August Rule of Law Highlights

A look around the world at the latest rule of law events taking place in August

The ILO's Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) will come into effect starting in August 2013

The MLC provides comprehensive rights and protection at work for the world's more than 1.2 million seafarers. More than 68 international labour standards related to the Maritime sector that have been adopted over the past 80 years will be consolidated and updated. The Convention sets out seafarers' rights to decent work standards and aims to be globally applicable, easily understandable, readily updatable and uniformly enforced. It has been designed to become a global instrument known as the "fourth pillar" of the international regulatory regime for quality shipping, complementing the key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Find out more here.

Starting in August 2013, a measure legalizing same-sex marriage in New Zealand will take effect 

On April 17th, 2013 New Zealand became the 13th country in the world and the first in the Asia-Pacific region to allow gays and lesbians to wed. The measure passed 77-44 in the unicameral legislature with the support of Prime Minister John Key. Other countries that now all same-sex marriage are Argentina, Denmark, The Netherlands, South Africa, Belgium, England/Wales, Norway, Spain, Brazil, France, Canada, Iceland, Portugal, and Uruguay. Certain areas in Mexico and 13 states in the U.S. have legalized same-sex marriage, with laws in Rhode Island and Minnesota going into effect in August.  Find out more here.

On August 3rd & 4th the Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi, India, will host a free two day workshop for those interested in human rights at Vaikunta Baliga College of Law in Udupi 

Co-ordinators Amrutha Kakodkar and Nivedita are having their second workshop on human rights this year with emphasis on issues such as child abuse, empowering the weaker sections of the society, consumer behaviour, violence against women, preserving the doctor-patient relationship, public interest litigation, how to improve the police - public relationship, and Right to Information Act. Their goal is to provide an alternative to the overburdened judiciary when the state cannot guarantee timely access to justice, especially for those from poorer sections of the society. Find out more here.

From August 29 - August 31 the European Public Law Organization in Attica, Greece will host the 2013 International Law Association Regional Conference

The theme of the 2013 regional conference is: Imperium Juris: Governance, Trade, Resources. It aims to bring members of the academic and professional communities together to engage in discussion about current issues facing the rule of law internationally. The 2013 ILA Regional Conference is organized by the Hellenic Branch of the International Law Association. Find out more here.

Starting August 1, 2013 a German online copyright law comes into effect; it gives publishers the exclusive right to the commercial use of their publications online

The right will last up until a year after the new publication was issued. The new law is a toned down version of a previous controversial online copyright bill that aimed to give publishers the right to charge search engines like Google for republishing short text snippets. The new law does not apply to news snippets; it says that publishers have the exclusive right to commercialize their products or parts thereof--except in the case of single words or very small text snippets. Find out more here.

Kuwait’s new parliament will hold its inaugural meeting on August 6th following the resignation of Kuwait’s government in line with the constitution after the second parliamentary polls since December

A day after the elections, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, ruler of the Gulf state, accepted the resignation but asked Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah and his ministers to stay on until a new cabinet is formed. After consultations, the emir may tap the outgoing premier, the likely scenario, or another senior member of the ruling family to form a new cabinet. Liberals, Shiites, Sunni Islamists, merchants and almost all Bedouin tribes will be represented in the new parliament. Find out more here.

This August, the Chairman of the unregistered Pirate Party of Russia, Pavel Rassudov,  has called upon the general public to boycott all copyrighted content to protest the recently introduced anti-piracy law--which comes into effect August 1st

The main argument against the law is that it allows for state agencies--without a court order--to order Internet providers to block website access 72 hours after a report of a copyright violation. He asked his supporters to not go to the movies or buy any movies online for the entire month of August, calling it 'Black August.' Rassudov has also promised that on August 1st the Russian sector of the Internet will hold a nationwide strike, where 2000 websites will turn off their servers while those on social media will change their avatars to black squares. Find out more here.

International Observances

August 9th is The International Day of the World's Indigenous People, which was first proclaimed by the General Assembly in December 1994.  The Second International Decade, from 2005-2014 revolves around the theme of 'A Decade for Action and Dignity.' The focus of 2013's International Day is "Indigenous peoples building alliances: Honouring treaties, agreements, and other constructive arrangements." This theme highlights the importance of honoring arrangements between States, their citizens, and indigenous peoples that recognize their right to their land. Agreements also outline a political vision of different sovereign peoples living together on the same land, according to the principles of friendship, cooperation and peace. Read more here.

Also in August is International Youth Day, which is recognized annually on August 12th.