Nineteen international civil society organizations issued a statement Friday demanding due process guarantees at a key hearing for Guatemalan journalist Jose Rubén Zamora. The hearing is scheduled for October 18. The organizations, including Amnesty International, Article 19 and the Committee to Protect Journalists, expressed deep concern over reports of human rights violations and threats to [...]
The Supreme Court of Canada, in a 5-4 majority, ruled on Friday that judges do not have the discretion to impose a driving prohibition order when an offender is convicted of criminal negligence causing death or bodily harm under section 220 or 221 of the Criminal Code. Writing for the majority, Justice Sheilah Martin contended [...]
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Thursday against a physician for providing gender transition care to 21 minor patients, in violation of a Texas law prohibiting medical interventions related to gender transition. The lawsuit accuses Dr. May Lau of engaging in “deceptive trade practices, including misleading pharmacies, insurance providers, and/or patients by falsifying [...]
The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily halted the execution of Robert Roberson, who was scheduled to be put to death that evening for the 2002 death of his two-year-old daughter. The court’s ruling comes in response to an unprecedented move by the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, which had subpoenaed Roberson to testify [...]
Three tobacco companies proposed on Thursday to pay $32.5 billion to settle legal claims in Canada, stemming from decades of disputes. The proposal remains subject to further negotiation and court approval. A mediator, appointed by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to coordinate the tobacco-related claims and facilitate the negotiations, filed the proposed settlement arrangement. [...]
The Polish government introduced a draft law aiming to allow civil unions under Polish law on Friday. The law would reverse Poland’s current ban on civil partnerships and failure to recognize civil partnerships from other nations. The bill would recognize the civil partnership between two unmarried adults upon registration. Along with the legal recognition, civil [...]
A Georgia grand jury on Thursday charged a father and son for a school shooting that killed two students and two teachers. The grand jury, a group of civilians tasked by the court with determining whether the evidence supports a criminal charge, found probable cause against both the father, Colin Gray, and the son and [...]
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin has accused Russia of systematically torturing prisoners of war (POWs), with up to 90 percent of returned Ukrainian soldiers reporting abuse during their detention in Russian facilities. At a Tuesday event in Brussels organized by the Center for European Politics, Kostin noted that these findings come from Ukraine’s ongoing investigations into [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Thursday in the case Central Unitaria de Traballadores/as v. Spain, upholding Spain’s decision to ban a May Day demonstration during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The court determined that the restriction on the trade union’s right to assembly was justified due to the extreme public health [...]
The United Kingdom announced that it has joined with France and Algeria to call for an urgent meeting at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza, while the Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the UK was considering sanctions on Israeli cabinet ministers. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the [...]
