Homosexuality is not a criminal offence in Russia — since 1993. In 1999 it ceased to be regarded as a mental illness. Indeed, Russian history has many famous homosexuals — the poet Alexei Apukhtin; Sergei Diaghilev, the founder of the Ballets Russes; and of course the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The younger brother of…
Human rights claims are always scandalous, and were a scandal and an affront to the law from the very start. Ivor Crewe, the former Essex Vice-Chancellor, and a political scientist, used to compare contemporary human rights activists to 19th century Christian missionaries, spreading the gospel to less enlightened peoples. There is more than a grain…
SHARES: A Research Project of the University of Amsterdam on Shared Responsibility in International LawMarx and Engels had practically nothing to say about law, much less international law. They had strong principled positions on self-determination, for example, for Ireland and Poland as oppressed nations; were in favour of the North in the American Civil War; and…
While increasing regulation and manipulation are restricting Russia’s online space, activists are still finding innovative ways to use it to uncover corruption, such as a site uncovering plagiarism among Russian politicians.The spectre of academic plagiarism by high-ranking officials is affecting much of Europe. Germany especially has been in the news: on 9 February 2013, the…
There is real potential for unexpected events and even bloodshed at the Sochi Winter Olympics.Introduction On 7 February 2014, the Sochi Winter Olympics will commence. It is estimated that these games will cost at least US$51 billion — the most expensive in history — costing Russia more than the $40 billion that China spent on…
Each generation of “human rights” has its origins in revolutionary struggle, and that is why they remain, unlike black-letter law, so powerful and so scandalous.David Renton’s thoughtful and trenchant article in SL64 [Ed: republished 18 Nov 2013 on CLT] has done us all a great service, opening up questions of crucial importance to the Haldane Society. That…
The European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights statement on Syria, London/ Düsseldorf, 30 August 2013 The European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH), with members in 18 European countries, is absolutely opposed to the proposed use of illegal force by Western powers against the Syrian regime. The US government is leading a call…
On why we should oppose those who wish to take the UK out of this bourgeois system.One would think that it’s the Battle of Britain all over again. On 21 November 2012 the Daily Mail carried the headline “Defiant Chris Grayling says Britain can ignore Strasbourg fines if we ban prisoners from having the vote”.…
This article started life as a response to the call for papers for the international Workshop ‘Towards a Radical International Law’, held at the London School of Economics in April 2011. The call for papers started with a bold declaration: International law is a prominent site for the investiture of hope in the face of…