Courts

Ocean water

Island states win historic climate case in world oceans court

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Nine small island states have won a historic climate change case at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which ruled that all signatories to a United Nations treaty on marine activities must do more to protect the world’s oceans from climate change. The tribunal found that signatories to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea’s responsibilities to prevent marine pollution extend to greenhouse gas emissions, which harm oceans by altering the earth’s atmosphere.

Good news for LGBTQ rights

South Korea’s top court upholds the rights of people in same-sex relationships in historic ruling

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The landmark ruling states that benefits from South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service can be claimed by people in same-sex partnerships and that treating same-sex couples differently than heterosexual ones is “an act of discrimination that… violates human dignity and the right to pursue happiness.” South Korea does not recognize same-sex marriage under the law, so the ruling is major progress in extending the protections and rights to same-sex couples.

Ecuador river is granted the right to not be polluted in historic court case

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An Ecuadorian court has ruled that pollution has violated the rights of the Machángara River, which runs through the capital of Quito. In some parts of Latin America and North America, inhabitants have constitutional rights to a clean environment, but Ecuador is one of the few countries that recognize the right of natural features not to be degraded or polluted.

Chiquita banana

Colombian victims win historic lawsuit in U.S. court over banana giant Chiquita

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Following 17 years of legal proceedings, victims of paramilitary violence in Colombia have obtained justice, as a jury found the banana company Chiquita Brands International liable for financing the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary group. The ruling is historic because it’s the first time an American jury has held a major U.S. corporation liable for complicity in serious human rights abuses in another country. Victims’ families will receive $38.3 million in compensation.

Silhouette of cannabis leaf

Brazil’s Supreme Court decriminalizes possession of marijuana for personal use

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The Supreme Court’s ruling has long been sought by activists and legal scholars in a country where the prison population has become the third largest in the world. Critics of current legislation say users caught with even small amounts of drugs are regularly convicted on trafficking charges and locked up in overcrowded jails, where they are forced to join prison gangs.

Good news for LGBTQ rights

Namibia’s High Court decriminalizes homosexuality

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The court’s ruling occurred in a case involving Friedel Dausab, a gay Namibian man, who argued that anti-gay sections of the country’s Immigration Control and Defense Acts constituted unfair discrimination and infringed on citizens’ fundamental rights. The court’s judges found that the laws unfairly discriminate between straight men, women, and gay men and were “based on prejudice and unfounded societal biases.”

Rainforest scene

Landmark ruling in Suriname grants protections to local and Indigenous communities

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A court in Suriname approved an injunction filed on behalf of twelve Indigenous and maroon groups concerned about losing approximately 1,322,013 acres of rainforest to agricultural development. The court said the government doesn’t have the right to grant land without free, prior and informed consent, a process in which developers meet with residents to explain how projects would impact daily life.

Dominica flag

Dominica’s High Court ends the country’s ban on being gay in historic ruling

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The High Court of Dominica, an island nation in the Caribbean, has overturned a colonial-era law banning same-sex relations between consenting adults after a gay man filed a lawsuit claiming the ban was unconstitutional. The ruling stated that the constitution guarantees that a person shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of his right to assemble and freely associate with other persons and that this “must necessarily include the freedom to enter into and maintain intimate relationships without undue intrusion by the State.”

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