China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) on Friday adopted an interpretation of certain articles of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region , removing lawsuits against sovereign nations from the jurisdiction of Hong Kong courts. The Standing Committee of the NPC adopted an interpretation that “stipulates that Hong’s Kong’s laws concerning rules on [...]

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Friday ruled that there is a clearly-established First Amendment right to film police officers performing their duties in a public space. The case stems from a 2007 incident, when police officers arrested Simon Gilk after he openly recorded three police officers arresting a suspect on [...]

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Friday ruled on motions to dismiss made by British Petroleum (BP) and other defendants in litigation over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill . Among other issues, Judge Carl Barbier ruled that all state law claims in the case are preempted by federal maritime law and [...]

South Carolina’s Senate Minority Caucus filed an objection on Friday with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) , asking for the rejection of the state’s new voter identification law. The caucus, comprised of Democrats in the state Senate, argued that the law, which will require South Carolina residents to present a current government-issued ID, is [...]

Spain’s major political parties, the Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and the Popular Party (PP) , reached an agreement on Friday to modify the country’s constitution with provisions that will regulate the limits of the national deficit in order to avoid risks of debt crisis and a bailout. The proposed amendment, to take effect in 2020, [...]

The Arizona Attorney General filed a suit on Thursday asking for an injunction on portions of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) , arguing that it is unconstitutional for a state to clear any voting regulations with the Department of Justice (DOJ) . Section 5 requires states to clear changes in voting districts, polling places and [...]

Amnesty International (AI) on Friday urged the Brazilian government to revoke the 1979 Amnesty Law , which shields military officials from prosecution for crimes committed during the country’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship. In December, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the amnesty law is invalid and that Brazil is responsible for the disappearance of [...]

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a new regulation on Thursday requiring employers to post their employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act in the workplace. These rights include the right to unionize, to bargain collectively and to refuse pressures to do either. The poster also gives some examples of unfair business and [...]

The Chief Justice of Hungary, Andras Baka, has petitioned the Hungarian Supreme Court to review a recently enacted law that he claims gives prosecutors too much power and violates the European Convention on Human Rights and the Hungarian Constitution . The law, enacted in July, enables prosecutors to choose their venue, increases the detainment period [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana on Thursday urged the government of Myanmar to investigate human rights abuses and improve its rights record . Speaking at the end of his five-day mission to Myanmar, Quintana said that the government must do more to fulfill its international human [...]