CPT website: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/council-of-europe-anti-torture-committee-cpt-carries-out-a-visit-to-azerbaijan On 3 July 2024, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) issued a Public Statement on Azerbaijan in which it highlighted the ‘outright refusal of the Azerbaijan authorities to cooperate’ with it. This is not simply a point of bureaucracy, failing to communicate […]
The development of a new statutory human rights framework in Scotland provides a contemporary window on a process of national incorporation of international human rights law and, within this, on the potential contribution of ‘dignity’ as an underpinning value. Since 2018 I have been closely involved in research and discussions in this area, including as […]
On 13th May 2024, a new internet resource was launched to support global monitoring of police lethal force. The Monitoring Lethal Force website is intended to bolster global mechanisms of accountability for deaths connected with uses of force in policing and law enforcement activities. The product of an extensive research project with numerous academic contributors […]
On March 4th, France became the first country in the world to protect a woman’s right to abortion explicitly in the text of the Constitution. By an extraordinarily lopsided margin of 780 votes to 72, the French Parliament convened in Versailles approved constitutional language that guarantees the liberty of women to choose to interrupt a […]
If not carefully regulated, the rapid development and proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) is set to pose a significant threat to the dignity of women. The New York Post reported on 25 January that AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift had begun circulating on X (Twitter).[1] While this incident is likely to increase discussions and […]
Human dignity is underpinned by the early philosophical notions of equality, humanity, and reciprocity[1] and is regularly interpreted by judges in connection with other human rights.[2] European Union (EU) law through the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which forms part of the Treaty of European Union (TEU), prohibits reproductive human cloning under its Article 3. […]
Christine Bicknell has published a working paper with Exeter Centre for International Law entitled ‘International Law in Human Rights cases before the UK Supreme Court’. The paper’s abstract: This paper critiques the manner in which the UK courts have approached international law in several recent cases relating to human rights. Pinpointing their present attitudes to […]
Modern courts often invoke dignity when delineating the limits of government power.[1] A unique manifestation of this is the defence of the dignity of LGBTQIA individuals despite the existence of statutes and penal codes that explicitly prohibit both sodomy and same-sex relationships in a broader context. This has led certain national courts in Africa to […]
The crisis in Gaza post-October 7, 2023, has brought to the fore serious concerns about human dignity, human rights and the overall adherence to international law. The situation underscores that human rights and principles of human dignity which should apply to everyone according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,[1] are at stake in this […]
Set in a dystopian near-future, where environmental disaster causes escalating infertility in society, the few remaining fertile women are forcibly assigned to produce children for the ruling class of “Commanders”. With themes such as women’s powerlessness in a totalitarian patriarchy, loss of female agency and individuality, the suppression of women’s reproductive rights and their instrumentalisation […]