Search Results for: Commonwealth

Hong Kong Police National Security Department questioned on Thursday several relatives of two wanted activists, Dennis Kwok and Mung Siu-tat. They are among the activists wanted by Hong Kong authorities since July 3, when the Hong Kong Police Force announced a bounty for eight pro-democracy activists. There are no official press releases in relation to [...]

International stakeholders emphasized the importance of addressing the emerging reality of artificial intelligence (AI) at a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday. Speakers at the groundbreaking event discussed the benefits and drawbacks of integrating AI into daily life. According to the presenters, AI has the potential to transform approaches to human rights. The UN’s use of [...]

A Royal Commission into Australia’s Robodebt scheme has referred several government officials for civil and criminal prosecution after handing down its final report on Friday. The inquiry included 46 days of hearings, received over 1000 submissions and heard from 115 witnesses regarding the unlawful scheme. The report contains an “additional sealed chapter that is not [...]

A Pennsylvania state court rejected Tuesday a challenge to Act 77, a law that amended the state’s Election Code to expand mail-in voting options. A complaint filed with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania by current and former Republican representatives in the state challenged the integrity of the law as a whole due to its nonseverability clause. [...]

Last Wednesday the UK Parliament held its first-ever debate dedicated to genocide against the Hazaras, a mainly Shia Muslim community in Afghanistan and Pakistan often targeted for their Asiatic features and Mongolian heritage. In the session, held in the Grand Committee Room of Westminster Hall, Paul Bristow, MP for Peterborough and Chair of the All-Party [...]

Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militant group in the Gaza Strip arrived at ceasefire on Saturday, which put an end to five days of fighting that resulted in approximately 33 Palestinian casualties and two Israeli casualties. The ceasefire went into effect at approximately 10:00 PM local time. As of Sunday morning, the ceasefire [...]

Access to justice is a foundational principle of the rule of law and is often phrased as requiring “the right of equal access to justice for all” through governments providing “fair, transparent, effective, non-discriminatory and accountable services.” In Australia, this principle was described in Dietrich v. The Queen as “the equal justice for all principle.” [...]

The Australian federal government Tuesday banned TikTok on government devices following advice from national intelligence agencies. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced that the viral media platform will be prohibited on devices issued by Commonwealth departments and agencies. “After receiving advice from intelligence and security agencies, today I authorised the Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department to issue [...]

Australia’s coalition government and the Labor Party Wednesday passed legislation enabling the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum to proceed at the end of 2023. The Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill of 2022 amends the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act of 1984 to align the referendum with federal voting on issues such as postal voting and foreign [...]

Three former staff members of a mental hospital in Virginia were arrested and charged Thursday with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who was brought to the institution from jail earlier this month. According to Dinwiddie County Commonwealth Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill, Irvo Otieno, 28, passed away on March 6 while [...]