Search Through our Issue 2025
A Call for a New International Crime: Gender Apartheid
The concept of gender apartheid was first created by Afghan human rights activists and feminists as a result of the systemic oppression that Afghanistan’s women and girls have faced under the Taliban’s rule in the 1990s. What instigated its permeation in the international law community was Afghanistan’s passing of its most recent inhumane law in August 2024, which stated that women could not speak or reveal their faces outside their homes, or read or sing aloud when in the home. According to Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, the global community “has failed to adequately recognize, acknowledge and address the institutionalised…domination and oppression of women, girls, and LGBTI people.
Unconscionability in the law of equity. A defence of the age-old maxim: equity will not perfect an imperfect gift.
Following the decision in Pennington v Waine, the law of equity, specifically the long-established equitable principles surrounding gifts, has been thrown into disarray. This article argues that the fundamental principles (maxims) established by Milroy v Lord remain relevant, and the more recent developments in this area of equity are misguided; an example of judicial development going astray.
The Importance of a Defendant’s Right to Effectively Participate in their Criminal Proceedings.
Traditionally, the understanding of a defendant’s participatory rights may be limited to the defendant simply being present during the trial; to hear the evidence being put against them. However, this has progressed to reflect the role of effective participation as an essential component in delivering justice. This article will outline what is meant by participatory rights, how these are currently protected in English law, and how effective this legislation is in reflecting the importance of them.
The Role of ESG Regulation in UK IPOs: Implications for Businesses, Legal Practice, and Consumer Interests
Neglecting material ESG risks can have serious implications for a company’s reputation and legal standing, as seen in the 2021 Deliveroo IPO. Major institutional investors declined to participate in Deliveroo’s offering, citing concerns over the company’s treatment of gig-economy workers. This backlash resulted in a substantial decrease in Deliveroo’s market valuation, demonstrating that ESG issues are not just ethical considerations but also material financial risks. In addition to reputational concerns, not adhering to these ESG standards can expose companies to legal liabilities.
Who Consented to This? - A Legal Exploration into how Ages of Consent Should be Settled upon in Light of Iraq’s Intention to Reduce it to Nine Years Old
The foundation of Iraq’s new amendment is to supposedly prevent immoral (premarital) relationships among the youth, demonstrating a fundamental difference in the objective of legislation when contrasted with the UK for example. The difference is that of care versus control. If the ‘end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom’ then preventing consenting teenagers from entering into relationships whilst allowing child-marriage is not only a failure in law, but also a wilful endangerment of society’s most vulnerable – children.
The Future of AI in Law Firms: The Evolution of Support or The Revolution of Representation?
Many law firms have become aware of the need to incorporate AI systems, with the uprising of new legal technology. However, as always with the arrival of any new artificial technology, comes a large plethora of unanswered questions and anxious speculations. This article will explore a key question regarding the relationship between AI and the legal sphere: will it serve solely as a support tool in law firms, or will it grasp a larger role, taking over legal representation as a whole?
Should we allow nations to claim sovereignty in space? An analysis of The Outer Space Treaty and other international space law instruments
The first UN treaty developed to govern space exploration and exploitation, the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 was a groundbreaking piece of legislation for its time, referred to by some as the ‘Magna Carta of international space law’. However, this does not affirm its effectiveness today. In fact, since the implementation of the Outer Space Treaty, the number of space-faring nations has increased drastically, with not just two superpowers (the US and USSR) dominating the space expiration sphere anymore: as of 2022, approximately 70 countries (including nations such as Rwanda and the Philippines) had established national space agencies, and 20 of these spend more than $100 million per year on civil space. Due to this, it can be argued that today the Outer Space Treaty is merely a symbolic instrument: it is the key mechanism to approaching international space law, but lacks competent approaches to modern threats.
The roots of femicide: an epidemic threat to the lives of women.
For some women, home can be the most lethal place. Intimate femicide is the most prevalent form of femicide and falls under the remit of lethal domestic private violence. Out of 147 women killed by men in the UK in the year of 2021, 53% were killed by a current or former intimate partner. Reinforcing my earlier point that violence is a tool used by men to force women to adhere to certain behaviours, 33 of those women were taking steps to leave, or had left the relationship- here the goal is subordination and control. In this way, intimate femicide can be premised on societal gender expectations formed by the patriarchy, more specifically, a woman’s supposed duty to obey their male counterparts.
Cobalt and Consequences: Unmasking Corporate Complicity in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Human Rights Crisis
Cobalt mining in the DRC is synonymous with egregious human rights abuses. Artisanal miners, including children, often work in perilous conditions characterised by a lack of safety protocols, inadequate equipment, and exposure to toxic materials. Forbes reports that children as young as six years old are engaged in mining activities, enduring gruelling labour for minimal pay—averaging $0.81 per day for children, $1.02 for adult women, and $2.04 for adult men. Many work in unregulated pits prone to collapses, resulting in injuries and fatalities. The lack of medical facilities and emergency services in these remote areas exacerbates the situation, as injured workers often struggle to access necessary treatment.