The England and Wales High Court ruled on Tuesday that domestic abuse survivors who have “trapped capital” in their homes should not be denied legal aid. The court held that a single parent and domestic abuse survivor identified as “Claire” should not have been denied legal aid when she had only £28 on the day [...]

The French National Assembly has passed a controversial bill restricting the publication of images of police. The bill, approved Tuesday, known as the Global Security bill, was introduced by President Emmanuel Macron’s political party, La Republique en Marche. It was adopted by the National Assembly despite the intense criticisms and protests  it sparked throughout the [...]

The UK government Tuesday introduced a new Telecommunications (Security) Bill that aims to give it power to govern the activities of providers of public electronic communications network or/and public electronic communications services. The proposed legislation is meant to reduce and manage security risks posed by service providers. In July, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre [...]

The Scottish Parliament Tuesday approved a bill to make period products such as tampons and sanitary pads freely accessible, becoming the first country in the world to do so. The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill, which passed unanimously, requires local authorities and education providers to ensure that period products are available free of charge. The [...]

A Wednesday report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines-Cluster Munition Coalition (ICBL-CMC) has found that global cluster munition casualties increased by 92 percent in 2019 when compared to annual casualties in 2018. The increase has been primarily linked to the use of cluster munitions in the war in Syria, with 219 casualties occurring in [...]

The British Foreign Office released its twice-annual report on Hong Kong Monday, in which Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab suggested removing British judges from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. This is the most recent step in the deterioration of Sino-British relations over the status of Hong Kong since the 1997 handover of the former [...]

The New Zealand Law Commission recommended a new legal framework for police use of DNA in criminal investigations in a new 572-page report released Monday. The Commission, an independent Crown entity, reviewed and reported on the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Act 1995 following a government request in July 2016. Its review found that the Act [...]

The Administrative Court of Stockholm on Monday rejected Google’s appeal against the decision of the Swedish data protection authority (Authority) and confirmed that Google has violated the provisions of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Authority had imposed a fine of 75 million Swedish kronor (approximately 7 million euros) on Google in March [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called Monday for a ceasefire in Afghanistan and for changes to improve conditions and rebuild the country. Millions of Afghans have been forcibly displaced, and that number is increasing. Peace talks could be an opportunity for the displaced to return to [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women Dubravka Šimonovic said Monday that a “pandemic of femicide and gender-based violence against women is taking the lives of women and girls everywhere.” Her announcement comes two days prior to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. This day has been recognized since 1981, and [...]