By: Margaret Marshall.
China’s wildlife markets, often fronts for illegal wildlife trade, are thought to be the source of COVID-19, which has devastated millions of individuals worldwide. This blog looks at these markets, the illegal wildlife trade, and calls for the complete shutdown of all wildlife markets for both animal and human safety.
Read MoreBy: Alana Ballantyne.
The rising popularity of both sites like Pornhub and explicit content on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, has given rise to a new era of pornography generated by everyday users. Recently, Pornhub faced huge backlash when it was revealed that some of their amateur content was tied to sex trafficking and depicted rape, torture, and child sex abuse. With lawsuits pending in the US, the question of how the international community should combat such content has taken center stage.
Read MoreBy: Jasmine Shafquat.
South Africa has a strict and comprehensive statutory framework for regulating surrogacy. Understanding this country’s approach can help lawmakers develop a regulatory system that protects the rights of both commissioner parents and surrogate mothers.
Read MoreBy: Konrad Starostka.
The Irish Supreme Court ruled that Subway’s bread is more like cake. This is according to the Value-Added Tax Act, but the result is counterintuitive.
Read MoreBy: Peter Veldkamp
For many farmers in Colombia, coca production is the only means of providing for their families. Without viable alternatives and properly aligned incentives, it is unlikely that further supply-side based policy will be effective.
Read MoreBy: Alexandra Welke.
Brazil recently announced that it will pay its male and female national football players the same amount of compensation. Only a few countries have passed similar equal pay agreements. Women continue to demand equal pay in football, while countries are slow to make changes to promote equality.
Read MoreBy: Megan Wilson.
Greece has been struggling economically for years, and right as things were starting to improve, COVID-19 hit. Several tax proposals have been introduced in the hopes of attracting investors and raising revenue.
Read MoreBy: Alana Ballantyne.
The internet exploded when President Trump announced his ban of the popular app TikTok earlier this month. The controversy highlighted both China’s soft power grab and the limits, or lack thereof, on the President's power to interfere with the market. The situation raised several interesting questions. What is soft power and how has China used that tool to their advantage on the international stage?
Read MoreBy: Emily Bengel.
A group of Italian families has filed a complaint with Italian prosecutors in Bergamo against “persons unknown” for the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The families say they just want someone to pay for what has happened to their loved ones. The question is whether they can be successful and what that could mean for the rest of the world.
Read MoreBy: Mary Bradley.
After the United States, Mexico, and Canada signed the NAFTA replacement, Mexico enacted new amendments to its Federal Copyright Law and criminal code. These new “robust” protections provide for some much needed update, but are challenged for chilling citizens’ constitutionally-guaranteed right to free expression.
Read MoreBy: Gary Cooper.
The death of George Floyd galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S., resulting in increased media attention, demonstrations, protests, riots, and a few legal changes in select states. However, the movement was not restricted to the U.S. and the effects of George Floyd’s death were just as profound in Great Britain.
Read MoreBy: Dominick Cortez.
Carlos Ghosn, a former executive officer of Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi, was arrested in Japan and detained for nearly 6 months with no indictment. The international community has renewed its charges that Japan has a “hostage criminal justice system.” Japan does not agree and will not be changing its criminal procedure.
Read MoreBy: Kevin Cowan.
A potential conflict in outer space threatens the world’s use of GPS, online banking, and mobile phones among other systems. Russia’s recent launches of satellites brings back the discussion of regulating space warfare.
Read MoreBy: Joe Giacolone.
Sweden never engaged in a full lockdown in spite of the Coronavirus Pandemic, and unlike most of its European neighbors, relied on voluntary social compliance and measures meant to protect its most vulnerable populations. This article explores what Sweden’s measures were and why these measures were taken. (This article was written in August 2020)
Read MoreBy: Bradley Harrah.
Berlin, Germany has adopted a rent stabilization policy to stop out of control rental prices, but will this policy cause more harm than good?
Read MoreBy: Douglas Johnson.
The ability of the government to expropriate private lands to further a public interest is generally granted via the constitution in most countries. In the United States, the government must fairly compensate landowners for land that is taken, but is this the same for Ecuador? The answer is yes…in theory. However, the Ecuadorian government’s conduct in its efforts to bring the Yachay “city of knowledge” to fruition suggests that landowners are not paid fairly, if paid at all, and projects are ill-conceived and poorly executed.
Read MoreBy: Simonne Kapadia.
Canada has a long history of separating Indigenous children in government care programs from their homes and culture. Legislation enacted in January 2020 attempts to correct this erasure of Indigenous culture by prioritizing Indigenous children’s cultural and familial backgrounds when making care decisions and placements.
Read MoreBy: Andrew Malec.
As Malta continues to monitor and fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus, new privacy concerns have emerged with regard to popular contract tracing applications that may jeopardize individual privacy and infringe on the country’s data privacy laws as well as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
Read MoreBy: Tessa Mallett
In 2013, the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,134 garment workers and injuring over 2,0000. The tragedy sparked public outrage, with many demanding change. This short post examines the changes in the fast fashion industry after the collapse and what it looks like today in Bangladesh.
Read MoreBy: Adara Manamperi.
With the Appellate Body’s existence in limbo due to the United States’ decision to block new appointments, it leaves other member states with no alternative but to create a dispute settlement system of their own, or alternatively lose the right to appeal case decisions by the Dispute Settlement Panel. Without the Appellate Body, and in addition, the current COVID-19 Pandemic, the dangers of protectionist and retaliatory measures are high, and it begs the question: will the WTO be able to survive without the Appellate Body?
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