The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling Thursday that held inmates in Connecticut prisons do not have a First Amendment right to view or possess pictorial sexually explicit materials. The case involved a challenge to an administrative directive promulgated in 2012 that banned possession of pictorial sexually explicit [...]

The Canadian Armed Forces on Thursday discharged 58 individuals and issued “Notice of Intent” to discharge to 246 others for their refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, 66 other unvaccinated individuals have left voluntarily, exacerbating the increasing shortage of personnel amidst a growing list of requests for domestic assistance and international instability. This development [...]

The Federal Council of Austria approved a bill Thursday that requires all adults in Austria to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, bringing the mandate one step closure to taking effect.  The bill was passed by a vote of 47 to 12. Austria’s bill is the first sweeping vaccine mandate in the European Union. The mandate [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held Thursday that the Civil Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court composition lacks impartiality and independence, violating a company’s right to a proper hearing. In Advance Pharma Sp. Z o.o v. Poland, a company argued against the Main Pharmaceutical Inspector’s decision to withdraw a product from the market. The [...]

Philippines lawmakers approved a key provision in the proposed Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Act mandating that social media accounts are created using a legal name and phone number, according to a statement made by a senator Thursday. The legislation aims to eliminate illegal activities enabled by mobile phones, the internet, or other electronic [...]

Approximately 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens have been displaced during the country’s conflict with Russia, the UN estimated Thursday. The Ukraine-Russia conflict has been ongoing from 2014. Many residents of towns, which have been damaged as a result of the conflict, have had to flee their homes and livelihoods. Over 4,000 displaced families are now living [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Thursday “gross negligence” and violations of due process in the investigations of four politically sensitive murders that reveal donations failed to strengthen the rule of law in Lebanon. This comes a year after the assassination of pro-democracy activist Lokman Slim. The four murders were of Byblos Bank ethics department head [...]

Ian Profiri is JURIST’s Staff Correspondent for Canada. He files this dispatch from Calgary. Trucker protests against vaccine mandates in Ottawa continue. The “Freedom Convoy” has now spent nearly a week occupying the streets surrounding Parliament Hill, and it is believed they intend to extend their stay for as long as possible. Frustration and discontent [...]

UN agencies warned Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic could reverse decades of global progress in stamping out female genital mutilation. The warning comes just days before the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on February 6. The World Health Organization has defined female genital mutilation as involving the partial or total removal [...]

Seven judges of the Supreme Court of Illinois ruled Thursday that claims against employers for statutory damages under the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) were not barred by the exclusivity provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA). In the 2017 case of Marquita McDonald v Symphony Bronzeville Park, LLC, the plaintiff filed a putative class action [...]