Harm Reduction International: On 13 October 2023, the Human Rights Council (HRC) concluded its 54th session (11/09/2023 to 13/10/2023). This briefing highlight key debates, decisions and documents in which drug...

PRI: The International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) Annual Conference 2023 took place in Antwerp, Belgium, from 22-27 October 2023, hosted by the Belgian Prison Service. The theme of the conference...

From 18-20 October 2023, 257 delegates representing 7 countries from across Africa convened for a regional conference: ‘Unlocking Barriers: Rights of Women in the Criminal Justice System in Africa’. The...

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty sent a communication to Italy on a draft law that could lead to the criminalization of individuals living...

PRI: In many countries around the world, criminal justice fines disproportionately affect the poorest and most marginalised in society, effectively creating tiered justice systems. In this blog, Jean Galbraith and Rheem Brooks...

ICJ-Kenya: KAMPALA, Uganda – The International Commission of Jurists, Kenyan Section has been at the forefront of National, Regional and Global campaigns calling for the decriminalization and reclassification of petty...

ICJ-Kenya: The Kenyan Chapter of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-K) is championing for Judicial Independence and Accountability in the country, that will facilitate Judicial institutions to properly execute their...

AdvocAid: As Sierra Leone together with the rest of the world celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child under the global theme – Our time is now—our rights, our future,...

Invisible People: U.S. Representative Cori Bush, D-MO, has reintroduced her landmark Unhoused Bill of Rights legislation as states across the country consider passing similar legislation. Bush’s bill would require the federal...

Invisible People: Approximately 20 homeless people die each day, but probably not for the reasons you’d expect. Many of these deaths are gruesome, violent, and, perhaps even more tragically, encouraged. A...

PRI: In July 2023, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights presented its first-ever report detailing the scale and situation of women deprived of liberty in the Americas. In this blog...

SALC: On 16 May 2023, The Supreme Court of Namibia ruled that Namibia’s immigration laws must recognise same-sex marriages validly concluded outside Namibia, setting aside the High Court decision of...

According to a new report from the National Homelessness Law Center and the University of Miami Law School Human Rights Clinic, the U.S. is failing to meet several internationally accepted standards for...

SALC: According to the WHO, for every suicide in Africa, there are approximately 20 attempts. While some countries have slowly moved towards repealing the criminal offence of attempted suicide, recognising...

https://youtu.be/467plXwu2bw?si=BZwGhbUhJkIhN2xp Al Jazeera: Africa's last absolute monarchy is facing criticism over its human rights record. Earlier this year, a prominent lawyer was killed in Eswatini - some say by the...

The ICJ is concerned that the newly proposed Online Safety legislation, if adopted in its present form, would serve to crush free expression and further contract an already shrinking civic...

SERI: Protest has always been an important driver of social change in South Africa, before and since democracy. It has played a crucial role in securing and realising rights, and...

IDPC: In a historical report released today, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights denounced the failure of punitive drug policies and the global ‘war on drugs’, and called for a new...

Amnesty International: Reacting to the news that Iran’s parliament has passed a new bill that would impose further draconian penalties severely violating women’s and girls’ rights as well as increasing  prison...

In May 2023, Africa Criminal Justice Reform made a written and oral submission to parliament regarding the The Judicial Matters Amendment Bill [B7-2023] in South Africa. The Bill provides the...

In September 2023, the Dullah Omar Institute made a submission in response to the call from the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and the Special Rapporteur...

Amnesty International: The Algerian authorities are leading a relentless crackdown on citizens for expressing any form of dissent. Be it participants in protest marches, journalists working for independent media, or...

Invisible People: How Sweeps Rarely Lead to Permanent Housing Situations for Homeless Encampment Residents. Homeless encampment “cleanups” have dirt on their name for good reason. Alternatively referred to as “sweeps” or...

Along with partners (RE)Claim/MCDS (France), Hungarian Helsinki Committee (Hungary), Justice Collective urges the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and...

Amnesty International: Authorities across the world are increasingly resorting to unlawful use of force and repressive legislation to crush protests, Amnesty International said today, as it launched an interactive digital...

