Canada Supreme Court Says Mandatory And Lifetime Registration On Sex Offender Registry Unconstitutional

The Supreme Court of Canada has held the country's mandatory and lifetime registration on the sex offender registry unconstitutional.The national sex offender registry was created in the country in 2004 under Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA). While the prosecution had to earlier apply to a judge for including a name in the registry, the law was changed in 2011.Since...

State Constitution Does Not Provide A Fundamental Right To Abortion: lowa Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the State of Iowa (in the United States of America) has held that the State Constitution is not a source to claim abortion as a fundamental right. In holding so, it has overruled its own decision rendered four years back in Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v. Reynolds (PPH II) (2018) ('PPH II'), wherein it was ruled that right to abortion is a fundamental right...

US Jury Holds Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Liable For Defamation Of Each Other; Awards $15 Million Damages To Depp, $2 Million To Heard

Hollywood Actor Johnny Depp won his defamation case against Amber Heard, his ex-wife and former costar, reported Associated Press. Following a six-week trial, a US jury found that Heard had defamed Depp in a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post, describing herself as "a public figure representing domestic abuse." The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million...

The Indian Connection With Pak Decision To Live-Stream Court Proceedings

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) in Pakistan has decided to live-stream its proceedings for the first time in the country's history. Notably, this significant development has a slight connection with Mumbai, an Indian city located 1,643 kilometres away. Barrister Ummar Ziauddin, who had petitioned the IHC for live streaming, has never visited Mumbai, but he has been exchanging...

The Online War Between Ukraine And Russia

Cyber weapons are a low cost but an effective tool for modern day operations. Since the growth of information and communication technologies in the late 1990s-early 2000s, they have been used in several situations. In 2007, Russia used low tech cyber weapons against Estonia for wanting to shift a soldier memorial outskirts of Estonia Since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, there have been reports of Russians using cyber-weapons against Ukraine. It has been reported that Russian state...

Understanding 'Use Of Force', In Context Of Ukraine-Russia

In its public hearing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently indicated that Russia must immediately halt the military operations against Ukraine while expressing profound concern, about Moscow's use of force in violation of international law. The judges voted 13-2 in favour of this. Previously, when the ICJ had updated its website, to include the submission it received from the Russian Federation. Inter alia one of Russia's major arguments is that the Court lacks jurisdiction...

'War Crime' : Danish Siddiqui's Parents Approach International Criminal Court Against Taliban

The parents of Danish Siddiqui, the Pulitzer award-winning photojournalist of Reuters, have approached the International Criminal Court against Taliban for the killing of their son in Afghanistan in July 2021.Professor Akhtar Siddiqui and Mrs.Shahida Akhtar, the parents of Siddiqui, have filed a complaint with the ICC prosecutor to investigate his killing and bring those responsible,...

Invoking International Law Language In Indian Diplomacy

"Lawfare" has been emerging as an argument among international law scholars in India; whether it is to enhance the study and usage of international law or to call out China's blatant violations of international law at the Indian borders. Lawfare means "the strategy of using – or misusing – law as a substitute for traditional military means to achieve an operational objective." It is a compound of the words law and warfare, which posited that it substitutes war, and harm is made with...

How ICJ's Order In Ukraine's Plea Creates Binding Obligations On Russia?

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague, Netherlands, on Wednesday by 13 votes to 2 issued its order on provisional measures in the case instituted by Ukraine against Russia under the Genocide Convention. It was further averred that its order on provisional measures creates binding international legal obligations under Article 41 of the Statute of the International Court of...

Russia Must Suspend Military Operations In Ukraine, Directs International Court of Justice

In a significant order, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague, Netherlands, on Wednesday directed that Russia must immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine."The Russian Federation, pending the final decision in the case, must immediately suspend the military operations it commenced in the territory of Ukraine on February 24, 2022",the Court ordered. The Court...

Who Are The Mercenaries In A War?

Every information that comes out of Russian invasion of Ukraine is breaking news. After 16,000 foreign fighters/ mercenaries volunteered to defend Ukraine on President Zelensky's call, Russia responded by stating that, if caught the mercenaries will not be treated as prisoners of war but as war criminals, under international law. The U.S. Department of Defense has reported that Russia is apparently recruiting Syrian mercenaries to fight in Ukraine. After all this information, one begs...

Will The Ukraine Civilian Combatants Be Protected Under International Law?

The international law of armed conflict has always distinguished between civilians and the military. Two days after Putin announced his "special military operations", media reports show that several Ukrainian citizens are taking uparms to defend their home. Once the situation escalated and Russians forces were closing in on Kyiv, the Ukrainian Government called out tocivilians to defend Ukraine. It has been reported that 18000 rifles had been distributed to the civilian volunteers by 25...