The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website] on Wednesday dismissed [press release] charges against Im Chaem, a Buddhist nun suspected of playing a role in the Khmer Rouge regime. The judges in the case said they lacked jurisdiction to decide Im Chaem's case as she was …

The French National Assembly [official website] approved a law [text, in French] on Tuesday that would make French parent corporations liable for human rights violations committed by their subsidiary companies located anywhere in the world. Parent corporations subject to the law will be held to a higher standard of oversight …

UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan Aristide Nononsi [official profile] on Wednesday called for [press release] the Sudanese government to protect civilian rights in Darfur [OSU backgrounder]. Since 2003 the region has faced civil unrest from conflict between the government and rebel groups. …

Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] on Tuesday released its Annual Report 2016/17 [report], a summary of an international human rights survey that discusses the role "rhetoric of fear, blame and hate" have played in rolling back human rights around the world. AI analyzed major political leaders that identify as anti-establishment, …

The Supreme Court of Thailand on Thursday upheld the sentence of a former magazine editor who published stories criticizing the royal family. The court did curtail the sentence [AP report], so that Somyot Pruksakasemsuk would be released in 2018. The editor was convicted under Thailand's controversial lèse majesté [BBC report] …

The Turkish Ministry of Defense [official website, in Turkish] announced Wednesday that female soldiers will be allowed to wear headscarves along with their uniforms. The regulation, a break in the nation's attempt to protect its secularism [NYT report], is the latest institutional policy allowing head coverings in government settings. Coverings …

The Brazil federal senate [official website] on Wednesday confirmed [press release, in Portuguese] President Michel Temer's [official profile] nominee for the vacant Supreme Court [official website] seat, Alexandre de Moraes. Moraes, a 49-year-old lawyer, professor and current justice minister, was approved by a vote of 55-13 in the senate. The …

The German state of Bavaria [official website] on Tuesday approved a ban [video, in German] on full-face veils in certain public spaces, including universities, schools, government workplaces and while driving. Asserting that facial expressions are important to communication, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann stated in support of the bill …

A Hong Kong Court [official website] on Wednesday sentenced Donald Tsang, the former Chief Executive from 2005 to 2012, to 20 months in prison [state media report] for his failure to disclose personal conflicts of interest when his cabinet was considering a broadcasting license application by a Chinese property developer. …

The UK Supreme Court [official website] on Wednesday upheld [judgment, PDF] immigration rules that require British citizens have a certain level of income to bring their foreign spouses into Britain. The Minimum Income Requirement [text] rule mandates that a British citizen must have a minimum annual income of at least …

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation [official website] annulled the 2.5 year prison sentence [RAPSI report] of Ildar Dadin, who was the first person to be convicted under a relatively new anti-protest law. Dadin was imprisoned in 2015 under a law that allows the Russian government to press criminal …

The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] in Life Technologies Corporation v. Promega Corporation [SCOTUSblog materials] on Wednesday that the supply of a single component in a multi-component patented invention for manufacture overseas does not violate Section 271(f)(1) of the Patent Act [text, PDF]. Section 271 [LII materials] …

South Africa's High Court [official website] on Wednesday blocked [judgment] the government's attempt to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. High Court Judge Phineas Mojapelo found that the "decision by the national executive to deliver the notice of withdrawal of South Africa from the Rome Statute of …

The US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral arguments Tuesday on the cross-border shooting of a Mexican citizen by a US Border Patrol Agent. In Hernandez v. Mesa [transcript, PDF], the court is considering the extraterritorial application of the Fourth Amendment [text]. The court is also considering the application of …

The Sri Lankan police [official site] on Monday arrested five military officials in connection with the 2009 death of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge. The Free Media Movement of Sri Lanka said [press release, in Sinhala] that the those arrested for were responsible for Wickrematunge's death and the abduction of journalist Keith …

Human rights groups on Tuesday urged the Thai Army to drop defamation charges against three activists, including the Chair of Amnesty International Thailand, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, and Anchana Heemmina, founder of Duay Jai Group [advocacy website], and Somchai Homlaor, a human rights lawyer. The activists are being held and face …

The People's Democratic Party (HDP) [party website] of Turkey filed an application [statement] Monday asking the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] to address the continuous and allegedly unlawful imprisonment of the party's co-chairs. Thirteen HDP politicians have been arrested [Al Jazeera report] since November, and 10 …

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales on Tuesday rejected [text, PDF] a heterosexual couple's legal challenge to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 [text], ruling 2-1 that only same-sex couples may enter into civil partnerships. The court's decision gave the government more time to review the law, which currently …

A Portuguese court ordered the extradition of former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] operative Sabrina de Sousa to Italy Tuesday for a four-year prison sentence. De Sousa had been convicted in absentia along with 26 other Americans for the kidnapping of Soama Moustafa Hassan Nasr from Milan …

A Tel Aviv military court on Tuesday issued an 18-month prison sentence to an Israeli soldier who stirred Middle Eastern tensions after executing a Palestinian last year. Contrary to military guidelines, Sgt. Elor Azaria, an army medic, shot [AP report] the unarmed and wounded Palestinian after the man had …