Reflections on Access to Justice for Transgender People in India

By Shivani Dewalla  Our arrival unto the world is marked by “their” presence. Marriages would be incomplete without “their” performances, “their” blessings. The halt at the traffic light is one of the most likely places to spot “them”. But why is it that their presence is only restricted to such occasions? Why are they not…

The case for social and legal change for domestic work in India

By Madhulika The coronavirus pandemic has acted to highlight and exacerbate the failures in access to justice for domestic workers in India. The spread of Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown measures implemented by the Government of India to contain its spread has had a profound impact on work and workers. In India, women employed in…

Why India’s Constitutional Guarantee of Anti-Discrimination is Not Enough?

By Vatsal Patel India is perhaps the only country where the constitutional guarantee of non-discrimination is not backed by a comprehensive legislation. While Article 15(1) of the Indian Constitution posits a mandatory duty upon the State to not “discriminate against any citizens on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of…

Singapore High Court denies justice, again.

By Anmol Ratan In March 2020, the High Court of Singapore by the way of its decision in the case of Ong Ming Johnson v. Attorney-General and other matters upheld the validity of its colonial sodomy law, namely the Section 377A of the Singapore Penal Code yet again. This section criminalises the act of ‘gross…

‘The Model Minority’: a Hinderance to the Pursuit of Justice

By Debadrita Chakraborty  Indian immigrants fail to acknowledge their complicity in injustices both in India and America. Here’s why. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is here to stay. Catalysed by one of the most heinous racial homicide of the 21st century, BLM protests have since snowballed into one of the greatest ‘domino’ resistance movement…

How casteist is the Coronavirus pandemic? 

By Anmol Ratan  History bears testimony to the fact that unlike most of the world, India is not new to practice of social distancing. Maintaining social as well as physical distance has been historically entrenched in various form of isolation by the upper castes in the Hindu social order ever since the Vedic times[i]. Based…

Outlawing the Practice of ‘Female Genital Mutilation’ in Sudan: An advanced step towards preaching health as a Human Right

By Sahajveer Baweja Our guest contributor is currently a 3rd-year B.A.LL.B. student at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala, India.  Recently, Sudan has made a landmark move by amending its Criminal Code and penalising the archaic practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) making it punishable by three years of imprisonment. FGM as a practice stems…

What the UK can learn from Ireland’s ‘Direct Provision’ Controversy

By Conor Courtney Direct Provision is an Irish approach to asylum law which incorporates a series of rights, and constraints, placed upon asylum seekers. These restrictions are places on those who are living in Ireland, awaiting the decision as to their status. Although the State provides many necessities with regards to asylum applicants, such as…

Human Rights as a Western Construct: India as an Example

By Ila Tyagi  LLM student, Ila Tyagi, argues against ‘universal human rights’ as they are typically understood, drawing from cultural relativist arguments and using India as an example. In many developing countries, human rights are often considered to be western concepts imposed on them by foreign governments and treaties. The problem lies in the narrow…