Amnesty International: The disproportionate use of criminal law is one of the main threats facing the right to protest peacefully in defense of land, territory and environment in Mexico, Amnesty...

72 organisations, including FIACAT, are calling for the conviction to be quashed and for the release of two Bangladeshi human rights defenders who are about to be imprisoned. Leaders of...

On 31 August 2023, ACJR hosted a webinar on Sub-national governance, law enforcement and oversight in Five African countries. The webinar highlighted key issues relating to sub-national law enforcement in Ghana, Kenya,...

Civil society group, Prisons Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), has urged federal and state legislatures to hasten the amendment of criminal laws and decriminalisation and declassification of minor and petty...

People convicted of petty offences like defamation and drunken misconduct in public may soon get away with community service as a form of punishment, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah...

The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled in favor of eliminating the state's cash bail system, ending bail as a condition of pretrial release. In a 5-2 ruling Tuesday, the state's highest court...

PRAWA: The first review workshop for a Model State Law on Correctional Service was held on the 7th of August at Rockview Hotel by PRAWA and other stakeholders. The proposed...

SALC: Country’s Council of Churches applauded 2019 decriminalization ruling. Botswana is considered a secular state and all people have equal access to religious organizations and institutions. There are three Christian...

Amnesty International: The Lebanese authorities must immediately halt all prosecutions of journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and others who are critical of state officials, Amnesty International today, as the organization launches #MyOpinionIsNotaCrime,...

Invisible People: Politicians are using the word ‘Unsanctioned’ in homeless legislation, suggesting Sanctioned Encampments Will Become the Norm. For time immemorial, when politicians talk about homelessness, they complain about homeless encampments. Their...

We, a consortium of Institutions and Civil Society Organizations dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights, urgently call upon the Government to immediately cease the relocation of refugees and asylum...

Reposted from the Guardian: In at least 17 countries, suicide remains a criminal offence – a ‘huge barrier’ to mental health care. As Ghana becomes one of four countries to...

Invisible People: The 9th Circuit’s ruling that cities can’t force unhoused people off the streets if they don’t have adequate shelter options survived a legal challenge by petitioners from Grants...

Amnesty International: On 29 October 2020, pro-democracy protesters gathered around Bangkok’s Silom Road to call for political reforms. As part of the demonstration, protestors held the ‘People’s Runway’, a mock...

Penal Reform International: A resolution tabled by Canada was adopted at the Human Rights Council last week on ‘Accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls:...

Amnesty International: Responding to the news that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has signed into law the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Amendment Bill, 2022, commonly referred to as the “Patriotic Bill”,...

An Open Letter to the organisers of Women Deliver and the Generation Equality Forum calling for all High-Level Forums on women’s rights to be inclusive of all women, particularly criminalised, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Women. The letter,...

Amnesty International: Following the banning of a number of demonstrations protesting police violence after the unlawful killing of 17-year-old Nahel M by a police officer, Amnesty International is calling for...

Invisible People: A new report shows why cities often respond to homelessness with criminalization and punitive punishments. Developed by Community Solutions, a nonprofit housing advocacy group, and researchers from Cornell...

Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) notes that the Uganda Law Revision (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2023, has repealed some of the rogue and vagabond, sedition, and false news offences in its...

SALC: Botswana’s Parliament intends to table a number of bills in the current session, one of which seeks to repeal section 164 of the Penal Code. On 29 November 2021,...

The Eswatini Supreme Court has controversially reinstated the state’s appeal against a liberal landmark high court judgment passed in 2016. After a lapse of six years, Eswatini’s Supreme Court has...

Two months before presidential and parliamentary elections on 23 August, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges Zimbabwe to abandon a proposed “sovereignty and national interest” law that poses a major threat to journalism....

On 28 June 2023, ACJR in collaboration with Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) hosted a webinar on The Right to Public Spaces and Informal Work: Key considerations for Law...

Prison Insider: Incarceration is the response that States often impose on unwanted behaviours. In many countries, criminal law and prison are used to target those who have been excluded, who...