Lawmakers in South Sudan on Wednesday passed a controversial bill that gives security forces the right to arrest suspected criminals without a warrant. The bill was passed into law in its fourth reading after a three-hour debate. The leader of the minority Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-Democratic Change (SPLM-DC) party Onyoti Adigo walked out during the [...]

States that have toughened voter identification laws have experienced steeper drops in election turnout than those that have not, including disproportionate falloffs among black and younger voters, according to a nonpartisan congressional study released on Wednesday by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) . By June of this year, 33 states had enacted voter photo [...]

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) on Thursday summoned for interrogation far-right politician Geert Wilders on suspicion of making criminally discriminatory statements regarding Moroccans. According to OM he “is suspected of insulting a group of people based on race and inciting discrimination and hatred.” If convicted, he could face up to a year in prison [...]

The US Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday allowing North Carolina to do away with same-day voter registration and out-of-precinct voting. The order stays a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which held that those provisions of the North Carolina law should not be enforced. Although the order was issued [...]

The Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu , passed legislation Thursday legalizing same-sex partnerships. The act passed by a narrow 40-38 vote with another 23 lawmakers abstaining. The new law grants couples in same-sex partnerships similar rights as married couples, including legal protection for children, but it does not grant same-sex couples adoption rights expect where the [...]

A group of independent experts from the UN Human Rights Council once again urged the Malaysian government on Wednesday to abolish the Sedition Act of 1948 after receiving reports of increasing criminalization of government critics. UN Human Rights Council experts claim that they have received reports of 23 recent cases of persons charged with publishing [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned Wednesday that, despite the fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine , abuses such as abductions, torture and ill-treatment still affect local civilians daily. Since the ceasefire, announced September 5, 331 fatalities have been recorded. Many who were internally displaced during the height of the [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Mohamed Abdelaal, of the Alexandria University School of Law in Egypt, discusses the complexities of the current state of the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court… After the now-ousted President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood assumed power in Egypt in June 2012, the country witnessed a huge wave of political polarization. That is, [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases Wednesday. In Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk the court is tasked with determining whether time spent by employees for after-hours screenings to guard against warehouse theft qualifies for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act as amended by the Portal-to-Portal Act . In Wednesday’s [...]

Justice Anthony Kennedy of the US Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked same-sex marriage in Idaho. An earlier order blocked same-sex marriage in Nevada as well, but Kennedy vacated that stay on Wednesday afternoon. The orders follow a Tuesday decision from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit striking down same-sex marriage bans [...]