Volume 51, Issue 2

On November 17, 2022, the Dutch District Court of The Hague found three persons liable in connection with the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which occurred in the breakaway oblast of Donetsk in July 2014. Drawing on this judgment, the present essay examines whether the Russian Federation can be regarded as a State actively involved in this incident with a view to investigating to what extent it exercised “overall control” over the Donetsk People's Republic's separatists. Afterwards, the analysis is framed in the context of the wider legal dispute between Ukraine and the Russian Federation before the International Court of Justice, where the former maintained, inter alia , that the latter failed to honour its obligation under the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism—specifically, by providing the separatists with the “fund” (i.e., a BUK TELAR) that forced the aircraft to crash. Ultimately, the legal implications of the findings are assessed to foresee the outcome of the International Court of Justice's decision on the merits.

Witchcraft beliefs are a major cause of violence against vulnerable groups in many African countries. People accused of being witches are often ostracised/banished, physically assaulted, tortured, and/or murdered. However, there are rare instances when persons accused of being witches sue their accusers for defamation. In such cases, the courts are often invited to address whether witchcraft imputations amount to defamation and, if so, under what circumstances. The present study explores the Anglophone African courts’ attitudes towards witchcraft-related defamation claims, examining how various judicial bodies in five countries—Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania—have navigated the convoluted and sometimes confusing system of legal pluralism since the 1970s. The study shows that courts in various African countries apply several principles when resolving witchcraft-related defamation claims. However, they generally concur that recklessly imputing witchcraft to a person necessarily impairs that person's dignity and is actionable per se .

The objective of this study is to explore and determine the legal constraints related to adult male rape and the consequences as they exist in the Bangladeshi criminal justice system. Primary and secondary data sources for the study were derived from the narratives of adult male rape survivors, blood relatives of rape survivors, police officers, and legal practitioners. A snowball sampling technique was applied. The study reveals that there is an absence of a police-support response to adult male rape victims, which is attributable to the lack of a gender-neutral definition of rape. This legal definition vacuum diverts complainants to a range of other futile options, such as submitting a general diary and/or adjacent complaints and seeking assistance from other law enforcement agencies. Finally, this study demonstrates that the landscape of the Bangladeshi criminal justice system is likely to remain unchanged until its legal foundation is better developed.

The norms of labor law that regulate the relevant relationship between the employee and the employer are constantly evolving under the influence of various factors, including society and the State. Labor law trends have become especially prominent over the past several years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdown restrictions have dealt a serious blow to the labor field and have required urgent action from both companies and governments. In view of this, a number of relevant subtopics have been formed in labor relations, the study of which is of interest to the entire scientific community. The purpose of the research paper is to study the main trends that have emerged in modern labor law and their impact on the formation of the labor legislation system in Ukraine and the European Union (EU) from a comparative perspective. The article analyzes the main directions that the authors have identified as especially relevant in the development of labor relations and the legal regulation of such issues. Considering that some trends have arisen spontaneously under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many States were not ready for them, we have analyzed how the legislator settled such issues. The laws of Ukraine, the EU, and individual EU member States are examined here in a comparative perspective to draw upon and understand a complete picture of the modern development of labor relations in Europe and to identify the most beneficial approaches to regulating topical issues of labor law. The information obtained as a result of the study can be used to improve Ukraine's national legislation, bring it in line with European standards, further study the issue of the modern development of labor relations, and teach and develop methodological support for educational disciplines related to labor law and social security law.