Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

As the technological revolution takes over the world, the justice system is also susceptible to change. The Online Court of England and Wales (‘OC’) is an example of such a step taken in that direction. However, some argue that this has vast implications on access to justice for the ‘digitally excluded’ or the Litigant-in-Persons (LIP). While this argument is warranted, it fails to address the two essential implications of Online Courts: First, the potential of online courts to enhance access to justice by legally empowering LIPs along with enhancing access to court for them (Private Aspect of open justice). Further, such access to court is enhanced for the general public and the media (Public Aspect of open justice) alike. Secondly, the threat of uncontrolled access to online proceedings facilitated by modern avenues like ‘live-streaming’ and ‘live-tweeting’, turning justice into a disruptive one. This article argues that OC is better placed at improving access to justice issues than physical courts, by enhancing both the private and public aspects of open justice. However, enhancing the public aspect also poses major threats to the Right to Privacy of individuals. Further, this article argues that a more nuanced approach towards a future technology-focused justice system needs to balance the public aspect of the open justice principle with the Right to privacy. Hence, this article suggests that regulative and accountability measures like ‘penalty point systems’ should be placed right from the outset to prevent any leakage of sensitive data prompted by uncontrolled access to online courts.

This article examines the articulation and role of measurements and indicators in the National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights (NAPs). First, from a theoretical perspective, based on the analysis of a wide range of literature and reference documents. Second, we analyse how this has been implemented in practice in Spain and Finland. The results demonstrate an enhancement of the human rights indicators for business and provide keys to making indicators a tool for improving the effectiveness of the NAPs.

Human rights are the principles that seek to protect all human beings around the world from serious political, legal, and social abuses. As a result of the atrocities committed in First and Second World Wars, the United Nations ensures the protection of human rights through several international conventions and instruments, such as the UN Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Iraq is a signatory to most of the international conventions concerning the protection of human rights. This paper aims to examine the protection of human rights in Kirkuk under the Iraqi Federal Government. The paper’s approach is focused entirely on desk research, with secondary sources being the main sources of information. The study concludes that the Iraqi Federal Government has failed to protect human rights in Kirkuk due to the fragmented security ability of the Federal Government and the dominance of militant groups in the region.

Poverty is the outcome of the unequal distribution of resources reinforced by a legal, political, economic, and cultural model and is the central expression of social injustice. The impact of economic inequality on humanity’s quality of life can be better explained from the perspective of basic needs and their ties with rights, the unequal opportunities and their connection with the degree of autonomy that situated individuals effectively enjoy, and the effectiveness of public policy and the responsibilities and duties of the governments. This article discusses the close (and not visible) ties between justice, law, and poverty, emphasizing that the current legal framework -even the human rights system- legitimizes an unequal status quo that prevents real access to and enjoyment of rights and freedoms for people living in poverty conditions. Moreover, it also endangers democratic stability.

This article is devoted to the study of the legal status of internally displaced persons in Ukraine in the context of the full-scale war launched by the russian federation on 24 February 2022. During the study, an analysis of the doctrinal definition of “internally displaced persons” and the rights guaranteed by it in accordance with the current legislation, developed by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, has been carried out. The article highlights the guiding principles of the international law that should be applied by the states when solving the problem of internal displacement, as well as specific examples of the measures taken by various European countries to solve this problem. Rights of internally displaced persons on right to employment and to receive special housing allowance were analysed as main guaranties. Right to free legal aid was considered as the key point guarantee for ensuring access to justice and protection of rights. Experience of states with similar experience of war (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia) were studied. The conclusions focus on the problems of effective implementation of the right of internally displaced persons to free legal aid and summarize the need to improve the effective mechanism of protection of rights of internally displaced persons, which may also be of interest for the European states that sheltered more than 8 million Ukrainians during the war.

National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) play an important role in monitoring and promoting international human rights norms in a country. However, in order to function as an effective NHRI, they must adhere to the “Paris Principles” of 1993. In 2023 the Indian NHRI prepares to renew its ’A’ grade accreditation. This offers an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the institution in light of the aforementioned Principles. In doing so the authors address both the limitations that hinder the NHRI’s performance and the remedies. Notably, the role of “District Human Rights Courts”, in supporting the NHRI in enhancing its effectiveness.

The paper focuses on the way human rights law has been incorporating notions of intersectionality through legal instruments as well as through human rights courts’ decisions. The overall goal is to expose the shortcomings of the current conception of intersectionality as it has been applied by the Inter-American Court, which, I argue, derive from a categorical understanding of group and identity-based rights transplanted from the notion of structural discrimination. The paper argues that approaching human rights violations by means of categorical reasoning is detrimental to intersectional interests, since it perpetuates the problem that intersectionality seeks to overcome in the first place, and suggests that cutting across categories is a potentially more fruitful pathway for the future of intersectionality in the legal field.

This article adopts desk-based methodology in interrogating the issue of HIV related employment termination in Nigeria, focusing on the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) decision in Akinola v. Ocean Marine Solutions Ltd. It examined international and domestic legal frameworks on the subject, the human rights affected by such termination, the impact of the decision taken on the protection of the human cum employment rights of employees living with HIV/AIDS and the response of the NICN to the quagmire. It observed that the quantum of damages awarded by the NICN cannot achieve deterrence. It recommends how to eradicate HIV related employment termination in Nigeria.

Religious freedom encompasses the right of religious groups to define the tenets of their faith andto organise themselves according to these tenets, without arbitrary State interference. However, the limitsof religious groups’ autonomy are controversial, especially in those cases where the exercise of religiousautonomy seems to be at odds with non-discrimination standards. The Inter-American Court of HumanRights has adopted many decisions on sexual orientation discrimination, but its case law on religiousfreedom is much scarcer. The two issues converged in the recent decision Pavez Pavez v Chile, in which theCourt set the limits of the autonomy of religious groups when confronted with non-discrimination standards.

Disability and elderly people are considered special groups due to their high degree of vulnerability, and their welfare must be supported by public measures that reinforce the guarantees of their rights and freedoms. Although new technologies open up a world of possibilities in all areas of life, their use can hinder, in some cases, the development of the rights of these groups because their practice is a complex novelty, especially in the area of communication between citizens and the Public Administration. Therefore, this study focuses on the analysis of the impact of ICTs on the right to freedom of access of persons with disabilities and the elderly.