Bulletin

              Turkey has spent decades negotiating their admittance into the European Union (“EU”). The EU declared Turkey eligible to join in 1999 and formally began accession negotiations in 2005.[1] These negotiations have all but ground to a halt, and accession appears further away than ever. The basic criteria for which aspiring countries must meet … Read more

Iran is one of thirteen countries where being homosexual is punishable by death.[1] Since 1979, over 4,000 people have been sentenced to death for having same sex relationships. [2] There has been international outcry over this cruel practice for decades. [3]  However, Iran continues to exploit the death penalty and has executed at least 251 … Read more

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) traced more than 10 million refugee border crossings from Ukraine to nearby countries.[1] Yet, UNHCR has actively recorded up to 3 million Ukrainians—mostly women, children, and the elderly—returning home.[2] Conflict in Ukraine continues, yet nationals are choosing to live in war-torn … Read more

Homelessness is a violation of human dignity that affects countries around the world because of increasingly diverse social and economic factors.[1] Homelessness can be characterized by “extreme poverty, social exclusion, and a lack of access to basic services.”[2] In 2016, U.N. Habitat stated that 1.6 billion people live in inadequate housing.[3] Based on a drastic … Read more

From Billie Jean King in 1973 to the Women’s National Soccer Team today, the gender pay and opportunity gap in American sports has stood stubbornly against legislation meant to prevent it.1 Now, as American basketball player Brittney Griner’s story unfolds, this persistence may be growing beyond a mere domestic nuisance and into an international nightmare.2 … Read more

Across Italy, young Italians migrate from the countryside to urban centers in search of more lucrative job markets, forcing rural towns to struggle with the repercussions of a decades-long depopulation trend.[1] Now, municipalities must strategize to address the abandoned and often derelict buildings people are leaving behind, while also tackling the root cause—depopulation.[2] In 2017, … Read more

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) mandates that personal data may only be transferred to a third country for processing if that country’s laws give EU subjects adequate protection.[1] Without this protection, data transfers to a third country are considered unlawful.[2] The GDPR authorizes four lawful ways for a transfer of personal data to … Read more

South Africa is recognized as a frontrunner in protecting the rights of both “gender refugees” and asylum seekers. The term “gender refugee” refers to “people who can make claims to refugee status, fleeing their countries of origin based on the persecution of their gender identity.”[1] A gender refugee has likely faced persecution or violence in … Read more

  In July 2022, the European Parliament approved nuclear energy as “green” in its continued effort to make European Union climate neutral by 2050.[1] Not incidentally, the approval came as Europe was facing the harsh reality of its gross energy dependence on volatile Russia that invaded Ukraine a few months earlier.[2]  Ultimately, the approval was … Read more

“The issue of the death penalty is associated with two fundamental human rights norms: the right to life and the protection against cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishments.”[1] Currently, more than 70 percent of the world’s countries have abolished the death penalty; however, international law does not prohibit the death penalty, even though most countries consider … Read more