The UN accepted an independent report on Monday that highlights the ‘systemic failure’ of the UN to work with authorities in Myanmar to curb the abuse of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. Gert Rosenthal, a former Guatemalan Foreign Affairs Minister, UN Ambassador, and top executive at the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the [...]

The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF) filed an amicus brief on Tuesday with the US Supreme Court urging it to find that the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of a unanimous jury verdict applies to the states through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The LDF submitted the brief in support of the [...]

The UK Supreme Court ordered the Birmingham Council on Wednesday to reconsider its decision to declare a single mother of four who could not afford rent, “intentionally homeless.” The court unanimously affirmed Terryann Samuels’ petition to appeal the decision. The Council declared her intentionally homeless because they argued that she should have used her social [...]

The Constitutional Court in Ecuador ruled Wednesday in favor of same-sex marriage. The five-justice majority argued that all people are equal, and that this change was necessary to prevent discrimination. This decision will require the National Assembly to change the laws defining marriage. Ecuador’s constitution, ratified in 2008,  defines marriage as between a man and [...]

In a report published Wednesday, the Free Russia Foundation detailed the actions taken by the Kremlin to infiltrate Western institutions and legal systems. The authors warn that individual nations need to take steps to protect their institutions, governments and court systems from the Kremlin. The report is divided into two parts. Part one focuses on [...]

Amnesty International warned Tuesday that war crimes and human rights violations have been ongoing in Sudan’s Darfur region. Following the ouster of former president Omar al-Bashir in April, Sudan has been rocked by political turmoil. Amnesty warned against the proposed plan to withdraw United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) peacekeepers from the region by [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled unanimously Monday that qualified immunity does not protect officers from a suit for excessive force merely because the victim cannot identify them. The court affirmed summary judgement for the plaintiff, holding that a reasonable jury could find that the defendants had “violated Fazica’s constitutional rights [...]

The High Court in Botswana unanimously revoked colonial-era laws criminalizing gay sex Tuesday. The court held that sections 164(a), 164(c), 165 and 167 of the penal code, which criminalize same-sex relations, are discriminatory and in conflict with the constitution. This section of the penal code includes as an offense “carnal knowledge of any person against [...]

A spokesperson for the US Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) said in an email statement Wednesday that because the number of unaccompanied children being detained is placing a strain on ORR resources, ORR is scaling back programs at the shelters where the children are detained. The programs that will be reduced are the English language [...]

The Sri Lankan government proposed a new law with a five-year jail term as well as a fine of $1 million rupees to combat the spreading of fake news and hate speech. This proposed legislation comes in the wake of the Easter attacks where misinformation was spread leading to a nine-day ban on the use [...]