Oxford Human Rights Hub
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Last month, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Mullin v. Doe, permitting the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and stripping more than 300,000 Haitians of legal status. Migration experts met the decision with dismay, noting that the Court sanitized racialized language and gave the administration sweeping, unreviewable power to […]
The book-banning legislation crusade in the United States has officially spilled over into Canada with the passing of Bill 28 by Alberta’s United Conservative Party government under Premier Danielle Smith on the 15th of May 2026. Bill 28 empowers the Municipal Affairs Minister to appoint an individual to inspect libraries, including what property they make […]
India’s fall from 151st to 157th place in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index has reignited debate about the state of media freedom in the world’s largest democracy. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) classified India’s press freedom situation as “very serious” and identified a deterioration in the legal environment affecting journalism. Yet focusing solely on rankings […]
Two recent Supreme Court decisions expose a fundamental instability in the constitutional framework governing parental medical decision-making for minors. In United States v. Skrmetti (2025), the Court upheld a categorical prohibition on gender-affirming treatments sought by fit parents and licensed physicians without requiring any individualized showing of harm to the affected minors. In Chiles…
Twenty years after the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), torture prevention faces a striking paradox. Unlike traditional human rights mechanisms, OPCAT does not wait for violations to be alleged or proven. Its preventive logic is based on the idea that regular scrutiny, dialogue and transparency reduce the […]
In May 2024, the African Disability Protocol entered into force: the first continental treaty on the rights of Africans with disabilities. For a state such as Uganda, which has ratified it alongside the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Protocol’s importance lies elsewhere. The Protocol restates, in an African instrument with […]
The first-ever Bangladesh law against enforced disappearance, the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance 2025 lapsed in April 2026, following the election of the country’s new parliament. It passed after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. It defined enforced disappearance as an ongoing crime, provided compensation to victims, and empowered the National Human […]
In February 2026, Niger’s military junta implemented a new Penal Code criminalising indecent, unnatural, and LGBTQIA+ acts with imprisonment ranging from 5 to ten years, alongside monetary penalties (Article 390). The same punishment applies to those who “artificially change their sex at birth” (Article 390). One of several unacceptable features of this law is the […]
Indian criminal law, under s 69 of India’s new Penal Code (BNS), classifies ‘promise-to-marry’ sexual intercourse as a special offence. The offence is committed where a man promises marriage to a woman with the intention of securing her consent to sexual intercourse and not intending to conclude the marriage. Recent comments by the Indian Supreme […]
As new “social players”, AI companions interact with people in ways that closely resemble human relationships, fostering strong emotional attachments. For the first time in human history, millions of people are forming emotionally meaningful relationships that are entirely controlled by corporations, which can freely alter, pause, or delete them. Such one-sided power may violate human […]
