The threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement on combatting climate change was achieved on Wednesday. The threshold of 55 parties making up more than 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions triggered the entry into force of the agreement in 30 days. The signatories to the agreement include both large and small [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington ruled Tuesday that four former high-ranking Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials must testify in depositions in a lawsuit against two psychologists who designed the CIA torture program. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit last year against James Mitchell and [...]

Germany’s Federal Court of Justice ruled Thursday that relatives of the victims of a 2009 airstrike in Afghanistan are not entitled to compensation. The court held that international law does not award damages or compensation for violations of international humanitarian law. Additionally, there is no legal basis for damages under German law because the scope [...]

Following mass protests in Poland , legislators have reversed their positions and rejected a near-complete abortion ban. Members of the lower house of parliament voted 352-58 Thursday against the proposed legislation. Some are cautioning that this recent reversal is no cause for celebration . Dutch lawmaker, Sophia in’t Veld said that the law as currently [...]

US government contractor Harold Thomas Martin III was arrested in August on charges that he stole government property, including classified documents, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The complaint alleges that Martin, who had a top national security clearance, removed hard copy as well as digital copies of top secret classified documents, many [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Salman v. United States . The court is faced with an insider trading crime and must determine whether the personal benefit element requires proof of “an exchange that is objective, consequential, and represents at least a potential gain” or may merely be satisfied by proof that [...]

A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said Tuesday that Zeid is “seriously concerned” about human rights violations in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir . Rupert Colville, the spokesperson from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) , released the press briefing and also urged India [...]

The Harare High Court in Zimbabwe on Tuesday upheld a 30-day ban against protests in the capital. The lawsuit was brought by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) on behalf of many organizations, and challenged the ban based on the right to demonstrate provided for in the country’s Constitution . Although the court rationalized the [...]

Myanmar has abolished a law from 1950 that was used by the military to jail dissidents within the country. Myanmar’s President, Htin Kyaw, signed new legislation abolishing the Emergency Provisions Act on Tuesday. The Act provided the military the ability to impose seven-year prison terms for those deemed to be dissidents. Such behavior could include [...]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday refused to hear a claim by the Marshall Islands that the world’s nuclear powers failed to halt the nuclear arms race. The court found that they could not hear the case because they did not have jurisdiction over the matter. The Marshall Islands was the site for [...]