A court of appeals in The Hague on Tuesday upheld a historic legal order that requires the Dutch government to make “a reduction obligation of at least 25% from the emissions in 1990 by end-2020” because that is within the “State’s duty of care.” The court cited Article 2 and Article 8 of the European Convention on [...]
US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor voiced alarm Tuesday over the current use of solitary confinement as the court declined to hear a case challenging the practice. Although she agreed with the decision to not hear this case, the justice expressed her overall concerns about the extreme mental anguish caused by solitary confinement and the [...]
Romania’s referendum Sunday to change the constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman failed due to lack of voter participation. The national election bureau reported that only 20.4 percent of Romanian citizens voted in the referendum, which required a 30 percent voter turnout. The Coalition for the Family, a conservative lobbying group, petitioned the Romanian government [...]
Officials for the UK government, which had been objecting to the death penalty in the case of the extradition of two British Islamic State (IS) fighters who killed Americans in Syria, dropped its case, allowing the pair to be extradited to the US and face American courts. El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey were two [...]
Legal counsel for the US government on Monday presented preliminary objections urging the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to dismiss a case filed by Iran seeking recovery of approximately $2 billion in frozen assets awarded to victims of a 1983 bombing attack against US barracks. In 2016 the US Supreme Court ordered about $2 billion of [...]
UK’s High Court of Justice on Monday blocked a lawsuit against Google over claims it collected personal data from iPhone users. The suit claimed that Google had secretly tracked “the internet activity of Apple iPhone users,” and had sold the data that it had collected. Google was allegedly able to do this through a method [...]
Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid on Monday approved the controversial Digital Security Act, which critics and media organizations believe may quash freedom of speech and press. The new act aims to deter any person or organization from publishing or transmitting any material on any website or in electronic media that may cause defamation, negative religious sentiments, [...]
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment David Boyd called Monday for accelerated action to combat climate change. The statement comes after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C. Boyd said that climate change is “one of the greatest threats to human [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled on Friday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) conditions for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants (Byrne JAG) targeted at so-called “sanctuary cities” are unconstitutional. The Byrne JAG “support law enforcement efforts by providing additional personnel, equipment, supplies, training, and other [...]
The French Court of Cassation announced on Friday its decision to request an advisory opinion from the European Court of Human Rights in a case that could have important consequences for couples who are unable to conceive naturally. At issue is a dispute involving a French family whose twin girls were born with the assistance of [...]
