After months of deliberation and stagnant discussion over adequate government funding measures, on December 27, 2020, Congress signed The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) into law. The new bill, whose title is as profound and as it is arbitrary sounding, covers 5593 pages and includes $900 billion of pandemic related relief. The House and [...]
China formally arrested Australian journalist Cheng Lei on Friday “on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.” The formal arrest comes six months after Lei was first taken into custody under controversial Chinese detention laws. Australian Senator and Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne issued a statement announcing the formal arrest, noting that “he Australian [...]
JURIST EXCLUSIVE – Law students reporting for JURIST in Myanmar said Tuesday that peaceful mass demonstrations by lawyers, students and other groups of civilians in defiance of a military ban on public assembly imposed Monday in the wake of last week’s military coup were violently broken up by police using water cannon and bullets. Force [...]
There is a “very credible case” that the Chinese government has committed acts against the Uighur population in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) that constitute genocide and crimes against humanity, according to a 105-page legal opinion published Monday. The Global Legal Action Network, the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur Human Rights Project instructed [...]
JURIST EXCLUSIVE – A coalition of international legal advocates sent a joint letter Saturday to Professor Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, condemning the growing trend of government officials intimidating and endangering the legal representatives of politically controversial clients. They also called for greater protections to be granted to advocates, the [...]
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) denied Friday Amazon’s effort to limit mail voting in its Alabama union representation election, allowing 6,000 employees to begin voting Monday on whether to unionize. In November 2020, the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) filed for an election at the Bessemer, Alabama Amazon fulfillment center, which has about [...]
Human Rights Watch condemned Friday the excessive force used by the Tunisian police on protestors calling for social justice, which lead to the death of one person and injuries to several others. The protests erupted in response to a Facebook video that showed the police mishandling a shepherd. The Tunisian police have been accused of acting [...]
Former Ohio police officer Adam Coy pleaded not guilty Friday to the killing of Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man. On December 22, Coy and another officer were responding to a nuisance call about car noise. As Coy approached the area where the vehicle was located, he encountered Andre Hill. Even though Hill was unarmed, [...]
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued new rules Sunday concerning digital platforms. These rules are expected to put pressure on large companies like online retailers Taobao and JD.com, as well as payment providers like WeChat Pay and Alipay. Included among the changes in the new rules is a ban on merchants requiring retailers on [...]
JURIST EXCLUSIVE – Myanmar’s military authorities Monday attempted to disperse marchers in the country’s capital with water cannons and announced on national television that they would be taking legal action against protesters opposing the military coup that overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. The march in Nay Pyi Taw was [...]
