The US Supreme Court does not want or need an enforceable code of ethics. As I listen to the reasons given by some members of the Supreme Court to support this position, the words sound strikingly familiar. I have heard the same reasons given by judges in several developing democracies, mostly post-communist countries in Central [...]
With the recent resurgence of discussions surrounding digital identification in Kenya, it is time to take a closer look at the potential benefits and associated risks. In October 2021, the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) introduced in January 2019 and popular as ‘Huduma Namba’, was declared illegal by the High Court for conflicting with [...]
July 17 is the Day of International Criminal Justice. This year it also marks 25 years since the adoption of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC). ICC member countries will gather today at the United Nations headquarters in New York City to discuss strengthening political and practical support for [...]
One year after the US-China semiconductor war began and less than two months after the G7 countries decided to de-risk from China in response to concerns about China’s human rights record, its aggressive trade practices, and its military expansion, Beijing adopted a new foreign relations law on July 1 allowing for the punishment of any group [...]
In 2012, I authored a book called “Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court is not a Court, and its Justices are not Judges.” The thesis of the book was that, due to a perfect storm of factors, the Supreme Court in practice makes all-things-considered decisions, not legal decisions, with the only real constraint on the [...]
The great end of government and laws is human happiness; the rulers ought, therefore, to understand and know on what it consists; and the means of producing it. — Hon. Jesse Root, “On the Principles and End of Government” The summer of 1776 was quite productive in the annals of American intellectual and legal thought. [...]
The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam on June 6th is emerging as one of Europe’s biggest humanitarian and ecological disasters. The dam’s collapse has destroyed entire villages, flooded farmland, displaced tens of thousands of people, deprived them of power and clean water, and caused massive environmental damage. The long-term impact of the dam’s destruction [...]
The world continues to grapple with the challenges posed by strongman leaders who prioritize their own power and interests over global stability and cooperation. This essay explores the notion that the age of the strongman remains as threatening as ever. However, it argues that countering this threat requires upholding the rule of law rather than [...]
In the past few years, the Indian Judiciary has maintained a steady trend of supporting queer rights in the country. In 2018, the Supreme Court issued a landmark verdict decriminalizing queer sexual relationships in India. Activists, allies, and parts of civil society celebrated the decision as the beginning of a promising era for the LGBTQ+ [...]
This is a dispatch from your former JURIST China correspondent, twenty-five years later. The early dispatches I sent to Hibbitts from Wuhan University roughly at the turn of the millennium when the Web was young are now so antiquated that finding one required an archival deep dive. Indeed, it was a very different time – [...]
