The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Governor Matt Bevin did not have the authority to unilaterally cut the budget for state universities. The ruling came after a lawsuit was filed by Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear . The 5-2 decision reverses a lower court ruling, which found that Bevin did have the authority to [...]

Independent UN human rights expert Alfred de Zayas said Thursday that “rms deals are a major threat to security, peace and human rights.” De Zayas, the UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, explained that the arms deals often bring with them the risk that the weapons will be [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned Thursday that conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will deteriorate unless there is accountability for the atrocities against civilians. Earlier this week there was an attack in Kinshasa that resulted in the deaths of civilians and police officers. Additionally, the commissioner [...]

Ukraine’s high court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by Gazprom finding it “groundless.” The court decided to uphold the USD $3.4 billion fine against the company handed down by Ukraine’s Anti-Monopoly Committee, which alleged that the company abused its monopoly position in the gas transit market. Gazprom appealed the fine, and the Supreme Court refused [...]

JURIST 2016 Law of Armed Conflict Contributing Editor Laurie R. Blank of the Emory University School of Law discusses recent political comments concerning application of law during times of war… The apparent deliberate bombing of a UN relief convoy bringing lifesaving supplies to the beleaguered population of Aleppo, Syria was the epitome of the no-holds-barred [...]

European Court of Justice (ECJ) Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston released two opinions Thursday arguing that Hamas and the Tamil Tigers should be removed from the EU’s Terror List . The opinions reason that because the organizations’ governments followed the wrong procedures when including the two groups the court should reevaluate their place on the list. [...]

A policing unit in Afghanistan set up to investigate alleged war crimes committed by UK soldiers stationed in the war-torn country reportedly received around 600 complaints of ill treatment and abuse occurring between 2005 and 2013. Members of the Royal Military Police are investigating the allegations, and UK Prime Minister Theresa May has expressed her [...]

Authorities in Kashmir re-arrested a human rights advocate on Wednesday night under color of a controversial security law, the Public Safety Act, which allows the detention of suspects for up to six months without a trial. The arrest came almost immediately after a court had ordered him released from police custody . Khurram Parvez had [...]

The Afghanistan government signed a peace agreement on Thursday with insurgent group Hezb-i Islami, led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The US Embassy applauded the peace accord as an important step towards ending violence and protecting constitutional rights in the country. The peace negotiations focused on Hezb-i Islami renouncing ties to extremist groups and acts of terrorism [...]

Noted human rights lawyer Xia Lin was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Chinese court on Thursday. Xia, who famously represented many Chinese dissidents including artist Ai Weiwei, was arrested and accused of fraudulently obtaining more than a million dollars to take care of gambling debts. He was convicted of obtaining less then [...]