Context: On 6 September 2018, India's Supreme Court delivered a landmark ruling in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India , unanimously striking down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a colonial-era law that had criminalised consensual same-sex relations since 1860. The ruling decriminalised homosexuality for approximately 1.4 billion people , making it one of the most consequential human rights decisions in modern legal history. Section 377 was introduced by the British colonial administration in 1860 and imposed across the British Empire; its legacy persists in over 70 countries that r
Context: The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) , which entered into force in November 2022 and became fully applicable in February 2024, represents the most comprehensive attempt by any jurisdiction to regulate online platforms and protect digital rights. It imposes binding obligations on tech companies including content moderation transparency, algorithmic accountability, and protection of fundamental rights online. The DSA was driven by growing evidence that platforms including Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and X (Twitter) had become vectors for disinformation, hate speech, and threats to democra
Context: In December 2021, the United States enacted the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) , establishing a rebuttable presumption that all goods produced wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China are made with forced labour and therefore prohibited from entering the US. The law represents the most significant legislative response to evidence that China has subjected over one million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims to mass detention, forced labour, and cultural destruction . The UFLPA has disrupted global supply chains, particularly in cotton, polysilico
Context: In April 2022, the UK government announced a policy to deport asylum seekers arriving by irregular routes to Rwanda for processing and permanent resettlement , regardless of their country of origin. The policy represented one of the most radical attempts by a Western democracy to deter irregular migration through offshore processing and third-country deportation , and provoked intense legal, ethical, and political controversy. The policy was struck down by the UK Supreme Court in November 2023 on grounds that Rwanda was not a safe third country, after which the government passed t