· June, 2013

Stories about Law from June, 2013

The Bahamas: Intellectual Property & Reparations

  26 June 2013

The amount of traditional knowledge that is stolen from our region on a daily basis is staggering. Blogworld suggests that there is a link between that knowledge and required compensation for “the slaves and their ancestors [who] have never been paid for the generations of their labour.”

US Got Snowden's Name Wrong on Extradition Papers, Hong Kong Says

  26 June 2013

Hong Kong's secretary of justice explained othat officials permitted American whistleblower Edward Snowden to fly out of the city because the US failed to respond to their questions in time regarding their case against Snowden as well as address Snowden's allegations that the US hacked Hong Kong.

Jamaica: Working for Women?

  26 June 2013

Jamaica Woman Tongue takes a closer look at an antiquated law that restricts women working at night. “It looks like progress,” she says, “but there’s definitely a downside to freeing up women for night work. It’s not all about emancipation.

Trinidad & Tobago: Tourists Charged

  24 June 2013

This is a country where tourism is a big portion of the nation’s income, yet tourists are clearly not valued, even just enough to answer a simple question. tzen project blogs about her family's travel nightmare in Trinidad and Tobago.

New Law in Slovakia Would Require Citizens to Report Long Stays Abroad

  21 June 2013

Slovakia's president has vetoed a controversial new law that would require citizens who plan on leaving the country for more than 90 days to inform the nearest Ministry of Interior office of their intended whereabouts during that time. The legislation has prompted highly visible anger from Slovaks on blogs and social media.

The Kremlin's Kitchen Serves Up Russia's Free Press

Novaya Gazeta has implicated Vladimir Putin’s favorite restaurant owner in a bizarre scheme to defame several of the country’s most prominent news publications, involving a conspiracy to plant false information in different newspapers, in order to convince Russians that the news is for hire.

China Announces Campaign to Weed Out Party Corruption

  21 June 2013

The Chinese Communist Party is launching a year-long campaign to clean up the party to do away with corrupt elements in its organization. But many Chinese netizens have expressed skepticism toward the campaign, arguing that democracy with the open participation of the people, and not a closed internal process, is the best way to get rid of corruption.

Thousands Are Joining Bosnia's ‘Babylution’

  20 June 2013

The death of a baby girl has people in Bosnia-Herzegovina crossing the country's deep ethnic divides by the thousands to protest together against the government's failure to remedy a lapse in the law that is preventing newborns from being given an identity number and, by extension, travel papers and healthcare.

Brazil: “Gay Cure” Approved by Chamber of Deputies

  19 June 2013

The proposed law allowing psychologists to undertake treatment to reverse homosexuality was approved yesterday, June 18, by the Human Rights Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. The commission president, anti-gay preacher Mr Marco Feliciano, took the opportunity of promoting this issue while everyone was protesting against the issue of reducing...

Bermuda: A Milestone for Human Rights

  19 June 2013

‘It’s kind of absurd to me that we’re even having this discussion. The God I serve says we are to love one another.’ Breezeblog comments on Bermuda's “pass[ing] [of] the amendment to the Human Rights Act making it illegal to discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation.”

Caribbean: Is Somebody Watching?

  18 June 2013

The ongoing saga with U.S. Internet surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden has captured the attention of the world. In two blog posts, one from Trinidad and Tobago and the other from Cuba, there is an interesting juxtaposition between high-tech spying and old-fashioned intelligence, even though they both pit the citizens against the state.

Orphaned in US, SOPA Finds Home in Russia

America’s controversial Stop Online Piracy Act is back—and it’s poised to become law in a matter of weeks. SOPA, however, isn’t coming to the US, where a wide coalition defeated the legislation in January 2012. A law that creates similarly harsh penalties for online copyright violations is on the cusp of finding a home in Russia.

Parliament Restricts Kyrgyz Women's Rights

After lengthy debates, the parliament in Kyrgyzstan has adopted legislation banning young women from travelling abroad without parental consent. On Registan.net, Alisher Abdug'oforov suggests that the new legislation not only violates the country's constitution, but is also unlikely to solve any problems it is designed to address.  

Dog Thefts in Vietnam

  13 June 2013

Mike Tatarski clarifies that most Vietnamese do not eat dog. However, there is demand for dog meat which gives rise to dog thefts: The main reason this trade continues is money. Dog meat is expensive, costing $5-$10 per kilogram. This provides incentive for something that has been big news recently:...

No Witnesses? No Rape, Says Pakistan's Islamic Council

  12 June 2013

A ruling by Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) dismissing DNA as primary evidence in rape cases has received much flak from activists in the country. The ruling has its fair share of supporters though, with some happy that there is a legitimate institution pondering religious issues in Pakistan.