The Belarus Ministry of Internal Affairs (“the Ministry”) on Thursday added US-based broadcaster RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty (RFE/RL), also known locally as Radio Svaboda, to its registry of extremist organizations. Calling it a “continued clampdown on independent media and civil society,” RFE/RL stated that the Ministry took this action based upon allegations that a group of Belarus citizens [...]

A Canadian federal court and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba issued a joint decision Wednesday approving an approximate $8 billion settlement agreement between the Canadian government and First Nation communities regarding access to clean and safe drinking water. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned in 2015 on the promise to end all long-term drinking [...]

The European Commission (“the Commission”) began infringement procedures against Poland Wednesday in light of recent judgments from the country’s Constitutional Tribunal undermining EU law. The Commission considers these judgments to be in “breach of the general principles of autonomy, primacy, effectiveness and uniform application of Union law and the binding effect of rulings of the [...]

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down “Marsy’s Law,” a victims’ rights amendment that would have added a new provision to Article I of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The amendment includes provisions for the right to be notified about and present at proceedings against the perpetrator, the right to be involved in release and sentencing of [...]

JURIST is launching a new series of dispatches from major US states written by JURIST correspondents “on the ground” in those jurisdictions. JURIST Operations Director Ram Eachambadi files this report from Los Angeles. A day after the US Supreme Court’s refusal to block Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8) for the second time, California Governor Gavin [...]

The Supreme Court on Friday refused for a second time to block Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8), which bans abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, in what may seem like a misleading 8-1 vote in favor of abortion providers’ attempts to challenge the law. The reason the 8-1 vote is misleading stems from [...]

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of Treasury on Tuesday added 15 individuals across Iran, Syria and Uganda to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list on allegations of “serious human rights abuse and repressive acts targeting innocent civilians, political opponents, and peaceful protestors.” Additionally, the OFAC has also designated four [...]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday ordered provisional measures regarding the Armenian government’s allegations of racial hatred and discrimination against Azerbaijan instructing it to protect and ensure the safety and security of Armenian prisoners of wars (POWs), and prevent incitement of violence against individuals of Armenian origin. Additionally, by a 13-2 vote, the [...]

The governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, UK, and US have released a joint statement condemning the mass detention of individuals in Ethiopia on the basis of their ethnicity and without due process. The statement declared that the Ethiopian government’s announcement of a state of emergency last month provides no justification for such detentions. The [...]

Rohingya refugees in the US and UK on Monday filed a coordinated lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. (“Facebook”) alleging the social media giant’s “inaction and support of hate speech, misinformation, and incitement of violence fostered the 10-year genocide of the Rohingya Muslims.” The suit was filed by Chicago-based Edelson PC and seeks to apply Myanmar law [...]