A spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights  expressed concern  Friday over the “violent suppression of peaceful protests” by opposing political parties and the police in anticipation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s upcoming election. The spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, cited two incidents within the past week of the police arresting political [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) found Thursday that it has jurisdiction to investigate officials of the Myanmar government for violence towards the Rohingya minority. The violence against the Rohingya minority has drawn human rights groups to call for the arrest of government officials. The Chamber found that it has the power to entertain the Prosecutor’s request [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday reinstated  Michigan’s ban on straight ticket voting by granting the Secretary of State’s motion to stay a lower court ruling enjoining the law’s enforcement. Public Act 268 banned straight ticket voting, referring to the practice in which voters select a single political party for [...]

The European Commission  on Thursday approved  Apple’s purchase of Shazam, after their six-month long investigation proved the acquisition would not give the tech company an unfair advantage in the music streaming industry. Shazam  is a UK-based music recognition app that listens to a song and relates information about the song and where to listen to it [...]

US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh underwent his third day of questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. The hearings began at approximately 9:30 Thursday morning. Senator Chuck Grassley of Nebraska began my stating that his staff worked until the early morning to accommodate numerous document requests, an issue that was prominent during the [...]

The Supreme Court of India on Thursday decriminalized consensual sex with members of the same sex by ruling that part of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code violated fundamental rights. Section 377 was introduced in 1861 during British rule of India and criminalized sexual activities with same sex partners as “unnatural offences.” The Supreme Court [...]

The members of the Pacific Islands Forum  on Wednesday signed  a statement saying that “climate change presents the single greatest threat to the livelihood, security and wellbeing of Pacific people.” The Pacific Islands Forum was attended by representatives of 18 Pacific countries, and the communique was signed at the end of the forum. In the [...]

Dutch bank ING agreed  to pay nearly USD $900 million to settle charges against its Netherlands branch related to money laundering and compliance failures in violation of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Act. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (DPPS) charged ING after investigations revealed, “the bank failed to prevent bank accounts held by [...]

The UK Court of Appeal overturned  a lower court ruling on Wednesday, broadening the country’s understanding of what may be protected from litigation under the legal advice privilege. The Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) was compelled by the London High Court to disclose documents that were produced after potential issues of fraud were brought to the [...]

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals on Tuesday replaced  three out of five judges presiding over the appeal of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic . The original panel comprised Judges Theodor Meron, Carmel Agius, Liu Daqun, Prisca Matimba Nyambe and Seymour Panton. Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti granted the defendant’s request to replace the judges, citing bias against [...]