India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted three men who had been given a death sentence and three others who had been awarded life imprisonment for the alleged murder of five members of a family and the rape of a woman and a minor. A trial court in the state of Maharashtra had convicted all six [...]

The Utah Senate passed a hates crime bill (SB 103) by a vote of 18-11 on Tuesday. The bill now moves to the Utah House of Representatives for consideration. SB 103 would authorize increased penalties for criminals who target victims based on certain personal attributes including age, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. (2) A defendant is subject [...]

The UK High Court ruled Wednesday that the government’s Guidance on Fracking is unlawful. Ruling in favor of Talk Fracking, an environmental group, Justice Dove held that it was unlawful for the government not to take scientific evidence and material into account when creating its guidance. Dove stated that the scientific evidence were ‘materially relevant [...]

Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities have charged hundreds of children with terrorism for alleged Islamic State (IS) affiliation based on dubious accusations and forced confessions obtained through torture, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Wednesday. The 53-page report claims that Iraqi and KRG authorities often arrest children with “any perceived” connection to IS, use [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human rights Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday reported on human rights issues surrounding women, conflicts and inequalities at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. “Today, allow me to voice my concern at the apparently arbitrary arrest and detention, and alleged ill-treatment or torture, of several women human rights defenders in Saudi [...]

The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a Minneapolis ordinance that implemented a minimum wage increase plan for companies. The suit was initiated by the Graco Company, claiming that the ordinance violated Minnesota state law by requiring a higher minimum wage in a specific city. However, the court determined that the overarching state law [...]

The UN on Monday released a depositary notification indicating Malaysia’s accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This notice was released after Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah signed the instrument of accession to the Rome Statute. Malaysia’s interest in joining the ICC was expressed last year by the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who notably established [...]

A UN human rights expert presented a report to the Human Rights Council Tuesday highlighting an increase in the use of anti-blasphemy and anti-apostasy laws to crack down on dissent. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, noted the increased threat to freedom of expression, writing, “Freedom of religion or [...]

A federal judge ruled Tuesday against UnitedHealth Group and its subsidiary United Behavioral Health, saying the insurer used overly restrictive guidelines to improperly deny benefits to thousands of mentally ill insureds. United Behavioral provides “mental health and substance use disorder benefits for commercial welfare benefit plans.” The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit under the Employee Retirement [...]

A federal judge dismissed a criminal wire fraud charges against Barclays Plc during trial Monday, saying the US did not present evidence to prove Barclays owed Hewlett-Packard a duty of trust or confidence in their dealings. Judge Charles Breyer of the US District Court for the Northern District of California said a reasonable jury could not have found [...]