Brazil’s High Court first to declare Paris Agreement a human rights treaty
As a result of the ruling, if Brazil’s Congress passes a law that conflicts with the Paris Agreement, the Paris Agreement should take precedence.
Courts
This archive collects milestones involving courts — judicial bodies at local, national, and international levels — as actors in meaningful change. Stories here cover rulings, legal precedents, and decisions that advanced rights, accountability, or justice around the world.
Caribbean court strikes down gay ban in Antigua & Barbuda
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court found that Antigua and Barbuda’s 1995 Sexual Offenses Act “offends the right to liberty, protection of the law, freedom of expression, protection of personal privacy and protection from discrimination on the basis of sex.”
African court rules in favor of Indigenous land titles, reparations from the Kenyan government
The African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights has ruled that the Kenyan government must pay reparations for repeatedly evicting Indigenous Ogiek people from ancestral lands in the Mau Forest.
Lincoln Crowley appointed Australia’s first Indigenous supreme court justice
Lincoln Crowley QC has become the first Indigenous person ever appointed to an Australian superior court, taking his seat on the Supreme Court of Queensland. A Warramunga man who grew up in Charters Towers, Crowley was once told by a school deputy principal that his Aboriginal family were “the type that end up in jail.” His reply, as he later recalled: “You wait and see, mate.” He began his career representing Indigenous clients before rising to crown prosecutor and senior counsel on Australia’s disability royal commission. For every First Nations child watching, the message of his appointment is quietly powerful: the justice system can include them, not just process them — a small but meaningful shift in a country still reckoning with who its laws have served.
India’s Madras High Court rules that nature has legal status on par with humans
The highest court in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has ruled that “Mother Nature” has the same legal status as a human being.
Mexico’s top court cancels mining concessions near Indigenous communities
A ruling by Mexico’s Supreme Court this month canceled two controversial mining concessions in Indigenous communities, which have been fighting to stop the projects for nearly two decades.
Judge restores protections for gray wolves across much of U.S.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, California, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to show wolf populations could be sustained in the Midwest and portions of the West without protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Ecuador’s top court rules for stronger land rights for Indigenous communities
The ruling will immediately affect oil and mining projects across the country, as they must now seek the consent of Indigenous communities who might be affected by their activities.
Pakistan confirms appointment of first female Supreme Court judge
A commission that decides on the promotion of judges on Thursday voted to make 55-year-old Justice Ayesha Malik the first female judge on the Supreme Court in the 75 years since the South Asian country’s independence.
Landmark ruling blocks mining in Ecuadorian forest, citing rights of nature
Ecuador’s constitutional court has blocked plans to mine copper and gold in Los Cedros, a protected cloud forest, ruling that the plans violate the rights of nature.