautioned that the move should not be read as a broader improvement in the country’s human rights situation. Nils Muižnieks, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights [...]

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