Human Rights

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State and Corporate Homophobia: A Commentary on the Olivera Fuentes v. Peru case

On 11 April 2023, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) published its long-awaited ruling in the Olivera Fuentes v. Peru case. The decision holds personal significance to Crissthian Olivera, a pioneering defender of LGBTIQ+ rights in Latin America, as it was the culmination of a 19-year journey to deliver justice following discrimination he faced due to his sexual orientation and gender expression. The case addressed three pivotal issues under the American Convention on Human Rights (“the American Convention”): (i) the use of homophobic stereotypes in domestic rulings, (ii) the burden of proof for victims of discrimination by private actors, and (iii) the scope of anti-discrimination obligations for corporations. It should also be noted that this is the first of the Court’s ten decisions on the subject to adopt the expanded acronym LGBTIQ+. Prior to this case, the Court’s preferred acronym was LGBTI. The facts On 11 August 2004, Olivera and his partner were seated in a supermarket cafeteria in…

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Upholding the Right to Fair Trial: The Appeals Chamber’s Impactful Decision on the Alternative Findings Procedure at the IRMCT

The recent decision handed down by the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) in the Kabuga case, which overturned the Trial Chamber’s precedent-setting decision to introduce an “alternative findings procedure” for the trial of unfit individuals, may potentially mark a positive…

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The Human Rights Backlash in Criminal Justice: The Case of Russia’s Exit from the European Convention on Human Rights

Large-scale conflicts such as the Russia – Ukraine crisis transform societal structures of the regions involved. Much analysis has already focused on changes in Russian politics, economy, culture, etc. However, some gradual and heterogeneous reconfigurations in Russia’s legal system can easily be overlooked, especially if these do not immediately produce significant political events attracting scholars’ attention.

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The Caster Semenya Judgment of the ECtHR: Why It Should Not be the Final Whistle?

The legal marathon of Caster Semenya against regulations of the sport governing body (SGB) overseeing athletics has emerged as one of the most contentious legal battles, reaching the pinnacle of the European human rights framework. Semenya is a South African runner with naturally higher testosterone levels than other females. She refused to submit herself to World…

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Towards A United Kurdistan: Prospects for Kurdish Self-Determination

A century has elapsed since one of history’s most hypocritical, enduring, and consequential betrayals of principle. Following World War I (WWI) and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, an independent Kurdistan was about to emerge. In Europe the Treaty of Versailles had implemented the principle of self-determination for ethnically-defined peoples, giving birth to new nation-states. Likewise in the…

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