Former president of Chad Hissène Habré will begin his appeal on Monday against the life sentence and fines imposed on him this past summer by the Extraordinary African Chambers , a body created by Senegal and the African Union. He was found guilty of sex slavery, rape and the killings of an estimated 40,000 people [...]

A Sri Lankan panel of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms has recommended the appointment of a hybrid court composed of local and international judges to oversee the adjudication of allegations of war crimes committed during the nation’s civil war. The international presence on the court will be phased out once trust between the [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Maryland ruled Friday to dismiss in part and allow in part a lawsuit from officers who were charged in the death of Freddie Gray against Maryland State Attorney Marilyn Mosby. The false arrest, false imprisonment, abuse of process, conspiracy, Fourteenth Amendment violations, Fourth Amendment [...]

The UN announced plans on Friday to create a high-level task force to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse. The task force is to develop a “clear, game-changing strategy to achieve visible and measurable further improvement.” It will include members who currently hold various positions throughout the UN. One member, Jane Hall Lute, [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Reid T. Murdoch, Esq., Board member of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, analyzes a major Eighth Circuit ruling prohibiting blanket drug testing of college students… Blanket drug testing of college students is officially unconstitutional, a US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled in December, reversing a previous panel opinion. The [...]

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Friday that 2016 had more recorded migrant deaths than any previous year. According to preliminary figures, 363,348 migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe arrived successfully while 5,079 died at sea. At least 300 more fatalities are expected to factor in as the figures do not [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Gabriela Steier of the Duquesne University School of Law and Food Law International LLP discusses the possible effects of a landmark court decision in climate change litigation… “This is no ordinary lawsuit,” wrote Judge Ann Aiken of the US District Court for the District of Oregon, at the beginning of her opinion [...]

The UN announced on Friday that Yanghee Lee , the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, will travel to the country to assess the human rights situation following concerns over the safety of refugees in Kachin State and reports of increased violence in Rakhine State. During her 12-day stay, Lee will visit three locations in the [...]

Prosecutors in Kosovo on Friday charged a Serbian citizen with war crimes for acts committed during the 1998-99 war. The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo released a statement announcing the indictment of the defendant, identified only as “B.S.,” for actions allegedly committed in Fushe, Kosovo, in 1999. The statement also indicates the indictment [...]

China’s President Xi Jinping declared on Friday that the nation’s battle against corruption “must go deeper,” stressing the need for the Communist Party to be governed “systematically, creatively and efficiently.” Upon becoming party chief in 2013, Xi had set in motion a broad campaign to root out corruption among high-level officials. Xi has since stated [...]