The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-1 on Friday that the mandatory minimum sentence for child luring is unconstitutional as it violates the right against cruel and unusual punishment under Section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. The judgment arose out of two separate cases of child luring, one with a sentence [...]

Three US representatives introduced the Hong Kong Sanctions Act to the US Congress on Thursday. Two US senators also introduced companion legislation. The Hong Kong Sanctions Act requires the US president to determine within six months whether 49 government officials, judges and prosecutors should be the subject of sanctions pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human [...]

UN human rights expert William O’Neill called for the Haitian government to enact policies to better protect children from the ravages of gang violence in the country Tuesday during an official UN visit. O’Neill warned that gang violence in Haiti not only blocks children’s access to basic services but youths were also recruited by gangs. [...]

The Hong Kong High Court dismissed activist Chow Hang-tung’s application to be declared as a party to the injunction appeal proceedings surrounding the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” Tuesday. In dismissing the application, the Court reasoned that Hang-tung was neither a party nor a defendant in the proceedings. Chow relied on the Service Order [...]

An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIGA) and the International Transfer of Offenders Act (ITOA) received Royal Assent on Thursday in Canada, thereby becoming law. The amendment seeks to strengthen the enforcement of the national sexual offender registry and comply with the Supreme Court’s judgment for the SOIGA’s [...]

The Federal Court of Canada approved on Tuesday, a CA$ 23 billion settlement to compensate First Nations children and families who were harmed by the discriminatory underfunding of the First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) program. The settlement resolved two class actions that were initiated in March 2019 and January 2020, respectively. Both class [...]

The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress enacted on Tuesday the People’s Republic of China Patriotic Education Law. The law provides directions for different governmental organs and civil organizations to include patriotic content in the public education system. By enacting the law, the Chinese government seeks to incorporate patriotic content into the education system. [...]

The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan enacted on Friday The Education (Parents’ Bill of Rights) Amendment Act, 2023 to codify parental rights in students’ education. The bill, also known as Bill 137, is controversial for its gender identity policy and the invocation of the notwithstanding clause to override a provincial court’s interlocutory injunction against the policy. [...]

The Hong Kong Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed two appeals from the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) Tuesday, which sought to uphold the constitutionality of excluding same-sex couples from enjoying the Public Rental Housing (PRH) policy and Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) as married couples. Two applicants lodged a judicial review in 2020 against the HA’s [...]

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled by a 5-2 majority Friday that the federal government’s Impact Assessment Act (IAA) and its accompanying regulations are partially unconstitutional, as they empower the federal government to create environmental regulations that should have been within provincial jurisdictions. The majority found that the IAA’s method of designating projects for an [...]