The US on Thursday became the first country to ratify the Minamata Convention , which seeks to bring down emissions and releases of mercury, prompting praise from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) . There are currently 93 signatories to the convention, but the US is the only country to have ratified the agreement, giving the [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Thursday that the exclusion of same-sex couples from civil unions under Greek law is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights . The court held that the ban violates Article 8 (the right to respect for private and family life) and Article 14 (prohibition of [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women Rashida Manjoo and the chairperson of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice Frances Raday on Wednesday urged the Sudanese government to stop the practice of threatening women with flogging for “honour-related offences.” According to Manjoo, the punishment is violative [...]

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Thursday that gay people who live in African countries where they could be persecuted for their sexuality have grounds for asylum in the EU. The decision came after the Netherlands asked the ECJ for advice regarding three Sierra Leone, Uganda and Senegal citizens who were seeking asylum. Dutch [...]

Spanish officials on Wednesday told the UN that they will not reexamine the state’s action during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War and the Franco era. In 1977, Spain enacted a law that granted amnesty for political crimes committed during these periods. Spanish officials testified before the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) that the state’s [...]

A military judge on Wednesday ordered the US government to submit reports on Guantanamo Bay prison conditions and removed restrictions on communications between lawyers and detainees in a case involving five Guantanamo prisoners related to the 9/11 terrorist attack. Army Col. James Pohl will review more than 10 years’ worth of reports by the International [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Srishti Miglani, St. Louis University School of Law Class of 2015, discusses the impact of Medicare Expansion… The uninsured cried and the states rejoiced as the “gun to the head” was removed by the US Supreme Court when it held that Congress could not penalize the states by removing all funding for [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday criticized Hungary for failing to protect the rights of female victims of domestic abuse. The report claims that women who were abused by their partners face difficulties in obtaining protection and other related services. HRW found that traditional social views of women’s roles and the acceptance of domestic violence [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in two cases. In Town of Greece v. Galloway the court heard arguments on whether legislative prayer violates the First Amendment , specifically the Establishment Clause. On appeal from the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit , the matter is a conflict between the unconstitutionality [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay , urged the Bangladesh government on Wednesday not to carry out the death sentences of 152 paramilitary soldiers under reports of due process violations leading up to the trial. Pillay claims the soldiers, members of the Border Guard Bangladesh on trial for their involvement in a 2009 [...]