The American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU) filed a complaint on Wednesday on behalf of four same-sex couples who were legally married in Wisconsin last June, but whose marriages are not currently recognized due to a stay on the district court ruling striking down the same-sex marriage ban. The complaint argues the legal marriages of the [...]
The UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday raised awareness for the rights of indigenous peoples, comprised of approximately 370 million people in 90 countries around the world. The Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz , urged members of the international community to reconcile any past differences with indigenous peoples for prior [...]
Vladimir Yevtushenkov , Sistema’s chairman and largest shareholder, was placed on house arrest Tuesday after being accused of money laundering. Yevtushenkov is one of Russia’s richest men and is estimated by Forbes to be worth approximately USD $4.5 billion. Sistema insists that the charges are baseless, though they saw a 28 percent drop in shares [...]
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Wednesday commuted the death sentence of top Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Vice President Delwar Hossain Sayedee, sentencing him to life behind bars for crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War with Pakistan. Sayedee was convicted last year on counts of murder, rape and persecution of the Hindu community. Demonstrators gathered [...]
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Wednesday called on Malaysian authorities to cease arrests and prosecutions under the country’s 1948 Sedition Act, a law that limits free speech and freedom of expression. Rupert Colville, OHCHR spokesperson, expressed concern about the recent increase in the use of this act to [...]
Saudi Arabia’s top clerical council on Wednesday issued a statement calling terrorism a “heinous crime” under Sharia and saying that clerics who issue religious edicts justifying terrorism should be tried in court. It also stated that it supports the kingdom’s efforts to find and punish followers of the Islamic State group and al Qaeda , [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Tuesday overturned an order requiring Apple to pay $368.2 million to VirnetX Holding Corp. in a patent dispute. The case was originally heard in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which found that Apple infringed upon VirnetX’s patents for their virtual [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled 13-4 on Tuesday that the UK did not violate international law in regards to the capture and detention of Iraqi national Tarek Hassan. Hassan was captured in 2003 by UK forces and detained at Camp Bucca in eastern Iraq. Hassan’s brother claimed that Tarek Hassan was subject [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Stoyan Panov of the University of Birmingham Law School compares and contrasts executive powers under the transitional constitutions of South Sudan and Somalia … The veto power of the executive over legislation creates certain political and legal tensions in newly independent states or states which are sometimes labelled as failed states. The [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Francesca Acocella, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Class of 2016, discusses the recent decision by the Thirteenth Court of Appeals of Texas to recognize transgender identity in determining the validity of marriage …Think about all the times you need to show ID: seeing a movie, ordering a drink, purchasing certain medicines, [...]
