The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday that Swiss law does not provide sufficient guidelines on the extent of the right to die, in violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights . Article 8 protects an individual’s right to respect for private life, which was interpreted by the court [...]

The Minnesota Senate voted 37-30 Monday in favor of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage . The bill was approved by the House of Representatives last week and will now go to Governor Mark Dayton to be signed into law. Dayton has been a supporter of the legislation and has pledged to sign it during a [...]

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Monday that aid in Syria is being hampered by a disregard for the rules of war . Head of operations for the Near and Middle East Robert Mardini said that in spite of repeated calls for all parties to the conflict in Syria to respect the [...]

The UkraineProsecutor General on Monday reopened the murder case against former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko . The charges, originally filed in January , allege that Tymoshenko and former prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko ordered the murder of Yevhen Shcherban and two others in 1996. Shcherban, a Ukrainian parliamentary lawmaker who also headed Ukraine’s Aton financial [...]

Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal ruled Monday that a law prohibiting a transgender woman from marrying her boyfriend was invalid under the Chinese constitution. The law had been interpreted to hold that only a person’s gender at birth could be considered for the purposes of marriage, which is restricted to a man and woman. [...]

The Vermont State Legislature on Monday gave final approval to a bill that replaces criminal penalties with civil fines for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and up to five grams of hashish. As the law currently stands, possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor that can lead to a six-month prison sentence, a [...]

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Monday in Burnside v. Walters to determine whether the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit erred in holding that the in forma pauperis (IFP) statute prohibits indigent plaintiffs from amending their complaints. Arkansas resident William David Burnside, proceeding IFP, filed suit against Memphis police officers and other [...]

UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk on Monday urged Israel to stop construction of a highway that would cut off the local roads of Palestinian community Beit Safafa. The residents of Beit Safafa were not consulted during during the planning of this six-lane highway, known as the “Begin Highway,” and previous petitions to stop the construction [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged Tunisia to modify the country’s draft constitution to address potential human rights violations. After analyzing the third draft constitution, HRW expressed concern that the language recognizes universal human rights regarding only “cultural specificities of the Tunisia people.” HRW fears that affirmatively naming Islam as the religion of the [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Dan’s City Used Cars, Inc. v. Pelkey that section 14501(c)(1) of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) does not preempt state-law claims stemming from the storage and disposal of a towed vehicle. Section 14501(c)(1) reads: “a State … may not enact or enforce a law, regulation, or [...]