Taiwan’s Executive Yuan approved draft amendments to several laws against sexual harassment on Thursday amid a recent surge in high-profile allegations of sexual harassment on the island. In recent months, the #MeToo movement has gained momentum in Taiwan, with many female victims standing up against perpetrators of sexual harassment. The movement launched in May when [...]
The Paris police department banned a planned protest against police violence on Saturday. This came after a series of protests over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old North African boy, Nahel Merzouk on June 27, which have evolved into a civil movement similar to the Black Lives Matter protests in the US. Assa Traoré, [...]
![Hong Kong legislature unanimously passes overhaul of district council elections](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/07/Many_people_line_up_outside_the_District_Council_Election_polling_station-1.jpeg)
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong unanimously voted to support a bill that overhauls the city’s district councils on Thursday, which will dramatically reduce the number of directly elected seats on district councils. Under a 2021 change to Hong Kong’s election law, the district councils served as one of the last ways for Hong [...]
![Nepal Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage in landmark verdict](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/11/Nepal-Supreme-Court-1.jpg)
The Supreme Court of Nepal issued an interim order to the Nepali government on Friday to recognize same-sex marriage by allowing same-sex couples and other non-heterosexual couples to register for marriage in the country. The order issued by Justice Til Prasad Shrestha calls for necessary amendments to the provisions related to marriage and marriage registration within [...]
The French Senate approved new legislation on Thursday requiring social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to implement mandatory age verification systems and obtain explicit parental consent for users aged 15 and below. The move comes amid a growing international crackdown on the platforms lack of privacy protections for users. The new legislation is the most recent [...]
![Mexico authorities arrest former head of anti-kidnapping unit in 2014 missing student case](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/06/Protesta_cultural_por_Ayotzinapa_43__11_-_3-1.jpeg)
Mexican authorities arrested the former head of Mexico’s anti-kidnapping unit, Gualberto Ramírez Gutiérrez, on Sunday in connection to the 2014 Ayotzinapa case in which 43 students went missing. This is the first high-level arrest made by Mexico since the incident occurred. On Tuesday, a court in Toluca also charged eight soldiers with the crime of [...]
![Germany domestic intelligence agency reports extremist crime at record high](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/05/BfV_Berlin_2015-1.jpg)
German Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser and President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) Thomas Haldenwang unveiled the BfV’s annual report on Tuesday, highlighting the increasing threat of extremism in Germany as the number of crimes committed by political extremists reached a record high in 2022. According to the [...]
The Conference on Jewish Materials Claims Against Germany announced on Thursday that it successfully negotiated a deal with the German Federal Ministry of Finance on behalf of Holocaust survivors around the world. The deal means approximately $1.4 billion worth of compensation will be paid in various forms to Jewish survivors of German persecutions in World [...]
![Russia Duma supports recruitment of criminals to fight in Ukraine war](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/06/russia_1686316711.jpg)
The Russian State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s Parliament, voted on Wednesday to give its preliminary support to legislation that will permit its army to sign contracts with suspects or criminal convicts to take part in the war in Ukraine. According to the State Duma, the proposed legislation would authorize the country’s Ministry of [...]
![Canada parliament grants honorary citizenship to Russian dissident](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/06/Vladimir_Kara-Murza_Junior_Toronto_Legislature_2018.jpg)
The Canadian parliament voted unanimously on Friday to grant honorary Canadian citizenship to Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian political prisoner and Kremlin critic, hoping that this move would increase the chances that he would be released alive. The title has only been granted to foreign nationals seven times before, including champions of human rights and democracy [...]