Courts

Aerial view of Tokyo cityscape with Fuji mountain in Japan.

Second Japanese high court rules in favor of same-sex marriage

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A Tokyo high court in Japan recently ruled that the government’s policy against same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The ruling marks the second time that one of the nation’s eight regional high courts has ruled in favor of marriage equality. The Tokyo high court ruled that the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is “a groundless legal discrimination based on sexual orientation” that violates the constitutionally guaranteed right to equality and dignity regardless of sex.

Chase Strangio at New York Pride 2022

Chase Strangio to be the first openly trans lawyer to present to the Supreme Court

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Strangio is the co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, having played an instrumental role in guiding the organization through numerous trans-related legal battles. He was additionally part of the team that won a legal battle against a ban on trans care with the case Brandt v. Rutledge, representing four families with trans youth. He will make his debut on December 4 in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a case that will decide transgender rights in the country for years to come.

Nepal river valley with mountains in background

The Supreme Court of Nepal extends no-construction zones along major rivers in Kathmandu Valley

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The ruling introduces an additional 66-foot buffer zone, which would impact thousands of households, raising concerns about property rights and potential displacement. While environmental campaigners have welcomed the court’s decision as a crucial step toward saving the rivers of the valley, where encroachment and dumping of untreated solid and liquid waste is rampant, the federal government, under pressure from the local people, has filed for a review of the decision.

Gavel

Joe Biden makes history by confirming 12th LGBTQ+ judge, the most of any U.S. presidency

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Judge Mary Kay Costello made history on Tuesday when she became the 12th Senate-confirmed LGBTQ+ judge appointed by President Joe Biden. The Senate voted 52-42 to confirm Costello after a day-long hearing. She’ll now sit on the bench of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Her confirmation helped Biden set a new record, topping both the Obama administration and Biden administration’s previously tied record of appointing 11 out LGBTQ+ judges.

Amazon River Rainforest

Malaysian court shuts down hydroelectric dam project on Indigenous land

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A Malaysian court ruled this week that hydropower companies building a dam on land belonging to the Indigenous Semai people of Malaysia’s Perak state had failed to secure proper consent and must halt operations immediately. The court also ruled that the state and federal governments, and the federal agency tasked with overseeing Indigenous affairs, had failed in their duty to protect Indigenous land from encroachment. Activists expressed relief and elation at the verdict, which marks a major milestone for land rights for Malaysia’s Indigenous peoples, known collectively as Orang Asal.
The verdict can still be appealed.

South Korean flags

South Korean youth score historic climate victory

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A top court in South Korea has ruled the country’s measures to fight climate change insufficient for protecting the rights of its citizens in Asia’s first climate litigation ruling of its kind. Currently, South Korea does not have any legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions between 2031 and 2049. This absence means the government cannot guarantee the protection of future generations, a right engrained in its constitution, the Constitutional Court of Korea ruled.

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.

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