The US Supreme Court on Monday reversed a district court ruling that had blocked Texas’s 2025 congressional map as a likely racial gerrymander, allowing the Republican-drawn districts to stand for the 2026 midterm elections. The unsigned one-paragraph order cited the Court’s own 2025 decision in Abbott v. League of United Latin American Citizens as controlling, [...]

A group of 15 rights organizations sent a joint letter on Sunday to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi concerning her government’s proposed anti-espionage law and foreign agents registration act. The organizations caution the government to ensure the laws are consistent with legal obligations, writing: While we recognize that protecting national security and tackling the unlawful [...]

Victor Qiu is a JURIST Washington, DC correspondent and an attorney. The views expressed in this article are his own and in his personal capacity. Last week, I attended the first oral argument of the US Supreme Court’s April sitting, Sripetch v. Securities and Exchange Commission, a case that could clarify the scope of the [...]

In December 2025, a lawyer walked into court and asked a question that goes to the heart of Ghana’s anti-corruption project: can the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) prosecute anyone at all without the Attorney-General’s say-so? A High Court in Accra has since answered no, ordering the Attorney-General (AG) to take over all prosecutions currently [...]

Zimbabwe authorities have intensified a crackdown on student leaders opposing a proposed constitutional amendment that would extend presidential and parliamentary terms, said Human Rights Watch, adding that the pattern of repression includes abductions, arrests and alleged ill-treatment targeting those tied to opposition activity. The Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Bill, 2026 would extend political [...]

A special counsel team in South Korea is seeking a 30-year prison sentence for former president Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of “benefiting the enemy” after allegedly ordering the dispatch of military drones over the North Korean capital city, Pyongyang, in 2024. The former president is accused of sending over 10 drones to North Korea [...]

In Kenya, thousands of prisoners are appearing before courts without legal representation, with no one to protect or defend their rights. It has become its own kind of epidemic. Kenya currently holds approximately 59,000 adult prisoners. Of these, over 22,000 are on remand — legally presumed innocent, awaiting trial without any legal support. Walk into [...]

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that it will resume the federal use of capital punishment, and that it is seeking death sentences against 44 defendants. The DOJ also said that it will use firing squads, electrocution, or nitrogen asphyxiation if the drug used in lethal injection is unavailable. The announcement follows the [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday warned that a new bill before Uganda’s parliament could be used to shut down civil society, and compared it to a similar Russian “foreign agents” law. HRW warns that this bill threatens to limit freedom of speech and assembly. Bill 13, the Protection of Sovereignty Bill, was introduced on [...]